Superman’s latest edition,Man of Steel even without the trademark lock on the forehead,soared as per expectations at the worldwide box office.
Let’s face it,everyone loves a superhero.
hollywood,in keeping with the occidental faith in logic and science,has had to create invincible superheroes outside the realm of conventional heroes with human limitations.
the supersizing of heroes in American movies has always been aided by a scientific explanation.
Superman landed from Krypton,Spiderman emerged from a boy,Peter Parker who was bitten by a radioactive spider and Bruce Wayne or Batman and tony Stark are both men of the same stock — rich industrialists with a keen interest in art and the science of war.
their superpowers originate from the fancy gadgetry they have access to,courtesy extensive research and development for expanding their business — corporate social responsibility with a twist if you will.
And yes,most of the aforementioned gentlemen have a fetish for outing their inner-wear.
Closer home in India,we’ve had superheroes in our cinema for a while.
Only,they aren’t formally designated so.
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Cast in the traditional mould,they are simply called ‘heroes’ with brains to outmaneuver every trick in the book of villainy and the brawns to send an entire army literally flying with one punch.
that’s right,hindi film heroes ever since the angry young man days have actually been superheroes in disguise.
the cape might have been missing but for quite some time now,Indian (super) heroes in our films have been riding the storm and demolishing evil forces with much panache.
think Amitabh Bachchan battling a whole battalion of baddies as though it were child’s play.
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Or the present day Chulbul Pandey’s flying fists that send a shiver down everyone’s spine! You get the drift.
A major differentiating factor between our heroes and theirs would be in the nature of their battles.
the cause and effect of super-heroism in hindi films is usually personal,brought on by love,passion,anger or hurt — all good enough reasons to launch into a battle.
And what they lack in scientific ammunition,they more than make up for with the power of prayers and timely divine intervention.
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hardly surprising since Indian films were originally inspired by epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharat that followed the pattern — good always triumphed over evil,against all odds.
And so it was in our movies for a long time.
however,as the template of the hero began to change within our movies — from the man who had all or at least most of the answers,he was suddenly transformed into the boy next door who could not make up his mind even about the girl he wished to marry.
Obviously for such a bumbling idiot to save the world,drastic measures were called for.
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And therefore came the scientific add-on thus far missing in our movies — Krrish (Koi Mil Gaya) began with some help from an extraterrestrial creature and is now in its third edition.
Robot was about a scientist that created a good robot Chitti to combat the evil automatons while Ra.
One took the computer gaming route — the villain from a computer game came to life followed by the good guy to complete their battle in real time.
Indian audiences like their super heores desi.
Chulbul Pandey has gone from strength to strength with a successful sequel to boot and a few more to follow.
Singham gained entry into the Rs 100 crore club.
Why,even Bodyguard was a hit.
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So,at the last update one can safely concur that two streams of superheroes exist within Indian cinema — those in superhero costumes such as Krrish,and those without,such as Chulbul Pandey; both equally effective in getting movie theatrs packed to capacity.
Real superpower,that.
