Hollywood Masala

Why are so many of the desi films so repetitive?

Do we reallly need to see more coming of age identity movies, with arranged marriage subplots?

Or who wants to really see a movie about an indian guy making a movie, besides other indian guys who want to make movies.

Even Bollywood has gotten edgy with their films.


There are lot of interesting stories to tell, so we should move beyond the safe stuff.

Mankind has been making stories about good guys versus bad guys for 5000 years and good guy have always won. Do you feel it's hackenyed? The answer is NO. So, the arranged marriage plot is not the problem. The problem is, the dramatization of the plot and the characterization.

Yes, there are other issues and subjects to make movies and we SHOULD make those movies but arranged marriage, coming of age and self-identity are BIG issues in indian community. Why should we run away from something we face every day? Although, the movie failed in certain areas(like the title), I thought the movie ABCD was a bold attempt. Better than, LOOK-I-AM-SO-DIFFERENT, LOOK-I-AM-SO-HOLLYWOOD movies. Watch out for Krutin Patel.

Basically, movies should serve some purpsose--entertainment,arty or experimental. Godard certainly had a purpose.

I AGREE
ABCD WAS WELLMADE
BUT HOW MANY MOVIES DO YOU WANT
ON - ABCDS? CONFUSIONS? IDENTITY CRISIS? GREEN CARDS? AMERICAN DESIS?

LOOK AT GURINDER -
SHE IS TRYING BRIDE AND PREJUDICE
MIRA IS TRYING VARSITY SOMETHING WITH THAT GIRL FROM LEGALLY BLONDE

LOOK AT M NIGHT SHAMALAN -
HIS LAST 3 AND CURRENT FILM - HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH - IDENTITY CRISIS
OR OH I AM SO LOST BEING 2ND GENERATION INDIAN-AMERICAN

IN THE END, IF ITS WELL MADE, IT MAY WORK
BUT THEN - NONE OF THESE WERE WELLMADE MOVIES

TRADE-OFFS [MY FRIEND RITA IS IN IT] IS A WELLMADE FILM
ARYA LOOKS INNOVATIVE AND PROMISING
COSMOPOLITIAN HAS GOT GREAT REVIEWS

WE NEED MORE ORIGINAL STORIES
AND MORE WELL WRITTEN ROLES FOR US ACTORS

Tell me how many movies you want :)

I agree movies are badly made but well made movies and badly made movies are a different topic I was talking abt the "subject" of the movies.

Everybody has take on these issues and it is interesting to see their take on it. I think this will continue forever. BTW, there are plethora of this cultural clash\identity movies made in 30' about Italian immigrants. Right now, its just our turn and there might be more to come.

Gurindher made Bend it... and the core conflict is cultural\generation gap. Mira nair made a wonderful Missippi masala about the same conflict. Those cultural movies are their stepping stones. Night has not made a film about Indians when he does we will see what he deals with.

Every writer is pre-occupied with certain subjects so let's hope they give their fresh take--cultural clash or arranged marriage or sci-fi or whatever it is. I don't see a need to discriminate or avoid certain subjects if you got a fresh take on it.

Night Shyamalan's first film "Praying with Anger" was shot in India (Chennai, formerly Madras). And dealt with (from what I could see in the clips I saw) an indian american adjusting to college life in india.

Also, here's the logline for that film from IMDB.
An alienated, Americanized teenager of East Indian heritage is sent back to India where he discovers not only his roots but alot about himself.

Now instead of making all sorts of demands on struggling filmmakers, how about organizing an anti-piracy movement?

Isn't it shameful that a financially successful community such as ourselves brazenly supports a completely illegal way of watching movies in the US, both from the suppliers side as well as the audiences themselves, when for american films, without any trace of irony, we shell out the buckaroos at blockbuster?

Today, M. Night Shyamalan would not target a film to the indian american marketplace, because it just isn't a financially viable marketplace. Neither did Gurinder Chadha nor Mira Nair.

Believe me, making a good film is nowhere as simple as picking a good title (subjective) or cutting together a trailer (i know trailer makers who can turn a pile of *** into a nugget of gold).

;-)

Ciao!
Nikhil K
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A New Romantic Comedy INDIAN COWBOY: A Love-Love Story

oh my! How can I forget "Praying with Anger" in fact it is in some way a precursor to "The sixth sense" thanks for correcting me Nikhil.

