Masala mix

Though Ojha recounts this only in jest,members of the fraternity feel that there are elements that are a mainstay in a Bollywood masala entertainer. “The hero makes the film,” says choreographer-turned-filmmaker Prabhu Dheva,the director of Wanted. “If masses look at the hero aspirationally,you have to make your hero as strong as possible. The personality plays a huge role—the morals he follows and the fearlessness he displays.” Abhinav Kashyap,the director of Dabangg agrees but adds,“The success of Wanted has created so much hype that now people expect Salman Khan to repeat the maverick performance.”

However,in Apoorva Lakhia’s opinion,it is the bad guy who is more important. “The villain makes the hero,be it The Joker in Batman,Mogambo in Mr India or Maya Dolas in Shootout in Lokhandwala. Why else would stars these days replace the traditional villains and send people like Gulshan Grover and Shakti Kapoor packing?”

It may seem that the industry is sidelining the female lead in such films and south actress Trisha Krishnan of Khatta Meetha says that there isn’t much a heroine can do in such films. “A strong female lead challenges the magnanimity of the hero. The songs here play a huge role. A peppy dance number is a must,” she laughs.

The importance of the story somehow doesn’t find a voice here. “It’s better to have a simplistic storyline of the fight between the good and the evil,” smiles Arshad Warsi,“The backdrop can change to gang wars,cop and dacoits,smuggler and common man. We are victim of habit and a nation that craves happy endings.”

But Prabhu Dheva feels that it isn’t about who is playing the hero or the villain. “It’s about creating memorable characters,and part of the credit goes to dialogue writers.” He probably has a point here because the dialogues of Wanted and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai were lapped up by the audience and became extremely popular. Says Rajat Arora,the dialogue writer for the latter,“I first came up with two lines—one each for Ajay Devgn’s character Sultan and Emraan Hashmi’s character Shoaib—to create the distinction between the two lead characters. Sultan says ‘Jab dost bana kar kaam ho sakta hai to dushman kyun banana?’ and Shoaib’s introductory line is ‘Aaj ka kaam kal par chodunga to aaj bura maan jayega’. Once the philosophy is formed,it roots the character and the rest of the dialogues can follow.” But he warns,“These dialogues work only if the characters are larger than life.”