| Cut out the circus |
| Kaveree Bamzai |
| March 1, 2008 |
There was a moment in this year's Oscar telecast which many thought was a snooze. Scott Rudin, giddy with excitement at having won an Oscar for Best Picture for No Country for Old Men thanked his partner, John Barlow. "Honey, without you this would be hardware."
Now just picture an awards night in Mumbai, one of those where actors perform on stage to their hit songs, and then feign surprise when they win. Imagine such candour about their sexual preferences beamed live to a global audience (although later the squeamish Academy dropped it from the transcript). More than ever this year the 80th Academy Awards were about honouring the movies, no matter the country of their origin, in the most parochial nation in the world.
As the film awards season kicks off this summer, there's much Bollywood could learn from them. Hollywood keeps its acrobatics for its summer blockbusters. On Oscar night, it chooses to present to the world a sedate industry, one that means business, that makes art and that celebrates intellect.
Our awards nights are exactly the opposite. Bollywood stars use these nights as rehearsals for their mega concerts which they depart to in droves when the summer peaks. The actors twirl to songs from their own films, or if they don't have enough of a body of work, pluck some actor from the past and massacre his hard work in the name of a tribute.
The hosts usually veer between sarcasm at the expense of others or embarrassing gush. Bollywood's creative core, that magical thing that attracts crowds and binds communities, is usually a sidelight. Simply, while Hollywood chooses to appear adult on Oscar day—despite some precariously held together gowns that are only for senior viewing—Bollywood indulges its infantile self during awards season. It's like a frat party where everyone is a clown prince.
What's the solution? Simple. Scrap the multiple awards ceremonies. Media moguls and minor industrialists who wish to share the spotlight with the stars can simply call them to their weddings, birthdays or even naming ceremonies. Television channels which present these film nights can just show us a Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster.As for the talent who get recognition, they can get themselves one homegrown awards ceremony—it will prevent them from hankering after what Daniel Day Lewis called the "handsomest bludgeon in town".
And the audience sitting at home? They can just go to the circus
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