As an Indian you can never miss upon two things - Cricket and Cinema. These are the two most popular means of entertainment an Indian can savour. T20 cricket is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds but ODI and Test cricket are still widely followed. In cinema, however, Hindi cinema (affectionately referred as Bollywood) is 'the' most famous, and regional cinema can never really out-do it. The changes in Bollywood cinema over these years have been phenomenal. To describe it in a sentence, subjects have become more interesting while music has become less melodious. Adding to it, a new wave of cinema has emerged and the change is refreshing.
A lot of the credit has to go to Hollywood movies for this and ofcourse an improved exposure and Internet. The acceptability for fresh ideas and experimental kind of movies has been the reason for their success. Back in those days when Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro or Chashme Buddoor or Ek Ruka Hua Faisla were released, the general mindset was not really tuned to any other kind of cinema; had these movies released today, their response would have been a hell a lot different (in a positive way). I really look forward to the movies made by Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Neeraj Pandey, Sujay Ghosh, Anurag Basu, etc as their approach to cinema is very fresh. But this may not have come to them naturally; there were a few before them who sought after bringing this change and one of them has been Ram Gopal Varma (RGV).
RGV started off very fresh, unlike his contemporary film makers. The subjects, editing, camera work was all very new. Remember his movies like Raat, Bhoot, Rangeela, Company and Satya! All those were well conceived, well directed films and they were 'new'. Ofcourse off late all his movies are disasters but he had a good time and perhaps inspired a fresh breed of movie makers, one of which was Anuraag Kashyap, his protege.
Yes, I am now talking about the man behind Paanch, Black Friday, Return of Hanuman, Udaan, Gulaal, Girl in Yellow Boots and very recently Gangs of Wasseypur. He has been a film maker much like RGV, having excelled under his tutelage and then going beyond him in terms of success. There is so much similarity, yet so much difference, in the work of both these men. Look at the nature of subjects they choose - such extreme subjects. Look at the star cast for their movies - again, very unorthodox. Yes, the protege has turned out to be a better film maker though, perhaps the reason being better application and the right approach.
If you recall RGV named his production house as Ram Gopal Varma Film Factory. A factory creates similar type of products in variable quantities ofcourse, and off late RGV's approach has been exactly that. Subjects are different but execution is typical. Similar camera work, similar background score and similar editing style. This similarity has become obnoxious. As opposed to that, Anuraag Kashyap's movies are a different brand of cinema. He has matured enough to understand this simple thing which his mentor has been simply clueless about.
Let me explain this by comparing RGV's Rakhta Charitra to Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. Both are revenge stories, both are high on violence and both have a generation leap. Now consider the presentation - RGV's typical against Kashyap's unconventional. Consider background score - RGV's typical against Kashyap's realistic. Consider music - RGV's melody-less tunes to Kashyap's groovy tracks. Infact, getting Chhi Chaa Ledar sung by a street child Durga was a master stroke by Kashyap.
How do you define innovation? Doing different things or doing things differently, isn't it! Well, Kashyap has been doing both and that is the reason for his success. RGV's films have always been about doing things differently, and that is why perhaps his success has always been below par. Kashyap, on the other hand, has worked towards achieving commercial success for experimental cinema and I can't help marvel at his success!
The way I look at this is that one can certainly out-do his/her mentor. And that is a real sense of achievement, isn't it? The trick is to learn everything you can from your mentor and applying it/experimenting with it like never before. And ofcourse, never cease respecting your mentor! You learnt from him after all :)
No comments:
Post a Comment