The Era of Honest Movies

 

A tired mind seeks solace in three things: Company of good people, good old memories and some honest entertainment. While the first two things can be taken care of, the third one is often hard to find in today’s world.

                I find myself lucky to find two honest movies when I was in dire need for some meaningful entertainment. Oh My God and English Vinglish, both are movies which come straight from the heart and reach straight into the heart…

                Superficially, both are pretty different movies. OMG is about commercialization of religion while EV talks about the dignity of a typical housewife who is happy to ignore and be ignored by others. But some striking similarities must be mentioned. Firstly, both are about middle age, middle class people who truly represent India. It’s enough of youth centered, elitist, and sugar coated movies in Hindi. India wants realism in movies now.

 

 

                Both movies talk of a fight which can be seen as a representative struggle against the traditional mindset. The protagonists are no superman or superwoman. They are average individuals ignited with an intense desire. This fact makes Kanji bhai and Shashi truly inspirational. Besides, both movies feature the dilemma between family life and individual values, a typical characteristic of a common Indian.

                Surprisingly, both are directed by debutant directors and don’t have a great starcast as such. But it’s the presence of capable actors and honesty which makes them work. And the dialogues were phenomenal. For instance- “Tum logo se unka dharm chhinoge to wo tumhe apna dharm bana lenge” or “Jab koi apne aap ko pasand karne lagta hai to khudse judi sari cheese achchhi lagane lagati hai”.

                I think Indian cinema has two streams- one being the mindless, sugarcoated, feel good movies targeting 100 Cr and other being the low budget but true cinema viz. Chittagong, A Wednesday. Its upto the audience to select what they want. Because the quality of art or cinema in a society reflects the quality of the society.