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Do budgets really matter: getting the right perspective |
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| By Behindwoods News
Bureau. |
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July 28, 2007 |
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Is a movie’s worth decided by the amount
of money spent in its making and publicity?
Most of you would say an emphatic “no”
to that one; but there does seem to be such
a feeling at least in some parts of the Indian
film industry that a big budget or at least
a claim to it can raise the stakes of a movie.
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Sometimes one can’t help feeling that money is being
blown in needless pursuits of pomp, grandeur, splendor
and other whatnots that while not helping a movie in any
way in some cases tends to draw the focus away from the
main theme of the movie itself. It is like concentrating
the spotlight on something that is actually nothing in
the movie. This is not being said without any proof or
just off the cuff. This is based on observations that
have been made over the past year or so, especially in
Bollywood and in some cases Kollywood too. Here are some
instances where money, time and a hell a lot of publicity
was wasted on a figment of a feature film that had nothing
to do with the plot of the movie.
1.
Bhagam Bhag
Even those who have seen the movie in theaters might not
be aware of such a song. It is the Bhagam Bhag theme song
and it is shown on screen when the end credits begin to
roll. And it is not a song that was made out of deleted
scenes, bloopers, ‘in the making’ videos and
things like that. It was a song that was shot after all
other portions of the film had been completed, almost
like an afterthought and finding nowhere in the movie
to place it they decided to put it at a place where it
would not affect the narrative, right at the end. And,
believe it or not, the song, shot on Govinda and Akshay
Kumar cost the producers a cool Rs. 1 crore and for all
practical purposes the song did not help the movie in
any way, except for a few news bytes that the movie has
a Rs. 1 crore song. Call it lavishness, thrift or plain
madness - it just doesn’t make any sense.
2. Kya Love Story Hai
This was a movie that was released fairly recently starring
Tushar Kapoor and Ayesha Takia but the movie came to be
known for a reason quite far removed from this. That reason
was an item song featuring Kareena Kapoor. Kareena did
the item song at the special request of the director who
happened to be her long time friend. But one feels it
would have been a far greater favor had she not done the
song; her presence and the heavy promotion surrounding
that drew all the attention away from the main story that
the only people who ended up in theaters were a few assorted
Kareena crazed guys. Result, the movie sank without a
trace. The producer had spent a cool sum on this song
too.
Now something from Kollywood
Aran
This was a movie that was supposed to be based on the
life, bravery and sacrifices of the men guarding the frontiers
of our nation and yet in a very appalling manner, an item
number, exclusive front bencher stuff, featuring Ragasiya
was added to the movie for reasons that cannot be fathomed.
One thing is for sure, the director, Major Ravi, an ex-military
personnel himself would certainly had not been in favor
of this item number. There seems to have been some serious
pushing done by the producer who felt insecure with the
offbeat theme. The presence of such an unwelcome diversion
further weakened the chances of this movie. As an ending
note: the same movie was released in Malayalam titled
Keerthi Chakra without this obtrusive addition and was
a huge hit there. The producer was the same but there
seemed to be no insistence upon an item number in Malayalam.
Then, did the producer underestimate the taste of the
Tamil audiences, is there a feeling that Tamil audience
need a fair share of masala before they can accept a movie.
Think again, think Mozhi…… good, unadulterated
cinema always wins. Gimmicks not required.
Finally, one hears that the shooting of Bhool Bhulaiya
(Hindi remake of Chandramukhi is over) but the producers
and director are planning to shoot an extra song featuring
Akshay Kumar. The cost - Rs. 1 crore … And they
will be using it principally to promote the film (and
maybe add it on at the end)… Not again! |
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