Saturday, November 10

Creativity Cut


Heard of power cut? Pay cut?? Job cut??? Kut-cut????

These are the adverse times of what I would call the “Creativity cut”.

People just don’t seem to be coming up with novel, outstanding plans anymore. Borrowed ideas and stolen visions take shape in the form of “inspirations” and substandard stuff is sold through means like books, movies, soaps, etc.

No wonder then that books like Kane and Abel, Mahabharata and Fountainhead happen once in a decade. TV serials too, be it their plot or humour, rely totally on things that have been said or directed in the past. Fortunately, Three Idiots and Taare Zameen Par happen every year since we have an Aamir Khan in the film industry. Hollywood, too, is gifted with some exceptional creators and producers and so, no complaints there.

Which brings me to what I’ve recently experienced and hence, arrived here to talk about:
1920 Evil Returns and Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana in Bollywood and The Bankster by Ravi Subramian in book-world.

Let me confess, I loved 1920 Part 1. I did not initially watch it on the big screen since I had heard the silliest of reviews (ditto like Ragini MMS), but when I watched it (both the movies actually), I enjoyed them thoroughly. Being a big fan of horror, I liked the way these movies were made, and though 1920 was not 100% original in terms of ghoulishness, I did appreciate the way they’d incorporated it all.

1920, in contrast, was stupid. The dialogues were disastrous, the casting was pathetic, the scenes and plot were tardy, and the songs agonizing. Let me elaborate:
- Dialogue : “Duniya mein har cheez ka toh ilaaj nahi ho sakta, par tumhari beemari ka ilaaj karna bahut zaroori hai” – sheer brilliance, eh? Especially when spoken to a possessed woman in a completely irrelevant situation.
- Casting : Vidya Malwade in Chak De did a pretty neat job, but she looks like a transsexual (cross-dresser) in this one. And after telling you that Aftab is the lead in this film, I think my point is sufficiently justified. The heroine Tia somebody, too, looks sick (even when healthy) and her acting is sick-er.
- Scenes and plot : Nothing special to talk about, it has all been out there forever. Yes, a ghost back to take revenge does sound a little intriguing, but let me assure you, nothing else is. 
- Songs : What would you say when you hear “Hum bhi tanha  the, tum bhi tanha the, mil ke rone lage…” My response was stop this shit before the audience starts bawling…

Having said that, let me waste no more time and effort on 1920. Vikram Bhatt, hay hay.

Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (LSTCK) has been made by those who created Khosla Ka Ghosla and Dev D. You would obviously expect a grand fare served modestly given this knowledge. I would not call this flick a disaster, but it sure was not a treat in any sense. Punjabi munda goes to UK and proves himself a bad penny who needs big bucks and hence returns to plunder his once looted family’s wealth. There’s no treasure there, except for the secret recipe for a chicken dish – a Darji special. Mindblowing performance by the chachiji and mamaji in the movie, and I found the heroine gorgeous.  While not anywhere close to a 10 on 10, this movie is a decent 7. Kunal Kapoor is not hero material, and I think he should have stopped at teeny roles like the one in Rang De Basanti. Just like the movie should have stopped at 2 hours (or lesser) instead of approximately 2.5 hours.

The problem with Indian movies and books is that the creator does not know when to stop. Just coz I’ve paid 250 bucks does not mean I want the movie or book to drag well beyond the enjoyable or endurable.

Unfortunately, I shall say the same about Ravi Subramanian’s Bankster. The author used to be a banker and therefore, most of his stories revolve around the financial and banking domain.

No problem with that. After all, my blog is full of relationship and love banter dotted with these occasional reviews that are becoming more frequent.

What IS wrong with the book, is that … One, it stretches. Two, a plot does not have to involve several geographies to become a hit. Three, the suspense is frustrating. On multiple occasions, the author mentions a call or a conversation and does not write what it is about. It is NOT exciting. The third time this happened, I was tempted to jump to the last page and skip the mystery altogether. What I did end up doing is keep the book away for a while and then resume reading since I had a review to write in less than 2 days. Blogadda keeps us on a leash, and I am not one to ignore deadlines or need reminders. Possibly why I keep getting 2-3 free books to review every month.

More about the book… The backdrop is a global bank, money laundering scams, political drama and corporate “relations”. People are getting murdered one after the other, and there is no saying how and what occurred since it is all part of one smart, greedy plan. The summary at the back appears far more interesting that the entire story actually is, and I can really recount not one scene where I was held spellbound. The intricacy of a few scenes is overdone, and that kills the thrill rather than whets it. I remembered Harry Potter’s gash on the forehead when the author describes one character, and you would not be surprised to find other resemblances to folks written about and seen somewhere or the other.

I’m struggling right now to tell you more about the book, coz I don’t want to give out anything that mars the climax. All I will say is that the author is nowhere close to being John Grisham, as the front cover proclaims.

Please, please, oh please god… give me my daily book and daily movie which is not a dud!!

Until then,
Adios!!

- Princess

This review is a part of the http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank" > Book Reviews Program at http://www.blogadda.com">BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!

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