A shower of success

Moving on to Chillar Party,after eons,Hindi cinema has witnessed a true-blue children’s film. It is indeed,really very interesting to realise that both — Delhi Belly and Chillar Party –– have the audience smile,chuckle and chortle from the first sequence to the last scene when no two movies could possibly be so diametrically opposite in concept and content! Chillar Party was that benchmark kids movie that we all were missing—entertaining with subtle messages woven in,laced with dollops of emotions within all the fun and games going on,completely sans melodrama or moralising,real,contemporary and finally the kind that adults can enjoy even if they go and watch it without kids.Gratifyingly,the zero face-value film picked up by quick word-of-mouth and did capacity business in multiple locations in an opening weekend opposite a hit of the degree of Murder 2.

Along with Delhi Belly and Chillar..,,Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,which defied doomsday predictions and scored a hit,proved that as long as the audience was not taken for granted,real cinema also was welcome in the variety that moviegoers have always craved in every era. Thus the biggest lesson that the powers-that-be must learn (including the champions of real cinema within the industry and similarly-inclined media) is that these three films have been accepted by the same smart audience that rejects poorly-made films across both real and larger-than-life classic Hindi cinema like Thank You,Shaitan,Always Kabhi Kabhi and Bheja Fry 2. So once again,the key point is — never ever underestimate,disrespect or look down on the intelligence of the ticket-payer when he endorses a masala film because he is bang-on 99 times in a 100!

The second related lesson is that the audience is perennially starved for entertainment of the classic Hindi film kind,so much so that even average or slightly-above average films of this genre like Ready and Singham get a whopping reception and will always be preferred to realistic cinema on a broad basis. So please do not give us too much of the wannabe kind of “global” (sic) cinema,except as a change and when it is (rarely) well-made! Thirdly,musically-strong films will always fare better — check Ready and Delhi Belly vis-a-vis Bbuddah… and Zindagi… . For the first time in years,hardcore desi audience response,that is,the single-screen business (Ready,Murder 2,Singham) has scored in importance over the multiplexes and overseas harvest,for Zindagi…,though roaring in the multiplexes and with thrice the business of Murder 2 in UK,has not acquired the super-hit tag of the latter!

And one must also sound a note of caution: the moment a film is a hit nowadays,a sequel (Chillar…,Murder 3) or a franchise (Bbuddah…) are impulsively planned or announced in the euphoria of the moment. One must remember that Murder 2 and Double Dhamaal have worked as standalone films,even if they are a part of a brand. Bheja Fry 2 has released alongside to help us zero in on this home-truth that only good sequels work. Besides,films are not television serials or sitcoms to continue meaninglessly as episodes.

rajiv.vijayakar@expressindia.com