I watched last 15 mins of My Name Is Khan. I didn't like it at all. In fact I avoided the film since its release, in anticipation. Karan Johar, and all his sensibilities are aimed purely at making NRI aunties cry with him. It's not something I look forward to.
Over last few months I have not managed to watch too many films. I liked Ishqiya, Karthik Calling Karthik. These are the films that define the current era of Indian cinema. Ishqiya shines with an outstanding cast (Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan) and brilliant storytelling, razor-sharp dialogues. The dialect mingles with the locales and the cocktail takes you on an enjoyable ride. I hardly got a chance to complain about the weakness of the script. Vishal Bharadwaj's association to a film (here as a producer) makes it interesting enough. KCK is a decent tale with a number of good moments. Farhan Akhtar has given yet another strong performance. Wish it was 15 minutes shorter.
I remember the kind of films made during my growing years. If the nostalgia factor is kept aside, I have to admit that Hindi mainstream films have come a very long way. Experimentation was missing terribly from the scene. Then existed 2 distinct types of cinema, one for art, another for commerce. And there was no overlapping. Somehow commerce-seekers strictly relied on some formulae - any deviation would increase the risk of failure. From late nineties things started changing. A film maker must make a film the way he/she wants to. Some experiments are bound to fail. There is nothing wrong in it. But doing something just because someone else is doing (and probably that worked at the BO) does not end in good results. Some would be good, still people may reject it. Road, Movie is a movie I saw a few days back, that had signs of something extra-ordinary, yet at the end, I wondered what made the makers venture into something so wildly vague! But I can't take away their rights to experiment and I must salute them for making exactly what they believed in. Most actors are coming out of their comfort zones they built over the years with walls of mannerisms, stereotypes and so called 'images'. In fact they are left with no other choice, Some like SRK are too fond of their stature as a superstar, deeply infatuated by the hysteric reaction among their huge fan base. Even if they tend to take a step forward, their insecurities take them two steps back. Mr Bachchan was the superstar of that millennium, and the super-actor of this millennium. Thanks to the change in the mindsets of both the maker and the taker. For a change, it's a welcome change - make something worth watching, and we'll let you make money, brother!