Fate of Film Legends in India

Today I am intrigued by the interview that was conducted on Times Now. The programme Frankly speaking had a guest by the name of Naserruddin Shah. He is without a doubt a legend in Indian Theatre, Indian Parallel Cinema as well as in some commercial Cinema ventures. His most recent film titled Parzania talked about the life of a family in the riots that had struck Godhra in February 2002. His performances have been established as a benchmark, yet the generation of today considers other wannabes like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and a whole host of other wannabe actors who consider themselves the real icons of this generation.

Let me tell you that I am not such a film buff, but i have watched a decent number of films to put my opinions regarding this topic. This has been exasperated by the fact that just yesterday i watched Dhoom 2. In all my life, i have never seen such a bizarre or a pathetic film like Dhoom 2. The way how the so called Perfect assassin dodges point blank bullets is just absolute rubbish. It is an action film, no doubt, and some stunts are quiet good, but it was simply overboard. The main reason for bringing up the thing on Dhoom 2 is that it is proof of the empty progress that Indian Cinema has supposedly taken.

Naserruddin Shah highlighted a brilliant point as far as technicality of Films are concerned. He said that Technicality does and WILL involve Story Telling, and looking at the present generation of films, they just are not technically correct. Wannabes like Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan are proof of this. Abhishek Bachchan is just here on the power of his Father's name. I have never ever understood how Abhishek Bachchan is made out to be a good actor. According to me, he just cannot act. I watched him in Sarkar, and believe me, the moments of which he is silent and is in thought, any other B-Grade star could have carried out the role easily than him. Even Hrithik, who is a good dancer and has looks, but otherwise not a good actor. Krrish was an extremely Juvenile film, and out of touch with the times. India had superheroes before, in the form of Shaktimaan, but Shaktimaan unfortunately did not have the weapon of Marketing working for him. Krrish was marketed and Advertised to the point of Nausea.

Even Mr.Amitabh Bachchan needs to take note. For me, watching BLACK, I have never seen a more insincere performance from Amitabh Bachchan than ever before. Nasseruddin Shah did mention that Mr.Bachchan had done good work before that, but he was just chewing up the scenery in the film. Even a lot of the acting of the blind by Rani Mukherjee was hammed up, i feel. Nasseer has set the benchmark when it comes to acting as a blind. In the Parallel Cinema film named Sparsh, he comes as a blind man, and his performances in that film are a bible for upcoming actors who want to pursue that kind of roles. It was a textbook Performance, one that has not even come close to being emulated.

The generation of today chooses Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan and a whole host of Glam girls as their icons and idols. The reasons for this are very unclear, for I have found nothing but despair in watching the so called icons mentioned above hamming it up. True Legends, who value and respect films for their Artistic pleasures are truly sidetracked by the Industry, and more predictably by Advertisers. The films of today lack a basic story, which is why perhaps they are not recognized abroad. That is why the world will remember a Satyajit Ray, who was indeed the Master of Story telling. Indian Cinema, may unfortunately never have a Satyajit Ray again, and we are committing he cardinal sin of ignoring true legends of Indian Cinema like Naserruddin Shah. The flip side of the coin is fortunately, there are actors who can make Acting an Art. Aamir Khan is one of the finest in this present generation who can make acting an Art. His film Rang De Basanti was a maverick creation and told a different story, although the approach was different. But, the young generation must realize that Films and Acting is an Art, not a spiced up Masala of confusion. It is Art, with all its simplicity, the only thing that it asks of people is to THINK and Enjoy.