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Monday, January 14, 2008

First and Last

I have never been an avid movie watcher. And Indian movies have never made it big on my already tiny "Must Watch" list. I am picky about the movies I watch. And among Indian films, I'd probably watch selected Tamil and Hindi films. At one point, I was watching some Malayalam films as well, but I don't think DD has that "regional movie with subtitles every Sunday" now.


Last Saturday, I had precious little to do apart from bunches of greens that had to be cleaned and put away. Channel surfing brought me to a song and dance sequence that seemed terrible. I was commenting to my husband that the sequence seemed right out of some third rate Telugu movie. We were debating the A.P. connection and ended up watching the entire movie. We made fun of the predictability of the scenes, expressed irritation at the lewd dialogues and "cheap" humour, but we watched the movie to the end. (That's four bunches of fenugreek and spinach in all!) This movie was, as it turned out, Loafer.


We stepped out for lunch and some shopping and then returned home. I told S that I wanted to watch another "pheku" or "time pass" movie. We started surfing and came to a channel where the screen flashed, "A film by David Dhawan". S said, "This is probably as "pheku" as it gets." This movie turned out to be "Raja Babu". We didn't watch it till the end. It would have been impossible for any self respecting human being to watch that movie without squirming. The script was full of innuendos. The plot was so sick. This was the very first Govinda movie that I watched. I couldn't believe what I was watching. The dances were so horrible that I felt they might as well have shown porn.


What were they thinking? Insulting the sensibilities of the public. Such movies give ideas to people if they didn't have them before. And reinforced stuff like "working in the kitchen is a woman's job" etc. This really makes me a little judgmental. Of people who watch David Dhawan's movies. And of Govinda's fans. I agree that I chose to watch these movies. They were not forced upon me. But I was truly appalled at the quality of the films. People call me a snob because I am picky about the films I watch. If these are examples of "movie for the masses", I think I'm better off this way.


I just saw the list of movies that he has directed so far and found that I'd not watched any of his films... except for... wait... want to guess?... Loafer!!!! That made it two David Dhawan movies in one day. I swore on Saturday never to watch a David Dhawan film again in my life. Nothing will ever change that.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Givinda movies are to be taken with a pinch of salt ...laught your guts out and forget about the movie without being judgemental ....
If you are looking for sensible cinema then watch Satyajt Ray or Akiro Kurosawa....

Don't watch a Govinda movie and criticise it .. It is meant for the masses and if one has a laughing bone ( yes the dances were vulgar in those times) then just enjoy the slap-stick humour ...

I think he is a great actor nevertheless!.. and a fantastic dancer!

Raaga said...

Why not? This is my blog and I intend to pen my thoughts. I thought the movie was cheap and vulgar... what is wrong with that? Time pass is one thing, cheap is quite another.

muteW said...

"Insulting the sensibilities of the public."

The sensibilities of the public would be insulted if they had any, and with movies such as these you seriously cannot expect much from the general viewing public. But then again you were the one looking for a "pheku" movie and you were served what you wanted.

btw, the route I took till I finally stumbled on your blog was a rather interesting one -
Hungry afternoon in the office > Search for Restaurant Reviews > Slice of Italy review > Google - Slice of Italy Gurgaon Outlet > Garlic Toast on your food blog > Random Thoughts blog > David Dhawan post, whew...

Raaga said...

Pheku is like time pass... not necessarily vulgar, no?

Nice route :-) I like it when folks actually land through google :-)

Malesh Ponnusamy said...

Most film makers - the DD kinds and Govinda kinds jus put the blame on the public for their poor craftmanship and originality, stating that this is what the public wants!!!

Cheap B*******!!! Sorry for the language but at times it makes my blood boil seeing sub standard work with a lame excuse. true they imagine shitty situations even a normal man would not have!!

They are shame to the term creative license!

And worst part is there are people who buy the cheap stuff!!! One reason why our country will never progress intellectually atleast intelligently is because of movies like this.