Am I the only one - Page 2

No, you're not 😊

Each century/generation/decade had/has gorgeous things in the movies and music (I still love) and crap (that I simply forgot/forget).

i like BW songs that are either old or fairly new. I find stuff from the intervening years mostly crap. The old numbers had great musical arrangement while the new ones have great play on the guitar, a sound I love. Sax and guitars.

Originally posted by: atominis

Amitabh films are about justice and were meaningful.

They were never just masala films. Salim Javed scripts raised important issues about repression of poor, orphans, disenfranchised, dispossessed, deprived and their rights. Amitabh became voice of masses then and usually played working class hero like coolie or porter or waiter or how a poor person is compelled to take to crime or vigilantism due to apathy of govt and how system is rigged against poor and the rich ones, corrupt ones control everything.

I totally disagree if one keeps repeating same old lies that Amitabh's rise led to decline or his films were mere masala. His films like Abhimaan, Mili, Silsila, Kabhi Kabhi, Suhaag, Sholay, Ram Balram, Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Naseeb, Chupke Chupke, Kaala Patthar, Shakti, Muqaddar ka Sikandar etc have good music. And solid stories about ill treatment of poor, parental neglect, parental alienation, ill treatment of orphans.

Far better than escapist crap earlier where useless hero would merely shake head and chase heroine in hills of Kashmir and impregnate her before marriage.

Amitabh films showed mirror to broken society. That is why they are still loved and had new generation fans too and are still remade. His films gave a voice to repressed frustration of an enslaved and colonised society which was reeling under corrupt leaders even after independence.

Even now I am glad he chose subjects like Baghban, Pink, Jhund, Aarakshan, Black where he speaks for sidelined sections of society like SC/STs, poor, differently abled, survivors of molestation, neglected senior citizens treated as unwanted by own kids.

His only meaningless craps have been films done later like Pukar, Mahaan, Mard, Lal Badshah or films he did for survival like Boom, RGV ki aag because he was signing anything to repay his debts.

Mediocrity was always there in Bollywood. Look at crap films of past where same old story of hero's dad opposing marriage or heroine's dad opposing marriage was shown or there were kids out of wedlock or lame love triangle or saas bahu jethani nanad dramas or hero chasing woman in shikaras of Kashmir.

It got worse in 80s when likes of Jeetendra, Mithun did faltu remakes of South films, with heroines like Sridevi, ready for skin show and intimate scenes or likes of Feroze Khan, Vinod Khanna and Dimple, Madhuri, Silk Smitha ready to strip or do intimate scenes and use cuss words to draw audience.

Jeetendra and Mithun simply scream mediocrity. Period.

Even 90s was crap IMO with lame love stories and stalking passed off as love and same type of music until ARR brought some change.

I cannot believe people forgot how Govinda was king of vulgar songs like Meri pant bhi sexy, Sarkailo khatiya jaara lagey in 90s or Lolo ws doing shit like Sexy Sexy mujhe log bolein or Madhuri did Choli ke peeche kya hai.

90s was vulgar too and never just family films of Barjatya.

I cannot believe people bash 70s but forget path breaking films like Deewar, Aandhi, Ghar were made then. Ghar is still one of the most sensitive portrayals of overcoming trauma of rape. And Deewar, Trishul types were about a fatherless, poor boy seeking justice. Khubsoorat, Golmaal all great films. Manzil and Alaap by Amitabh are also good films about struggle of a man trying to start own business or struggling to pursue profession of own choice despite parental disapproval. They are not mere masala or maar dhaad.

Action in an Amitabh film usually had a purpose of getting justice and was borne out of helplessness or childhood trauma. His films were and are still cathartic. Barsat ki ek raat was ahead of its times showing a man marry a woman who was blind and avenging her rape as well, Amitabh as a husband, never leaves his wife no matter what and avenges her torment. His films like Majboor had meaningful songs like Aadmi jo kehta hai and struggle of a lone man, suffering from brain tumour but also burdened with Family responsibility and trapped in a false case.

Main Azad Hoon was also a social comment on media and politics and never a masala film. Aakhree Raasta, Shehanshah, Inquilaab were also about brokenness of system and compulsion to take route of vigilantism for justice and putting exploitative politicians in place. Same as Manoj Bajpai did in Shool later or Ajay did in Singham.

