After a long time I had the
privilege of watching a movie without reading any reviews. For those who seem
to think this rather unusual, you might want to step into my world. My fear of
not enjoying a movie after parting with my hard earned money is so great, that
I read a minimum of 3-4 reviews before I muster courage and step into a
multiplex. And it has almost always worked for me in the past. But somehow in
recent times I feel as if there is so much negative feedback going around, some
even being too critical and offensive that I am rethinking this ‘strategy’ of
mine.
Forget someone
else’s star ratings. The function of movie guides is to inform you who’s in a
film and what it’s about, so that you can decide for yourself.
This line is from one of my
favorite movie reviewer, Baradwaj Rangan’s, blog. Generally, his review alone
is enough for me to make up my mind, but sometimes, just sometimes there
releases a movie that I have anticipated so much and which he has not really
liked it, and I search for reviews written by others to validate his opinion.
Earlier on, when he decided to do away with
his star rating for a movie, I was disappointed to say the least. But his
reasoning was something on the lines that a rating is very personal. What he
feels deserves a three might warrant a four from us readers. And sometimes when
he thinks a movie might not good enough for a four and certainly not a three, a
three and half just doesn’t cut it. And so he changed his style of writing. His
reviews are not really reviews, they are more his thoughts about a movie. So if a movie is bad, you really won’t know
when you read his review, but what you’ll come to know is if he was
disappointed by the director’s attempt or if the story line had let the movie
down or any of the innumerable factors that can make or break a movie. Most
importantly, you come to know his opinion…not a general statement or a
judgment.
Perhaps this link from his blog should explain his thoughts
better.
Now-a-days when I read a review,
I find the reviewers’ opinion thrust on me. Perhaps people do want a ready
reckoner and their minds are made up easily when a reviewer they trust gives a
11/2 or a 2 to a movie. Not so for me. What if I love like the actor?
What about the director of the movie? I know for a fact that after watching Anurag
Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, I’d watch his ‘Bombay Velvet’ even it got,
like, 1 start (which I hope it does not). Or even if Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Bullett
Raja’, with its double ‘T’ fails to invoke the reviewer’s goodwill, I know I
shall go watch it because I liked his earlier movies and oh…because I love
like Saif(he is a ‘saif’ bet, you see)
The movie which triggered this
post is Gori Tere Pyar Mein. Did I like it? Yes I did…mostly. Did the so-called
reviewers like it? You guessed it. No. And a vehement ‘no’ at that. There was
one guy on TV who termed it ‘boring’. For whom, I wanted to ask. Isn’t boring a
strong word for a dispassionate reviewer? Rajeev Masand says the film struggles
to hold your attention. Well, not for me.
And he’s one of my fall back reviewers, so if anybody has to be included
in that equation, it should also be me. My contention is with people who put
down a movie based on not how they felt, but because they think they have been
chosen as a guard dog for good, cerebral entertainment. They make sweeping
statements and seem to be in fear of not having been the first to warn you that
the movie was bad. “See, I told ya”
or “You heard from me first.” In
these days of instant media, where anybody can write a review, there sadly
seems to be very few passionate film goers. Even a movie, like Lunch Box
garnered a small portion of flak. Is this some sort of a drive to achieve
greater goals? Do such reviews stop some directors from making really bad
movies and some to continue making some really good movies?
I shall not forget watching
Chennai Express, in spite of my biased opinion (oh I could never be a good
reviewer) - I don’t like Rohit Shetty’s movies you see, on the words of a
regular visitor to BR’s blog. I have found his views on movies matching mine
and when he said, “I liked it, what’s there not to like?” I knew that I would
give the movie a chance. And boy was I rewarded. Chennai Express was a good
entertainer. I liked it too.
Gori Tere Pyar Mein has been
promoted as a romantic comedy. Would it be too presumptuous of me to call it
‘light hearted’? This word has almost become alien among the reviews these
days. The story line was light and does not tax much. Yes, I did feel that they
did try to over-reach in the second half of the movie by trying to expect us to
take the heroine’s cause seriously, but the treatment of the story is much
better than many others I have seen. I felt that the dialogues were more
colloquial and relatable; the actors, Imraan Khan, KKK (that’s Kareen Kapoor
Khan…whew), Nizhagal Ravi and Sujata Kumar, did a good job.
I only felt that scenes showing
these guys running off from their lavish, large scale weddings as if it doesn’t
cost the parents a thing to organize them, doesn’t become a constant in Hindi
movies. Another thing which didn’t work
for me was the second half. There were portions where the movie really slows
down, but not so much that you sleep through it or want to fiddle with your
gadgets (as some pesky movie goers do). While we are on the topic of doing away
with stereotypes, why not even remove the concept of having 5 odd songs in the
movie, even when the premise just does not lend itself to it? The two songs
that have been topping the charts, ‘Tooh’
and ‘Chillum Chabake’ seemed so
forced and unnecessary.
But that’s about the wrongs that
I want to dwell upon, especially since I want to see it for what it is – a romantic
comedy. The polished, glossy village, the unruffled, not-a-hair-out-of-place,
so-called social activist Kareena, the extravagant sets and a certain surrealism…everything
belongs to a Karan Johar production. You practically expect it when you go see
the movie. Then why the hue and cry?
To think that I would have given
this movie a miss if I had read the reviews first! I guess I need to seriously
consider whose reviews to follow in the future and even if that doesn’t work
out, to at least have the conviction to watch a movie for what it is and scrimp
on that popcorn to make up for money wasted on a bad movie. Or perhaps I need
that big, bag of popcorn to take my mind off a bad movie; then it will not be a
wasteful expenditure. Oh anyway, I am sure you might not be very interested in
my ramblings on cost cutting ideas especially while indulging in an activity I
so love.
Comments
After a long time I went for a first day show. It was unplanned and I don't think I'd have seen this movie after reading the reviews ;) That's what prompted the post.