Malayalee was always proud of the classic movies in 80s and 90s. If you listen to most malayalee conversations you can see the influence of movies in the dialogues they make.
The funny dialogues from Kilukkam still makes way into our conversations. "Thoovanathumbikal" is one of the favorite movies for many. Padmarajan and Bharathan still have a huge fan base. Remember, they are not alive and hence hadn't made any movies in recent times. Our very beloved comic actor Jagathy Sreekumar is undisputably one of the best character actors in India.
So, when did we go wrong? I think the detour from the sensible movies to nonsensical ones started of with MohanLal's superhuman movies. Till that time we were keen to see small budget family movies or comedy based youngsters' movie. I am not blaming Lal alone for the low quality movies. I would say if the mess was lighted up by Lal, Mammotty poured more Oil to it.
Why would I say actors are at fault for crap movies which are clearly a production by director. Because movies in India are creations of directors, but choices of actors.
Unlike hollywood where casting is done post-scripting, in India movies are made for actors. Fundamentally we have a reverse logic where a director gets an actor's date, then finds a producer and then writes a script based on actor's profile plus considering what a producer can afford.
And now where are we? We have seen Mayabazar, Love in Singapore, Hello and all the low quality ones. Now the superstardom is throwing more trash on our face.
But how are these movies surviving in a state with such a high self esteem. It's an age old trick - like making someone drunk and making him dance awkwardly.
Over the past 5 years or more our viewers were gradually poisoned with crap movies and we have to admit that we liked Thommanum Makkalum, Rajamanikyam etc. We enjoyed them because we suddenly saw a serious actor doing slapstick comedy. But we didn't anticipate that there are more to come. The youth in Kerala fell for it. It was like serving alcohol to teenagers. The youngsters grew up the next 5 years or more watching more of mayabazar and the likes.
End result - any crap movie becomes a super hit and we have fan followers as crazy as neighboring states.
New formula to success - 5 songs + 7 fights + 20 punch dialogues + tons of slapstick comedy
Yes, we are no different from rest! Good bye good movies!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
When I turned 30
[Something I wrote when I turned 30 late last year]
This is a blog I was waiting to write for past few months, but time as always has beaten me.
Anyways here it goes ...
Yes!! I am 30. I guess I am now among the very few people who admit the entry to 30s with excitement.I feel like finally I got rid of something I never liked being.
Life - Now looking back(or down?) through the years I have lived, I think I learned a lot from the mistakes. I repeated most of them multiple times to check if they happen on all circumstances. And yeah!, then do.I don't think life has to be perfect to be wonderful. I have a pretty messed up life and I wouldn't have been what I am today without all those mistakes.
Choices - Choices and options are different. Most people I have known choose out of the options available. But I tend to think differently. Ignore the options and look for what you need. May be your choice is way out of your league, but still worth a chase.
Role play - I am on okay husband, a pretty good dad, a nice brother, cranky son and best buddy of many. Will people miss me if I suddenly disappear one day? Yeah, they will. :)
Effort - I invented procrastination by the way. I use only minimal potential on anything I do. I tend to preserve my energy by sitting idle and acting tired. Recently I have started whining about low blood sugar as the medical reason. My wife believes it. :))
Love and life - Falling in love is easy. Many people fall, bump their head, shake it off and move on. I didn't, because the one I have fallen for was worth dying for.The resistance to win my love was THE toughest thing that I have ever faced in my entire life. If I have to write a book about our love story, I need to publish in at least two volumes. Now when I think about it, Randy Pausch was absolutely right. Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to show how badly you need someone.
Money - A sophisticated tool that humans invented to make transactions easier. That's exactly money is for me too. I am not going live or die for money.
Ideology - When I was at school I used to admire SFI activists. Oh, what a fun it is to beat others for selfish interests. Establishing anarchy would really relax lifes!!! brake.. sorry, that was the dark side of me.I am more inclined to socialism and have acute disrespect for the typical Indian nature of "I don't bother what's happening next door".I believe in GOD, but not in religion. My daughter's last name is Nair, only because that went well with her first name. And I don't gauge people by caste or colour. (But I still ask my mom why am I darker than her).
Finally - I am really happy to be here today with you all.
This is a blog I was waiting to write for past few months, but time as always has beaten me.
Anyways here it goes ...
Yes!! I am 30. I guess I am now among the very few people who admit the entry to 30s with excitement.I feel like finally I got rid of something I never liked being.
Life - Now looking back(or down?) through the years I have lived, I think I learned a lot from the mistakes. I repeated most of them multiple times to check if they happen on all circumstances. And yeah!, then do.I don't think life has to be perfect to be wonderful. I have a pretty messed up life and I wouldn't have been what I am today without all those mistakes.
