BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

Critics consider 2014 as the black year for Hollywood. Very few critically acclaimed movies have thus far been released this year. The remaining months don’t look promising either. Other than the 2 biggies - Interstellar and The Hobbit - 2014 doesn't show much of hope for Hollywood.

 

This situation demands some food for thought. Aren't the heroes bored of fighting the aliens and the evil mutants over and over again. At least the audience definitely seems a little bored watching the clichéd battles! 

 

Not a year for Rom-Com – 2014 is yet to see a romantic comedy ring the box office bell loudly. Repetitive story lines and cliched screenplay play spoilsport.

 

Are we looking at a transition phase for Hollywood?

 

Directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameroon have started emphasizing on cross cultural relationships. Steven Spielberg who recently visited India is also interested to invest in India to know more about Indian culture and the kind of movies we make. 

 

On the other hand, Bollywood is facing one of its worst phases. Out of the four 100 crore club movies this year 2 have been remakes. In recent years only remakes of south Indian masala flicks have ended up box office Maharajas in Bollywood. 

 

Bollywood is slowly starting to lose its originality and charm in the recent times. There is a huge drought for innovation in the land of the Bachchans, Khans and Kapoors.         

 

Tollywood – One of India’s biggest film Industries has had a silent 2014 so far with very few star studded movies releasing in the 1st half. Only around 75 movies have been released including several dubbed movies this year, with only a handful of movies attaining hit status. The main reason for such a lackluster performance is said to be because of the partition of Andhra Pradesh into 2 different states.

 

Kollywood – In spite of releases from the 3 top most heroes of the industry 2014 has been a pretty ordinary year for Kollywood. It has so far been a year for debutantes. Though Kollywood did not have too many hit movies, the industry still looks very much healthy unlike other film industries.

 

Gone are the days when Tamil movies are inspired from the west. Young upcoming directors are on the rise with some wonderful ideas keeping our culture, tradition and society in mind. Thegidi, Mundasupatti and Goli Soda are some examples. The concept of making films revolving around our folklore which inspired the like of Anurag Kashyap to create Gangs Of Wasseypur stands testimony to the fact that Bollywood is not only borrowing talent from Tamil cinema but ideas as well.

 

There was never a doubt whether India has got talent, but finding the right person was always a challenge. Now we can find our very own Spielbergs and Cameroons. Kollywood may not have a Nolan, but it has a Nalan. 

 

But there are some obstacles we need to look at as well. Because of the 30% tax exemption that ‘U’ certified movies enjoy, producers prefer only such movies. It actually limits the director’s creativity and because of this trend, directors are forced to make only comedy - based movies.

 

There are around two hundred movies that are waiting to see the light of day at the moment. These movies could not release because it could not find a distributor who could back it up. We only have few distributors; a handful of distributors cannot release 200 odd movies. It is probably the right time to look at director Cheran’s C2H concept which would help the small budget movies. 

 

Easier said than done. Film industry all-round the globe is on an all-time low. Let us hope for a change soon.

Avinash
Follow @Avinashpandian