Amitabh and Salim Javed showed what a hero or heroine is. And their films are poetic justice in a society of oppression, suppression and repression like South Asia. Their heroines were also never abla or bimbos roaming in Kashmir hills. They were strong or working themselves be it Raakhee and Hema in Trishul or even Nirupa Roy as labourer in Deewar or Waheeda Rehman as labourer in Trishul and an award winning artiste in Mahaan or Jaya as a singer in Abhimaan and a knife seller in Zanjeer.

Not some silly doll with a squeaky voice and no identity of her own or wearing a useless wig to look like Hollywood star.

Amitabh and Salim Javed are timeless and epoch makers. Their films have deep social, political, cultural context wrapped in entertainment and also message of communal harmony as seen in Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony or Coolie.

Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and more remade their films and became huge stars themselves. It's not masala but justice and their films were never devoid of context.

It wad righteous anger. Amitabh's 70s films had no cheap scenes like ones done by Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover etc in films later. He had downfall later but cannot be blamed for vulgarity.

Not Amitabh era but the ones that followed him took the quality so down that even if they show some spark it started being touted as some national award worthy performances. But misogyny did start taking bigger seat in Amitabh’s era, truth be told. His later movies made the heroine roles flowerpots or merely the plot devices.

Music has def gone downhill and it’s not a generational thing. The new gen is even listening to songs that are older.

I love Amitabh and Salim-Javed so I'll be the last person to bash them.😆

I wasn't referring specifically to all of Amitabh's films. More of the trend that started with his action films. I think I didn't word it well. Amitabh has got great great films which I can re-watch even today. Tons of them.

But more like with Amitabh rising up as the action hero towards the 80s , the trend slowly started to shift to the hero being a macho man who can bash up loads of goons and the female leads being a flowerpot who are merely the ML's romantic interest.

Meaningful dialogue paved the way for more seeti-maar one liners. There are some of Amitabh's films like that, and like you mentioned other actors carried the trend forward and made it worse.

What I was trying to say is that the trend for masala films definitely started with Amitabh. And I don't mean 'masala' in a derogatory way, but more in a cinema being larger-than-life [like the whole chor-police trend his films started] as opposed to films that were simpler and more grounded.

Bollywood was in its golden period from 2000- 2014 be it in terms of music, experimentation with scripts, different storylines, direction, or the our very own flourishing indie cinema. It was a new era from the 90s where the opportunities were plenty, there was general hope and immense possibilities with new and relevant tech, media and globalisation. The beginning of 2000s was marked with immense with this attitude that anything can be achieved, not just limited to cinema but life in general. So much changed so fast, that people thought we'd have flying cars soon. Everything went downhill after that brief period. Everything now is merely a copy of that era. The indie scene has died down and whatever meaningful cinema that does come along is dumped on the OTT to be forgotten. There is a formula to hit movies now that gets played around in every iteration with little creativity or experimentation.

70s, 80s and 90s cinema is a product of it's own time and the misogynistic crap is also a part and parcel of that era. It wasn't groundbreaking or revolutionary but was certainly good entertainment. For every one good movie, there were umpteen garbage saas bahu, pati patni, sasural melodrama. That era also popularized the lone warrior hero trope who is the protector of the women at home. It's just yuck. The 60s rarely showed sentiments like that in pop media.

Just because we didn't live through those times, doesn't mean it was a great time or any sentimental value can be attached to it. It's the same thing where people say, gosh the 14th century was so great with medieval art and what not. Yes brother, its great with a life expectancy of 30s and shitting and dying of influenza, that is if you're not enslaved or hanged for your skin colour.

The point, 80s and 90s are crap. The period between 2000-2014 was the real deal.

Even movies

I know a secret website that post all movies for free, even the latest one... Yet i have no interest to watch any of it..

I only tried watching an action hero because the comment on this forum that it is a good movie but I couldnt even finish it..

Originally posted by: YourCat

Even movies

I know a secret website that post all movies for free, even the latest one... Yet i have no interest to watch any of it..

I only tried watching an action hero because the comment on this forum that it is a good movie but I couldnt even finish it..

Many third party websites post all serials and movies for free. What's secret about it?