Evolution - Men and Heroes

It’s often argued that cinema acts as a mirror of the society. No matter how blurred the image, the mirror shows, it succeeds to portray a generic sketches of the society of the prevailing time. Taking this argument forward does it mean that the hero’s portrayed in today’s Hindi movie reflect the general psychology of Indian male. The reason for bringing out this argument is that many of the old movies are remade recently and you can see the difference in the on screen character across the generation.

Movies like Umrao Jaan, Don, Agneepath etc. has been remade in recent time and the characters of Nawab Sultan Khan, Vijay(aka Don) or Vijay Dinanath Chauhan have undergone drastic change. Can this change be attributed to the change in masculinity over the ages?  

Why only stick to Hero’s alone..even villains have undergone transformation. They are no longer the bad guys who get beaten up in the end. They are cleaver and suave and stylish. The heroes on the other hand are more health conscious and come clean shaven irrespective of the scene. If he is not going to college or spending his dad’s money he may be seen romancing the heroine on some exotic locales. The heroes are now born in well to do families and no longer struggles to stay alive (At least in most cases). This fact seems to highlight the rise of the middle class in urban India. It’s no longer the days where old spice is a luxury but Hugo Boss is a part of most wardrobes these days. The urbanization and rise of multiplexes in India means that people are not interested to see the poor guy and rich girl story nor are they interested to see the angry young man. People are more willing to see an understanding man who loves and loves to be loved. He is non violent and would go to any extent to please the lady love but since there is no villain so his physical ability is never questioned.

The hero of yester years were not too keen to tear their shirt or show his martial art skills and in pretext show off his sculpted body. His appeal was the raw kick and punch that he would use to overpower the villain to rescue his lady love. The victory of good over evil would come at the cost of death and destruction around him. Today the struggle is more against the system or ones inner self. The good old days of bad villain is gone now.

The modern hero does not have to deal with widow mother and an unmarried sister who is always the target of the villain or his sidekick. He is brought up well and not much time is given to his family. If required then only a sister or uncle or dad is put in the movie. Yes the nucleated family is very well reflected in the screen play and the selfishness and individualism is very well reflected in his mannerism. This is a social change which we can’t deny.

They Vinay, Vijay, Vishwanath is replaced by Raj, Sid, Chulbul Pandey ‘s in the movie. Not to forget the importance of item number in the script. In the earlier movies if and only if there is a Don or a Gabbar Singh in the movie one could expect Helen aunty to dance to keep him happy. The set up now has changed to urban India but the mindset of audience has not changed hence the need for item number has gone up. Today the publicity of a movie depends on the peppy numbers that are used in the disc & night clubs across the country so the producers have no choice but to hire a Munni or Sheila.

Gone are the days of poetic lyrics and soulful voices, today’s hero can sing songs in different voices and he is not too bothered behind the poetry behind it. So long as he can lip sync it properly the girl standing in front would be impressed. This is because today the world runs on quantity and not quality. No one cares if your movie has become silver jubilee or golden jubilee. If they can recover the producer money in the first week shows then the project is successful. Yes movies are a project now and executed with precision and planning. You don’t get a year to complete your project. It must be done at max 180 days with 30 days to top it up with publicity. The PR team earns more than the singers of the movie so I guess we should restrict our expectation regarding the emotional aspect of movie making.

The story of the movie always appeals to the movie goers. This one common factor ties all the generations together. But the star appeal today and help the producer to recover his money in the 1^st weekend even the movie is a complete trash. Hence the star sometimes becomes bigger than the movie which is acceptable so long as the product is good. Yes movie is an entertainment product for us, the consumers. I guess this mentality stems from the economic environment around us. The consumer chooses the product based on reviews and word of mouth publicity.

So cinema is undergoing an evolution from becoming a piece of art to a FMCG product. There is no harm with this change so long as people get the value of the money they spent. Heroes and villains are also under going change to suit the demands of the people. The evolution of Indian men and his masculinity is a similar process. We all welcome this change. The evolution of humans is always accompanied by change and so this process is one of the most natural manifestations of nature.

Democracy : We vs They

I received a mail this morning urging everyone to wear black and come to office on 19th August, Friday. This gesture will show my solidarity to an octogenarian man fighting against corruption which is crippling this great nation. The whole nation is gripped with the wave of a second freedom movement. A movement to make India corruption free. Do I support this movement? Yes of course I do. Do I support the method of protest..well considering the method in which our politicians work I feel there is no other way out.

There is a strange irony in the whole scenario. We are up at arms against the people whom we have chosen two years ago with a landslide majority to govern the nation. So what happened in the past two years that we are ready to throw them away with a civil movement? Actually corruption was very much a part and parcel of politics but now more of these have been exposed and hence people have seen how much the politicians can stoop low.

