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Can we sue Film Companies making bad films?
If a company that makes a faulty light bulb can be sued by consumers then why can't a film company that makes a horrible film meet the same fate?
After all, both the cases amount to cheating the consumers of his hard earned money and in both the cases, guilt can be scientifically proven - a bad film is preceded by misleading advertising and promotions promising all together a different content and experience. Further, Lack of coherent script and character development and logical flow of story can be easily proven even if garish use of colours, tacky props/sets, insipid acting and ear drum shattering sound are debatable.
Being a writer and a filmmaker, I completely understand and respect the freedom and long rope that needs to be provided for producers of creative products. However, we need to see this current economic persepective surrounding film exhibition. A family of 4-6 being enticed to watch a film would set them off by 50-100 dollars including travel & f & B. Each hit Film is grossing in millions and billions.
Most of these revenues are by first rush over the weekend which is created by the trust people have in film personalities who come out and promote the film with clever marketing & advertising which is often misleading. Now, shouldn't these companies also be subjected to some sort of corporate governance? or is it okay to mislead and cheat people as far as you are hiding behind a cloak of creativity?
What stops the bulb manufacturer saying in court that the bulb failed because he was trying to be creative in his manfacturing process. Personal preferences can be debatable - you like action, i dont , you like jack nicholson raising his eye brows I may not.
But if the film has a coherent screenplay missing or many plot points are unexplained till the very end. Or if the film is marketed as a thriller when actually its a love story with one murder which has no relevance to the story as such? what if the film is marketed as say a tom cruise movie when he only has a two minute walk on part? then how is that not quantifiable? that's my point, why shouldn't we have legal guidelines that differentiate creativity from plain cheating.
Aamir Khan's Gajini
I can't believe Aamir Khan made Gajini...actually I can't believe anyone made Gajini!!! what the duck were they thinking?? and this goes on to make 170 crores????
Are we so gullible as a race? politicians, Government, media, film stars...anyone can sell us any lie, take us for a ride and will we happily go for it and even foot the bill. Perhaps we deserve the mediocrity we live in...
you know what scares me is that now you can't trust anyone. this may sound cynical but no point living in denial. We have completely eroded our moral fabric, as people, as a nation.
We will lie, cheat, deny and package all this with gloss and sell it for top dollar. I had lot of faith in Aamir Khan's integrity but after seeing Gajini, I realised how blatantly he sold us a lie. He is no different then the politicians, media or businesses who sell us lies everyday and hide the truth in the fine print. Ofcourse the "*" asterix redeems their souls.
For me, Aamir Khan is no different then Nixon. Like the former president, the actor too has cheated the very people who believed in him. Aamir Khan was more than an actor. He was the great big hope - hope of great art, but more importantly - great principles, great integrity.
Today, that hope lies naked. It's like the matrix - they will appear to be however you want them to be but the reality is something else...
Expectedly when I shared my views on the film in some other forum, person who had worked on the film was furious with me and others who had supported my view and was lambasting us and was of the belief that they had indeed made the best film ever which is why it was making so much money.
He was just not willing to accept that leave alone film theatre, good marketing & famous people can get a crowd in India or anywhere in the world rush inside even a gas chamber!
His reaction is the perfect example of how deep the rot has set in. Now even if we show him the mirror, he will not recognize the real from the mirage that exists in his mind. just like the movie matrix. Neo couldn't believe that the world he sees around him is not the world that actually exists.
The fact is most of us take the blue pill that protects that mirage because we dont want to accept that our heroes have fallen. Actually somewhere we are equally to be blamed for this fall as we created them to begin with. By denying their failure, we are also escaping our own failures. We needed to be more careful about choosing our heroes.
Now since he is part of Gajini's production team so we have to see his reaction from his persepective as well.
Even if and that's a big IF, he does agree with our opinion, he will say the same things he did and anyone of us in his place will do the same. That's a fact. Sad but a fact.
Denial is the most common form of escapism. Personal stakes makes denial smarter way out of a pickle. Being from the film industry, I too am risking my stakes by speaking my mind but I am stupid, even mad. This guy is not.
He knows that the opinion of you and I is not going to make his career. He needs to make the right noises for the powers to be- just like politicians - make the right noises, create the matrix, get the votes. Job well done.
Afterall, today, the truth couldn't even sell Gandhi, the best product we ever created. That too needed "Bollywood Marketing skills".
The World, is coming to an End
The world, is coming the and
And you better, have a story to tell
Because he will ask you, what befell?
