|
Yash
Raj Films latest offering "Ta Ra Rum Pum" doesn't have anything new to
say. This Saif Ali Khan-Rani Mukerji starrer is just like old wine in a
new bottle with the same rich-girl-meets-poor-boy and falls in love
classical formula.
As
usual director Siddharth Anand, of "Salaam Namaste" fame, creates a
situation where Saif, a small-time car tyre changer who later
transforms into a celebrated car racer, meets Rani, daughter of a rich
businessman - with the US as an attractive setting.
After two
chance meetings, they fall in love, get married and live happily with
their two kids until an unexpected financial crisis spoils the
tranquillity of their lives. Self-respecting Rani refuses to take help
from her wealthy father. In the end, Saif fights off all the odds to
bring happiness back in their lives.
Similar themes were quite
common in the movies made in late 1960s and early 70s. Whether it was
K. Asif's magnum opus "Mughal-e-Azam" or showman Raj Kapoor's "Aawara"
or master craftsman Guru Dutt's "Aar-paar" - love between the rich and
poor protagonists formed the central theme.
Some other examples
are "Kashmir Ki Kali", "Jab Jab Phool Khile" and "Mere Humdum Mere
Dost". Later in the 80s, films such as "Betaab", "Sunny", "Dil" and
more recently "Raja Hindustani", and last but not the least Shah Rukh
Khan's "Chalte Chalte" toed the same line.
Yash Raj Films is one
of the oldest and most prestigious filmmaking banners in Bollywood and
one expects them to provide a fresh impetus to other directors and
producers.
One wonders when filmmakers like Yash Chopra, who
started his career with meaningful films like "Dharmputra" and
"Ittefaq", will get rid of such market-tested formulas?
A film
reveals the contemporary cultural, political and economic trend in a
country. But most of the mainstream Hindi cinemas rely on tested
formulas. While technically Hindi films have improved, their
technological advancement has failed to bring any emphatic change in
the content.
Compared to Bollywood directors, whose films are
far removed from reality, regional filmmakers like Adoor
Gopalakrishnan, Jahnu Barua and Gautam Ghosh are doing a better job and
their films show a range of artistic and innovative craft as well as
emotions.
It's high time Bollywood filmmakers evolve and take a much-delayed cinematic leap beyond their self-imposed borders.
Indo-Asian News Service
|
