Copy cat

I really like this film named " My cousin Vinny". Its about 2 guys who get charged with murder by mistake! And 1 of them calls on his cousin Vinny who's supposed to be a lawyer. But this character Vinny is really funny. He hasnt actually got a degree in law yet, he's failed several times and doesnt know any court manners and procedures, but nevertheless, He ends up winning the case!

Its such a wonderful film and I just told Di that if she hasnt watched it, then she's really missing on something! She asked me to narrate to her the plot. And I was not even 2 sentences in it when she said, " Ohh! This is the story of the marathi film "Kaydyacha Bola!"

I was shocked!!

Cant these people spare anything at all?

Where is the originality gone?

Just imagine, I've grown up loving some films such as "Hum hai rahi pyaar ke" and after all these years, suddenly I come to know it is copied from a Hollywood film! I lose all the respect and love for bollywood because they do this.

And now, marathi films are keeping up with the notorious trend!

The advantages of copying a story and remaking it in Indian language by adapting it to the Indian social conditions is that, our population which does not understand english can enjoy the film!

Apart from that I dont see any point in trying to make money on someone else's intellect and ideas! That too without buying the copyrights.

As a creative person, I very well understand that there are works of other people that you might get totally impressed with. The right attitude has to be to take in all the +ve points like a sponge and have your original story ( its ok if its similar till some extent! That is much better than copying scene by scene, dialogue to dialogue.)

Dev D is such an example. This film is a director's take on the story of Devdas and at the same time his tribute to a lot of characters and director's that he's liked along the way, all these years. Now this is called acting mature! Because he's put his head to it!

Why do Indians copy films and music so often?
It looks like we just dont have any confidence in ourselves and our talent. Or are we out of ideas? Maybe we just dont want to use our head much. Maybe we dont want to take a chance and experiement with this medium of films!

India is the motherland of culture and drama and music! our history in dance drama goes back to centuries! We have to respect our history and come up with our original work, like our forefather's did!

Its true that Hollywood is much more advanced in the technique of film making, they also have that much budget. Bollywood is lacking, I believe, not because of talent but because of attitude!

To start off, why is our film industry being named Bollywood? Does the B stand for Bombay?

We have to begin by changing the name. Or simply call our industry, the Indian film Industry.... what's bad in it? This should also be followed by the Tollywood and the others!

Secondly , we give far too importance to beauty over talent! Talent is not at all respected in India. No wonder all our classical dancers and famous instrument players are settled abroad! Ofcourse, the lead roles have to be presentable. But not necessary that they have to be beauty queens with the perfect figures!

Thirdly, there is no proper planning in pre production, production and post production. In hollywood, the film makers will get down to work and make a storeyboard and pen out everything in details. Forget the story board here, do we even have a proper screenplay? Many times the writer comes on the set and writes the scene. What a waste of money!!

Our so called stars - The heroes and heroins set the standards for the films! 1st they come late! 2nd- They all are over priced for the kind of performance they deliver. 3rd - If they end up paying 6 crores on 1 star, just imagine how they do the budget for the rest of the crew!! It's as if 1 person rules the film! Is a film a hit only because of the star?? We need to learn to give due respect to each and evry person who makes filming possible! There has to be some sort of balance! Right now it is a completely unfair, unbalanced equation practiced in Films in India!

The 60's and 70's in Indian Cinema really saw all the best of films! The best thing about them was that they were original and far away from the impact of the western films. It wasnt called bollywood then.

Today everybody laughs at the bollywood films. But in this mudpool , lie some beautiful lotus. Ashutotosh Gowarikar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali etc are great film makers! They are the one's who bring out the essence of India!

The exaggeration, melodrama, dancing around the trees has to stop now! Our film makers have to get real!

They need to stop underestimating the audience and take them to be a fool! They have to respect our intellect and treat us accordingly!