Choices - Choices and options are different. Most people I have known choose out of the options available. But I tend to think differently. Ignore the options and look for what you need. May be your choice is way out of your league, but still worth a chase.
Role play - I am on okay husband, a pretty good dad, a nice brother, cranky son and best buddy of many. Will people miss me if I suddenly disappear one day? Yeah, they will. :)
Effort - I invented procrastination by the way. I use only minimal potential on anything I do. I tend to preserve my energy by sitting idle and acting tired. Recently I have started whining about low blood sugar as the medical reason. My wife believes it. :))
Love and life - Falling in love is easy. Many people fall, bump their head, shake it off and move on. I didn't, because the one I have fallen for was worth dying for.The resistance to win my love was THE toughest thing that I have ever faced in my entire life. If I have to write a book about our love story, I need to publish in at least two volumes. Now when I think about it, Randy Pausch was absolutely right. Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to show how badly you need someone.
Money - A sophisticated tool that humans invented to make transactions easier. That's exactly money is for me too. I am not going live or die for money.
Ideology - When I was at school I used to admire SFI activists. Oh, what a fun it is to beat others for selfish interests. Establishing anarchy would really relax lifes!!! brake.. sorry, that was the dark side of me.I am more inclined to socialism and have acute disrespect for the typical Indian nature of "I don't bother what's happening next door".I believe in GOD, but not in religion. My daughter's last name is Nair, only because that went well with her first name. And I don't gauge people by caste or colour. (But I still ask my mom why am I darker than her).
Finally - I am really happy to be here today with you all.
A country that lost its identity
"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 allFRATERNITY 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 HEREBYADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION."
This is the preamble to the consititution of INDIA. Where are we 50 years from the day this was written?
Let us start with SOVEREIGN - a country that holds the supreme authority to law making and enforcing it. Even the Supreme court judging panel won't bet on this. Our polcies are always influenced by the regional and national politics. That's the reason our nation doesn't or will never have the guts to give capital punishment to any terrorist who is proven guilty. So are we SOVEREIGN? No. We are more of SEMI-SOVEREIGN.
Now SOCIALIST - An economic system that through state or public ownership of any production ensures economic equality to citizens. What? Our economy and politics are controlled by Ambanis and the likes. We are part of the globalization and probably we are as SOCIALIST as United States.
SECULAR - This is the best part. India has no Unified Civil Code. What applies to me may not apply to David or Rahim.
DEMOCRATIC - Former terrorists and hooligans get elected from most states in India. They get into administration and we are good till "by the people, of the people", but does any elected representative work "for the people"? No.
to secure to all its citizens - 13 terrorist strikes in 2008. Yet the administration won't or can't act.
Equality of status and of opportunity - I am all for reservation. I am a strong believer that hundreds of years of anarchy and suppression has created mutiple classes of people. The ones that were subject to ages of brutality needs to be raised to the same level of others - through decades of education and opportunities. But is caste the single criteria for it? It might apply fairly well in Bihar, but not in more forward states like Kerala or Tamil Nadu. It is just common sense that you need to realize that the reservation scheme in 21st century needs to be redrafted and should be subject to review every few years. Otherwise, we are just reversing the hour glass.
What this makes us? A country that lost its identity..
This is the preamble to the consititution of INDIA. Where are we 50 years from the day this was written?
Let us start with SOVEREIGN - a country that holds the supreme authority to law making and enforcing it. Even the Supreme court judging panel won't bet on this. Our polcies are always influenced by the regional and national politics. That's the reason our nation doesn't or will never have the guts to give capital punishment to any terrorist who is proven guilty. So are we SOVEREIGN? No. We are more of SEMI-SOVEREIGN.
Now SOCIALIST - An economic system that through state or public ownership of any production ensures economic equality to citizens. What? Our economy and politics are controlled by Ambanis and the likes. We are part of the globalization and probably we are as SOCIALIST as United States.
SECULAR - This is the best part. India has no Unified Civil Code. What applies to me may not apply to David or Rahim.
DEMOCRATIC - Former terrorists and hooligans get elected from most states in India. They get into administration and we are good till "by the people, of the people", but does any elected representative work "for the people"? No.
to secure to all its citizens - 13 terrorist strikes in 2008. Yet the administration won't or can't act.
Equality of status and of opportunity - I am all for reservation. I am a strong believer that hundreds of years of anarchy and suppression has created mutiple classes of people. The ones that were subject to ages of brutality needs to be raised to the same level of others - through decades of education and opportunities. But is caste the single criteria for it? It might apply fairly well in Bihar, but not in more forward states like Kerala or Tamil Nadu. It is just common sense that you need to realize that the reservation scheme in 21st century needs to be redrafted and should be subject to review every few years. Otherwise, we are just reversing the hour glass.
What this makes us? A country that lost its identity..
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