Of Friends and Others
My friend who was lost in Bangkok has returned home, at least to Bombay that is. We had dissuaded one of our friends from going to Bangkok to find him. We were thinking of more conventional ways of searching him….hiring a detective etc but she she did the bravest act…headed for an alien country all on her own and accomplished what she set out to do. She found him. Bravo.
The battle though is not yet over. News likes scandal and it salivates when the person involved is from the film industry…the realm of the dissolute and the corrupt. That’s the world’s pov. Friends are are all aghast, the reporter did his job and the reader got a 3 minute story, captivating the moment ready to be forgotten the 4th minute.
RGV’s Aag has hit the screens today in India. People are debating – is it sensible to remake Sholay etc which is a useless debate. I, me, myself had written a blog wondering why RGV would attempt it. Two words, Artistic Freedom gives all the relevant answers. But the moot point was not if RGV could or couldn’t because anyways he did. The point was ‘why’?
To better it? No. Because you can’t. What is the reason then? The reason is that RGV has exhausted himself. The Factory lived up to its reputation and gobbled up the custom-made, intimate films that only happen once in an artist’s lifetime. The Factory was RGV’s Frankenstein. We all are interested in knowing how bad Aag could be. Is that a fall, both for the maker and the audience?
Now RGV has a new formula for success. Get hold of Superstars. Pair the most happening people. Create controversies. Market the concept. He has over the years learnt the fine art of not making films but selling them. He has done quite a pathetic job at it, but brand RGV is still going strong. When was the last half-decent film he made. His next, called Darling in his own words is a comic-horror-musical. What’s that? Brain Damage/Avant Garde? Anyone?
Met an old friend via mail. Works for Greenpeace in Holland. Another close friend left Mumbai for Delhi today. Coming and going. Going and coming. Till next.
