In marketing we have these terms of Brand Image or Brand Equity....its a harakiri when a brand gets over ambitious and tries to diversify too much from its original positioning...Think about Nirma moving into the premium washing category or Pan Parag launching a high-end skin care line....Ain't it disasterous!! Our film industry is plagued with such examples...its not wrong in being ambitious, having a career path...but its extremely important to do a reality check! Shreyas talpade can never do a DDLJ, Arshad warsi can never be a Khalnayak, Himalaya could never star in a Maine pyar kiya remake (no matter how hard his wifey bhagyashree tried)....Jaaved jaafrey is no hero material, Boman Irani failed misrerably in trying to look macho in Don. Innumerable instances....I would urge all these sidekicks to remain rooted! You guys work! But face it - you'll always need a sanju, an akki, a SRK, a Sallu to bring in the crowds! Tusshar kapoor, Sunil Shetty - boys, you were never born to be solo heroes - stick to your forte and keep raking in the moolah!
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Santhosh on Feb 01, 2008 07:01 PM Permalink
Hi..Himanshu...right said and very very interestingly said.......your thoughts are exactly in line with my views. I'm working with a brand consulting firm....how abt u??
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Himanshu Manroa on Feb 01, 2008 07:18 PM Permalink
A market researcher working in an outsourcing unit...a pucca hindi filmy buff! a keen observer of trends in direction since the golden era....was a firm and staunch 'bhakt' of RGV....till the time he made Naach, and Shiva, Nishabd and RGV ki Aag....and Darling!! Phew! He lost his mind and I lost my GOD!! Another major example of getting too over-ambitious, over-indulgent and over-hype killing all his projects! Think about it - had he not positioned Aag as a Sholay remake and quitely released it just like any other bombay-underbelly-gangsta flick (and ofcourse with minimum references to the parent film) - it might just have worked!! Just like 'Shootout at Lokhndwala'! What say Santosh?
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by abhijit mukherjee on Feb 01, 2008 07:39 PM Permalink
Dear Himanshu and Santosh,
Good to find you guys discussing some substantial stuff... What are your views on a flop like "Mera Naam Joker" by Raj Kapoor? Do you think "Bobby" after "Mera Naam Joker" was a commercial compromise? Did you think that it had the substance to be as big a hit?
Could you explain the commercial failure of a film like "Khamoshi-the musical" by Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
Please dont think I am trying to contradict your view point... I am just seeking an opinion
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Himanshu Manroa on Feb 01, 2008 08:09 PM Permalink
Hi Abhijit! Welcome to the forum....well, according to me Bobby was definitely not a commercial compromise - it was simply moving with the times! Joker was an indulgent piece of work - just like Naach, Aks, LOC...and how can I forget the latest addtion to the club - 'Saawariya' - wherein a director simply lost control of the story and got too carried away with his fantasies, his techniques, his style, the works. Movies where a director becomes more of a 'show-off', arrogant and grandiose in his declarations to the world - "Look at my marvelous piece of art!" Yes! Bobby was a typical Masala fare...and whats wrong with that? Masala doesn't comes easy! Else every 'Sunday' would be a big hit! Bobby, Love story, DDLJ, MPK, QSQT, Jab we met - these are the movies that would work in any era! they're mushy, feel-good - but they define the very existence of Bollywood. As a film-maker you ought to be responsible! And raj kapoor became more responsible after the joker debacle. Rakesh roshan with Koi Mil Gaya after the Koyla debacle. Rakesh Mehra with Rang de Basanti after Aks. Tell me are any of these movies 'commercial compromise'? On the other hand directors like RGV, Bhansali, Kukonoor and Anurag Kashyap hit the odd 'indulgent' patch with movies like No smoking and Bombay to Bangkok. Bottomline - Its all a creative cycle. And why good movies fail and why bad movies click is a million dollar question which even Arindam Chaudhury with his much-hyped researches could not answer!!
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Pranav Patel on Feb 02, 2008 01:04 AM Permalink
I disagree with Kiran. You dont always need SRK, Sanju, Salman or any one of the big start to make a movie work among the AAM JANTA. Take an example of BHEJA FRY. No doubt there are not many examples like Bheja Fry but it proves that without a crowd puller start a movie can simply work on a good script and good acting. Vinay Pathak proved. He carried the whole movie on his shoulders. Same can be done by Rajpal Yadav. He is just not a comedian. He is a good actor which he proved in his offbeat movie Main Meri Patni Aur Woh. I hope he doesnt get carried away like Johney Lever. We lost a good comedian who was not picky in selecting movies. Same can happen to Rajpal Yadav. Talking about directors, it is sad that we do not have audience who would like to watch different movies. You need darkness to appreciate light.
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Kiran Pandey on Feb 02, 2008 12:45 AM Permalink
Himanshu, you right on. Sometimes, it is good to stick to what you do best rather than making a half baked effort at being different. Actors like Rajpal lack that extra zing to carry a film on there own shoulders. A Shahrukh can pull a mediocre Om Shanti Om to make it a block buster, but a Rajpal, however talented he may be, cannot do the same. You may have noticed, that Mahmood was a great actor and a bigger name than many of his contemporary lead actors. But he did not try many times to carry a whole film alone (he did try a couple of times, Kuwaara Bapp and maybe some other, I dont recollect). He was a bit successful in his solo attempts, but did not stretch it too far so as to loose his originality. It pays to stick to your stregths and play it from there, true in any field, and more I guess in film industry where mistakes can be difficult to undo for small palyers like Rajpal (Abhishek's, Hrithik's will get ample chances, do not compete with them I'll say). Like Arshad Warsi went on to do sidekick roles with great finess and is more in demand than what he would have been, had he stuck on to his main hero tag, so should people like Rajpal do.
That said, am very pleased to see some good quality comments here. I was yet to see something relevant and wothwhile about movies written here. It was always a bickering about SRK, or north south divide. Good to read some good analysis on films. Comment section limits the length of article, so let us know if you write blogs.
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Vinay Thakur on Feb 01, 2008 08:35 PM Permalink
Well said Himanshu..but still I belive Rajpal is a good actor and can carry movie on his own if the role suits him like Mai meri patno aour woh or Mai madhuri.... I liked him in those movies, but he needs tight script and author backed role. Vinay
RE:RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by kuldeep jain on Feb 02, 2008 03:28 AM Permalink
Hi Himanshu
I have not read the review of this movie but the cooment and the discussion on this are really really great.. Abhijit rightly said below that the dialoge here is substantial.. Pranav is giving exampe of Bheja fry but that can divert the discussion that it was a frame to frame copy of french movie.
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by krishnan viswanathan on Feb 02, 2008 10:35 AM Permalink
Good discussion ... very interesting...thanks to all you guys....after long time I have come across good views...keep it up...thanks
RE:Chala Rajpal Hero Banne!
by Rajesh on Feb 04, 2008 03:56 PM Permalink
Guys at last some discussions with some sanity.
Some interesting points are raised, my take is though you have successes like Bheja Fry(Copy or not) now and then the fact of the matter it more of an exception than the norm when you have an interesting script played by believable actors. This cannot happen always thats why we have a cluctch of stars and the rest. Even the definition success is different when non-star movies becomes a hit. So Bheja Fry though a sleeper hit cannot be compared with OSO or DDLJ in terms of magnitude and nature success bet it money or otherwise. So guys like Rajpal should focus on doing quality roles and building it overtime and accepting what is possible and what is not. This is the only way they can survive.