It’s a cumulative frustration of people that have galvanized them to be a part of the movement led by Anna Hazare. People want accountability of government and want to know how their tax is utilized for nation building. Lokpal bill probably will give people the right to question their leader. But it’s difficult to pass this bill through parliament as no thug will dig his own grave. Not a single politician will support the bill tabled by Anna Hazare because it will bring an abrupt end to the business of politics where rags to riches is the most common path up the ladder.

Politicians have created another version of Lokpal bill which will safeguard their interest and yet bring about minor change in the system. This bill will probably be like our age old constitution which has everything but does nothing.

These two versions of the bill are now at loggerhead and this deadlock is not going to end soon. So it’s a war against elected representative of people and self nominated civil rights activists. The most important question now is that who represents the people’s mandate? If people don’t believe in the ruling government then that government has no right to continue in power. There are various views about the demands made by Anna Hazare or other civil society activists but one thing is for sure the political clan is very united to protect their bread butter and scams. So how does this deadlock end? There are various unanswered questions that have evolved around this crisis. The bottom line is clear corruption must be stopped at any cost but the process remains undefined.

The whole democratic process in this country and the constitution itself has been under question from changing socio-political scenario. There is a radical change required in the constitution itself and the first step to that may be this bill. When the elected representatives become arrogant and take their power for granted it’s the people who should remind them the source of their power. This is what Anna Hazare has done. It does not really matter if he is not a Mahatma or a Gandhi but what matter is the fact that he has captured the imagination of the youth and old and has fuelled an agitation which may change the face of nation.

Indian democracy is fighting its war of existence. The road it will choose from this chaos will determine the future of this nation.

127 Hours

A man and his desire to survive the worst of hopeless situation in life sums up the story of 127 Hours. The film is based on the real-life adventure of Aaron Ralston, as documented in the book “Between A Rock And A Hard Place”. The extreme biker and climber met with a freak accident in 2003 when his hand got trapped under a boulder during a climbing expedition in Utah. The mountaineer spent five grueling days all by himself in this life-threatening situation before he could extricate himself and reach out for help.

This simple plot has been woven into a compelling movie by Danny Boyle and A.R.Rahman’s haunting tune(I felt some of the tracks were used in Raavan as well) adds to the pulsating drama. Most of the movie you would stare at close up shots of James Franco who brings out the emotions of a man trapped between life and death. It’s a tough movie to sit through specially the last 15 minutes yet in the end one feels the compelling urge to celebrate life.

I won’t be surprised if James Franco wins the Best Actor award in Oscars this year. Off course I have not yet seen the Social Network but so far his performance has stood out among the movies I saw last year. The best part of the movie is the way Aaron’s inner feelings and fears are portrayed through the various pieces of memories in his mind. And how is premonition of his future gives him the strength to cut his own hand in order to survive. This movie is a classic lesson of ‘mind over matter’. It shows how hope and desire to live overcomes physical challenges. Unless you are faint hearted do watch this movie.

Enjoy another Holiday..Dont bother about Nation

On 26 January 1950, India became a republic and a new constitution came into effect under which India was established as a secular and a democratic state. So we are celebrating 61st year of being a secular republic. We are the largest democracy in the world. We are proud to have produced people who have excelled in different works of life. That’s what I get to read through email chains and scraps and tweets and blogs.
We deliberately or unconsciously ignore the underbelly of this nation. We are the nation that faces challenges from religious violence, casteism, naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern India. India has unresolved territorial disputes with the People's Republic of China, which, in 1962, escalated into the Sino-Indian War, and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999.We proudly sit on top of corruption list and dirtiest cities of the world. Yet I am supposed to be a proud Indian and endorse the tricolor.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Independent India, in his special message to his countrymen, on the birth of the Indian Republic, said:
"We must re-dedicate ourselves on this day to the peaceful but sure realization of the dream that had inspired the Father of our Nation and the other captains and soldiers of our freedom struggle, the dream of establishing a classless, co-operative, free and happy society in 'his country'. We must remember that this is more a day of dedications than of rejoicing - dedication to the glorious task of making the peasants and workers the toilers and the thinkers fully free, happy and cultured."
If we go by his word we have been a big failure as a Republic by his words yet we are we one of the strongest force of this century.

Lets look at what the preamble to our constitution was:
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.
Going by the preamble I can question on JUSTICE,LIBERTY,EQUALITY,FRATERNITY in today’s context. We have been given FUNDAMENTAL rights. We not only forget our DUTIES but also expand our FUNDAMENTAL rights to an extent that it crosses hand with the law which is old enough not to cope with present generation.

Tomorrow when I wake up I will enjoy another holiday as the reason for holiday has long lost its importance and value. We can all hope for HOPE.