Entertainment is divided now
East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet,” and that was at least what we were taught when we were assistants and learning the ropes to this place. I remember being in the story sittings making notes quietly sitting in a corner and I ventured a suggestion to the team if the hero and the heroine could be just friends. Scoffed I was. How can a girl and guy be just friends in a movie? Not possible. Now it is. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dil To Pagal Hai are examples.
The language was another. There was a time when producers would cringe and revolt at one line in English and now they want the “Hinglish” films. “Hinglish” is the new language of Hindi cinema. Correction, Hinglish is the new language of Multiplex cinema and herein lies the problem.
The great divide of the Multiplex and the Single Screen and the chasm in the middle. It is a more serious issue than we think, if it is an issue at all with us.
The divide is not about the languages or screens or even sensibilities but the divide is about the people of our country and the divide is everywhere. It started with the urban elite returning to theatres and with them came the need to watch English films in Hindi. The elite paid Rs 350 a ticket and the single screen man paid Rs 50. It took seven single screen chaps to fill the seat of that one man in the Multiplex and thus Bollywood decided to go Hollywood and it created the void. The void then became an abyss and I will explain how.
The next to fall victim to the divide was the Music Industry. Music has been divided into the categories where you see physical sales or digital sales. The physical sales is brought on by the Mr. Rickshawman and the CD listener and that is more non-elite while the elite listen to the iPods and the iTunes and the various i(s) available. The digital is also the ring tunes but I still consider that a by-product. So when music got divided, the composers got divided. Any music director who made music for the masses became the single screen music director and the one that made music for the elite became the multiplex man.
This does not stop at music. Television fiction caters to the masses and the interiors. Themes are more culturally bound and orthodox and the protagonist is whether you like it or not, the woman. That is because the elite decided to watch American soaps on DVD and channels showing foreign content and that left the television channels with no choice but to cater to that market.
A divide in film, music and television is a country divided.
We cannot any longer make movies that can become universal hits save of the odd 3 idiots. Is there a way to bridge the gap? It’s too late. We are divided. Choose your language before you choose the film and choose your audience. You cannot speak to the entire country anymore. Sad.
Post new comment