July 31, 2007
Since I finally watched it a few months ago, I have been trying to figure out why I didn’t really like Rang De Basanti. The other day I came across this interview with one of Gandhi’s great-grandsons, Tushar Gandhi* and it set my brain off again on the subject:
Q: What did you think of “Rang De Basanti”?
A: Though I liked the film the conclusion was inapplicable and problematic. It just offered an emotional eruption. The parallels between the freedom fighters and today’s youth were interesting but inaccurate. I appreciated the parallels between history and contemporary times. I thought it was a technically brilliant film.
Q: So, are you saying it trivialised history?
A: I’d say so.
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July 14, 2007
I watched Aamir Khan’s movie Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin yesterday. It is an obvious remake of Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night and it got me thinking, not for the first time, about why I prefer the Hindi film version of some of my favorite Hollywood films. The Hindi film industry is often accused of stealing entire plots without acknowledging (or paying for) copyrights held on their Hollywood counterparts. And to be sure, a movie like DHKMN should acknowledge Frank Capra’s work as its direct ancestor. What I don’t understand is why so many people hold these remakes in contempt and use them as examples of how Indian filmmakers lack creativity. After all, Hollywood itself remakes its old films.
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