I am clueless on the piracy issue. From viewer POV they don't really care. So, till the demand is there someone will find a way to supply them with pirated copies. May be, some one has to take a strong legal action, like the music industry.

an original story,
a new idea has more shelf-life
than same old identity-crisis, arrange marriage, i am confused plots

there must be a reason why m night doesnt make indian-american movies any more
his first 2 movies were bigtime flops
and he tasted success with non-indian-american theme projects

question is - can your movie be enjoyed by non-indians?
does it have a global appeal?
or your movie is just another indian version of my big fat greek wedding?
[YOUR as in anyone]

trailers are like windows to the soul of your movie
if you dont have an original innovative story, and intriguing trailers
- why would anyone come see your movie? buy your dvd?

lets face it - piracy exists - cos content is not upto the mark
these same indian folks take their kids for finding nemo,
go watch bond movies, and julia roberts romantic comedy
and shahrukh khan/amitabh/hrithik movies

so since only handful of desi movies are worth 10$
people do go for them

lets focus less on piracy and more on making entertaining movies
- and offer something new to masses/classes

inshallah they will come back to theatres

The only filmmakers who can afford to not care about piracy are those whose movies no one could care less about, including the pirates. The more entertaining and good a movie is, the more it will be pirated. After all, even if outside the law, the pirates still are businessmen (and women). If the movie ain't any good, they won't waste their resources on it. Guess those filmakers who have shitty films on their hands aren't worried about piracy. I am. I'm * really* concerned about piracy. Very, *very* concerned.

We must fight piracy. No toleration. No excuses. Don't tell the filmmakers to change, while supporting criminals and allowing them to prosper. Remember, the way piracy is today in the indian marketplace, its like going into blockbuster and buying a "Kill Bill" dvd for $5 a week after release.

Ciao!
Nikhil K
---
A New Romantic Comedy INDIAN COWBOY: A Love-Love Story

can you deny most of these movies
wheres the party yaar, greencard fever etc were crap?

american desi, american chai, abcd, wings of hope, namaste
american this, american that, indian this, indian that,
something desi, anything desi etc

why should people be interested in same thing over and over again
- just from slightly different perspectives

sheetal sheth has acted in 3 movies
- american chai, abcd, wings of hope
same I AM CONFUSED role in each I AM CONFUSED movie - but i guess she had to these roles
to reach where she is today - acting in primetime tv

all i am saying is - if writers write something new
and filmmakers make good movies, giving us actors challenging roles
- people will come for it

question is - do we have good product? content? for viewers -

well i hope the day comes when we have 20 indian-american movies release each year
and all of them are box office success, but i pray and hope - its not same
old wine in a new bottle


till then - lets thank god for chutney popcorn, for each american desi

I SAW THAT
SHE IS COMING IN SOME SHOW PRIMETIME
SHEETAL SHETH

BUT YES, HER ROLES IN WINGS OF HOPE, ABCD, A-CHAI
WERE SO SIMILAR

I WANT TO SEE COSMOPOLITAN
NISHA IS COOL

I won't slam someone else's work. I'd much prefer to let the marketplace decide whether it wants to support it or not.

To make the argument that pirates are only pirating these bad (in your opinion) films flies in the face of all facts. All of the films you mentioned (julia roberts starrers, shah rukh starrers, even Kal Ho Na Ho) are being pirated. And Hollywood itself (maker of the films you admire) and indian companies like Yash Raj (makers of the shah rukh/hritik starrers) are fighting piracy.

Nisha Ganatra herself at a screening of Chutney Popcorn talked about how they won't release the film in India first, because if they do, it'll get pirated and sent all around the world.

Talk to Nisha. She's very friendly and nice. Ask her if she is concerned about piracy.

The arguments and thoughts expressed above are not worth my time to rebut. We'll always have pirates, and we'll always have people who support them. My focus is to reach those people who are unaware of the problem, and are willing to support the artists.

I am very clear that I won't support criminals. I'd rather support an incompetant filmmaker than a very competant criminal/pirate.

And God Bless Yash Raj and those who are fighting this brazen and shameful piracy that exists in the indian-american retail marketplace in the US.