To all the seven billion odd he sent
Why even million yells, couldn’t get any help
Why all roads lead to hell
The world, is coming to an end
And you better, have a story to tell
Because he will ask you about that child
Who killed his father, mother and hundred others
and didn’t even cry
He will ask you about that teacher that you hired
who taught hatred and fanned many fires
He will ask you how dare you made a gun
That was stronger than the Earth, Moon and the Sun
The world, is coming to an end
And you better, have a story to tell
Because he will ask you, what befell?
To all the seven billion odd he sent
Why even rivers of tears and mountains of pain
Couldn’t move even a soul or make anyone sane
The air, the trees, the sky, the meal, it’s all gone
“Adam and Eve, now all is left is you two and me
This, wasn’t meant to be”
That really will be all finally said by thee
The world, is coming the and
And you better, have a story to tell
Rules of Engagement
So, innocent people got hit. Politicians got hit. Business got hit. Media got hit. Terrorists got hit and now it looks like even Pakistan might get hit. So, who got away scot free? Someone has to. Someone always does. I think the high echelons of our security agencies – they got away very cheaply. They were conveniently hiding behind brave soldiers in the front in this war against terrorism. Let’s not mistake the brave hearts that fought in Mumbai with their cobwebbed big daddies. That will be a huge mistake and leave us with huge gaping holes to plug.
I agree that Politicians are responsible for leading the state and passing appropriate laws and jurisdictions and taking the right decisions at the right time. However, my question is who is manning the outposts? Who are the gatekeepers? Who are listening to that intelligence radio? Who is on a day to day basis supervising the patrolling of our land borders and sea fronts and airspace? Who are sitting in that RAW offices and strategizing on best ways to get reliable Intel? Who are training our forces on basics when facing a crises situation?
The answer is not politicians but the big daddies of our intelligence that were caught napping. Forget getting good actionable intelligence in advance, once the attack happened and the NSG was on the crime scene – why wasn’t their commander trained to cordon off the area and shoo off the media and bystanders? Agreed we do not have budgets for heat sensing radars that could have detected the positions of terrorists in seconds in Nariman house but what about basic training that no one except the action task force during the operation and forensics post operation will be allowed near the crime scene. Even the investigators are only allowed once the location is completely scanned by forensics for all evidence as sometimes even the cops can contaminate the crime scene
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Weekly picks for mom in law
Here, we will list the kind of films which don't even deserve a review but you can safely recommend them to people you think deserve to be in "another" world....go on spread the love:
1. CRANK - this is not a movie but a conspiracy against keeping Jason Statham from becoming the biggest action star post transporter
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What's Happening to Shyamalan?
First thing first - I am on top of the cult following Shyamalan has.
Having said that, my worst fears came true last evening. Shyamalan has taken this cult following too seriously, much like his earlier success. The fact is that fan loyalty is as good as the idol and we have seen this slip for many idols before Shyamalan
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Who Killed My James Bond?
First the goo goo stuff - I am such a huge fan of 007 that when I was a kid I would ask my mom to serve me milk shaken not stirred.
There are some worlds that exist within our world where we never grow up - worlds created by music of pink floyd - no matter how old, you will always trip like a weed rookie teenager everytime you hear floyd. Or when you hear billie jean in mcdonalds and something inside you wants to moonwalk to your table
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Appetite for Destruction
I wanted to write this soon after the terror attacks but there was so much already being said, written and done that I wanted to take a step back and get down to expressing myself after I had processed all I had seen & heard and munched on my own thoughts for a bit before unleashing them on others. This is always a good idea but I am seldom non-impulsive.
While putting a lid on our defunct politicians was long due and well deserved, we must not forget to plug some other gaping holes – Administration, intelligence, security agencies, police and even citizens – we all have a role to play if we want our nation to collectively put more value to our lives
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I want my pot made of Gold
The right question – Can we not succeed without aspiring for the obnoxious?
The adage born with a silver spoon has lost the sheen in post e reforms India and not because silver spoon is not a valuable commodity anymore but because almost everyone today has one. Everyone also has a cell phone, credit cards, mode of transport, branded piece of clothing and even a hyper market loyalty card. This is the good news
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Who's Afraid of big Bad Wolves ?
The right question – why are we afraid to discuss the causes of terrorism?
Terrorism, like inflation, poverty, backwardness and malnutrition is a consequence, a disease and surely like all things that ail humanity, we need to work aggressively to find its cure. However, is any cure for any disease possible without investigating, analyzing and understanding its causes
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