and all films (irrespective of what their main premise
is) have comedy and music. In short, Indian cinema
does not seem to believe in maintaining the sanctity
of a genre, which is why we are left with a confused
feeling after seeing many films.
For example; can we slot Endhiran into one particular
genre? Very difficult, because it has the robot bringing
down trucks as well as singing ‘Irumbile Oru
Idhayam’ with a girl. But, think I Robot in
contrast, there is only robots causing mass destruction
and so we easily say, I Robot belongs to the action
(sci-fi) genre.
Perhaps Indian cinemas need to blend different genres,
blur the lines and create fine mixtures. It comes
from the strong Indian family system, with entire
families watching movies together, which brings about
the necessity of satisfying all categories of audiences
at once. And that in turn has given rise to a unique
genre that only Indian cinema can claim to have –
the Masala entertainer. Just like we Indians invented
masala in food, we have also invented masala in cinema.
The art of blending different tastes to give a cocktail
that is pleasurable (something like Chaat) is one
thing that the Indians have perfected, be it cuisine
or cinema.
Masala cinema is not something to feel ashamed or
guilty about. Indeed, it has provided us with some
of the most entertaining episodes of cinema and no
other industry in the world has yet perfected this
art. Masala cinema is as unique to India as the vada
pav or the masala dosa.
But, our indulgence with masala cinema (while not
being a bad thing) has also cost us certain other
things. Most genres can be blended and compressed
into one film without looking ridiculous. You can
have romance, action, comedy, sentiment, drama and
music – all in one film, and in the hands of
a skilled film maker, it ends up looking pretty good.
But, there are certain genres that just cannot be
subject to half or part treatment, the way we do it
in masala cinema. And, our industry’s indulgence
with the masala variety of cinema has meant that such
genres have remained largely strangers to Indian cinema.
What are these genres? Well, wartime films are the
foremost of them. Hollywood has been the world leader
in this genre, producing numerous films revolving
around historical military operations, many of which
are hailed as world classics. The very mention of
a wartime film makes us think of the unforgettable
Saving Private Ryan, the immortal classic The Great
Escape, the stylishly intense Guns of Navarone or
the tense K19. It is easy to guess why wartime cinema
cannot be adulterated with any other genre. The very
nature and requirement of the genre is such that it
demands the director to steer away from all things
outside the battlefield, just like a soldier needs
to think only about his target. While Hollywood has
been able to accept this diktat of the genre and make
some classics, Indian cinema has always been a bit
reluctant to make a film that does not include all
the essential ingredients of masala cinema. And that
is why we have so few wartime films to show off in
our repertoire. The very few names that come to mind
are the Hindi Border, the Malayalam Keerthi Chakra
and Kurukshethra. Even these (some of best military
based films in Indian cinema) are guilty of adulterating
the genre with family sentiments, music and even comedy
(at times) and that too in spite of Keerthi Chakra
and Kurukshethra being made by a former Indian army
major; such is the peer pressure from the Indian film
industry to add ‘masala’. The best ever
Indian film based on the military however might be
the Nana Patekar directed Prahaar, but even this was
guilty of straying away in the second half. Tamil
cinema has been sadly very deficient in this genre;
the closest it got was perhaps with Kurudhi Punal,
even though it was more a police story.
Yet another genre that has been sadly missing from
the cupboards of Indian cinema is the ‘courtroom
drama’. Some of you might question whether this
can be called a genre on its own or whether it should
be clubbed under suspense cinema. But, those who have
watched ‘A Few Good Men’ or ‘Rules
of Engagement’ or ‘The Exorcism of Emily
Rose’ (one believes it is essentially a courtroom
drama, not horror) will agree that making courtroom
dramas is an art unto itself and only the highly dedicated
and confident film maker can resist the temptation
of leaving the confines of a courtroom and creating
some artificial excitement through action. The films
mentioned above were successful for these exact reasons;
they never left the courtrooms except to show details
of the case being argued. The way Indian cinema cannot
adhere to such requirements of this genre can be seen
in the Hindi ‘Shaurya’, the adaptation
of ‘A Few Good Men’. The adaptation ended
up having two romances, two songs, a widow’s
sentiments portrayed through a guest appearance by
Amritha Rao, sentiments of the mother of an imprisoned
army officer, sentiments of a son who doesn’t
want to inherit the legacy of his martyred father
– all elements that were never part of the original.
A Few Good Men in the end looks much better than Shaurya
(which is one of the best going by Indian standards
for courtroom dramas).
The point is; the Indian way of mixing, blending and
serving different genres all rolled into one film
is good; a unique signature of Indian cinema. But,
there are times when the security of this tried and
tested method has to be abandoned and a genre has
to be served in its purest form to the audience. Of
course, the audiences who have been accustomed to
spiced-up concoctions will complain, but that is part
of the process of acceptance. Gautham Menon showed
the way when he abandoned his highly successful brand
of romance, music and action cocktails to make a psycho
story which showed only the central character’s
psychotic acts. The reactions he got might have scared
off many others who were looking to emulate him. But,
now another brave man has come up with an unadulterated
version of a genre that has been almost non-existent
in Indian cinema – the neo-noir. Aaranya Kaandam
is perhaps the first Indian gangster film in decades
that does not even for a moment try to look clean,
neat or decent. It is neo-noir in its purest form
and it is pretty strong medicine; just like vintage
wine. Some like it, some don’t.
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