Ciao!
Nikhil K
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A New Romantic Comedy INDIAN COWBOY: A Love-Love Story

Yes all good points, I do want to point out though that at least one Indo-American movie in that group received a legitimate award -

Best audience award SLAMDANCE 2002 - American Chai.

I only hope the American Indian movies helps to discover other great indian acting talent out there besides the select few actors and actresses, there is plenty of talent HELLO!

Indian american filmmakers that I have spoken to have had complaints about Bollywood films but then why on Earth do they abide by the same practices? Hiring a limited few actors / actresses isn't that the same thing?

I'm Nisha would agree to this point, but then again Nisha is a bit different and her focus is to known as a filmmaker not categorized as certain type of filmmaker.

...Oh byt the way, in a related issue apparently HYDERABAD BLUES 2, the sequel to Nagesh Kunkanoor's debut film is in the works, which makes me lament, was anyone asking for this sequel to be made?

and american desi 2 is in works too
next we will have NAMASTE 2 wazup

i agree harish, there are so many actors/actresses
besides sheetal, purva, deep katdare etc
- 200 or so on this inspiring website itself

most people couldnt make out the difference
between ABCD and American Chai
cos a) posters were similar & taglines were similar
+ sheetal sheth

and i agree - ABCD is definitely one of the best movies in this lot

As for - piracy VS content
we can go on forever

i believe if these filmmakers attempt atleast something different, beyond "being desi" "being indian",
masses might be tempted to spend 8$ on their movies

why did bend it like beckham work?
inspite of the fact that - pirated vhs and dvds were available almost a year before?

why was low budget jhankar beats such a big hit?
or mira's monsoon wedding?

in the end - i agree - work speaks for itself
hence we saw what happened with most of these movies
while fighting piracy, lets not use it as a REASON or an EXCUSE
why these bad movies flopped

harish, is chameli a box office success?

Piracy affects *all* filmmakers, good and bad. To offer "Bend it" as an example is to show ignorance of distribution and marketing processes and costs that exist on the exhibition side of filmmaking. This is a business, and the illegal process of piracy affects indian films disproportionately. To ask filmmakers to target the global marketplace and ignore the piracy in the indian market is lame. Targetting the global marketplace takes TONS of money. Try getting ad time on network tv.

'Nuff said.

Anyways, there's little point contributing to a thread that thrashes actors. Specially by a poster who claims to be one (but curiously doesn't even have a headshot up in the actor's forum. Hmm... guess its easy to hide on the internet)

My goal is to support, not tear down, legitimate indian artists, specially if they are talented. And Sheetal, Deep etc., are all talented actors. And I have every intention of working with them again in the future.

By the way - talking about challenging roles for actors : Deep's role in my film has no dialogue, not one line. And he excels. Sheetal plays a completely different role from anything I've seen her in. Ami Shukla, another extremely talented, and under-utilized actress does another character in IC unlike anything you've seen her do before and unlike anything in any movie period (forget about the indian-american group). And all of them went through an audition process to get the role, competing with everyone else who turned up for the auditions. In other words, they weren't cast for who they are, but because they brought so much of their talents to bear on the demands of the role.

Wait for IC. When it hits the theatres, watch it if you wish, and then, you decide. But don't buy the pirated version, please. And ask your friends to not do it either.

Ciao!
Nikhil K
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A New Romantic Comedy INDIAN COWBOY: A Love-Love Story

NIKHIL AM SURE YOUR MOVIE IS GOOD
BUT I HOPE NEXT TIME YOU CAN CAST ME INSTEAD OF SHEETAL

WHATS THE STORY OF YOUR FILM
WHERE CAN I SEE THE TRAILER

DEEP IS HOT, NO DOUBT
ACTING SKILLS AGAIN I DOUBT
GOOD HE HAS NO LINES
DID U SEE GREEN CARD FEVER?

CHECK
WWW.DESITHRILL.COM FOR MY HEADSHOTS

AND AAMIR, NIKHIL IS GETTING DEFENSIVE HERE COS OF HIS MOVIE
SO DONT REPEAT SAME STUFF - WE GET YOUR POINT
AND I AGREE - WE NEED NEW SUBJECTS, STORIES AND DIFFERENT FACES