Found an old email I sent someone and got in touch with a very thorough version of myself. I don't know if I adviced him correctly though.7 years of struggle to make a great film maybe dilutes you somewhere and slowly - like a mildly acidic water around a stone- gradually corroding it - damage never happens in days but in years.
Maybe I should try to write things more thoroughly- apply myself with lots of intensity. Try to be more honest with my explanation and not say yes to everything a person asks me to review.
I want to rediscover this person - maybe it is not corrosion but layers of dishonesty accumulated over me. It is beneficial for me to think that what was in me is still in me - but if not, I am still ready to rebuild myself - I love this version of me more and maybe I am finally at a age where I am more comfortable being the person I love than others love.
--
I feel that at idea level it has limited reach and my reasons for these are the following :
1) The novelty of idea: In today's time the idea loses on both counts - the absolute novelty and the comfortable known story. The idea is good enough to recover its cost. So if you have a small low budget movie that will recover its cost then we can pursue it and have it a reasonable state but seeing your work and experience I think you should aim at "best movie ever".
2) Mass appeal: Two things work for mass appeal - the emotional connect or the instinctual connect (horror etc). This can be developed at screenplay level but when I heard the story till interval- in my mind I was not keen to know "ab kya hogo"(not gripping). Additionally in my mind I am not too much of a loser (most people assume they are not - infact they feel they are SRK) so I see the protagonist as a second person so my connect with the character is not direct. (note again the feedback is at narration level because this is fixable)
3) Sense of journey: This comes from my understanding of Indian cinema. For me one thing that separates Indian cinema from Hollywood is the sense of journey it has. We have all the 9 rasas (navras) and generally the story spans for atleast a year and by the end of it you have experienced an emotional catharsis. Infact you see all the hit movies of all times including Wanted - it makes you go through that emotional journey. The journey involves a piece of social fabric that we are set in - so you have father and family and all that. Movies like KCK where the character is a convenient orphan suspended in air doesn't work because that is not our context. We are swarming with people in our life. Our relationships with them is the essence of our existence. This applies for a majority of films. If these two factors lack, I fear that the movie has a limited appeal - it is a more like easily forgotten weekend multiplex movie.
4) Life and death thing: I have that test for my stories. Is this a conflict of life and death importance? Ideally it should be more than that - getting the girl in the movie should be felt like an eternal achievement etc. Here the "people treating him badly" is something livable atleast at youth. It is not much affecting me much- I don't care.Generally what leaves a great sense of satisfaction is finding the essence of existence in that one thing - like how badly Raj wanted Simran. Also lots of Indian movies end with reassurance of our common belief that "life is fundamentally fair". That gives a great sense of satisfaction. KCK didn't give that satisfaction.
5) Comic scope: A principle that Hirani swears by - sometimes he even overdoes it but it only helps him. In India movie watching is very much a community experience - case in point Om Shanti Om versus Saanwariya - Saanwariya is a very good personal experience but here people go with a group of friends and want to laugh etc. All hit movies have there share of good comic elements (the hasya ras). Now again this is fixable at screenplay level but in this movie the humor might affect the core story negatively and then it might have the risk of being neither here or there.
So that is my overanalysis.Now having said that I want to give some suggestions at treatment/story level that you might find interesting and you might want to then pursue it. I have to watch inception first however. Also I would need sometime to get back to you on this part of the mail. Some initial thoughts.
1) Novelty of dream world - it is a powerful tool to play in - how amazing is your dream world.
2) Does his dream affect his real life? OR are they interconnected. When I was a kid I had seen a serial in "Aahat". Its first episode is the best build up that has stayed with me till today. A housewife sleeps and becomes a top actress. But it is not a dream for her - it is real and she wonders. And then she sleeps in that world and becomes the housewife again. She doesn't know what her real identity is. We can work at that level.
3) Make it less unidimensional. That is pri 1 if we consider this seed of an idea. I have to think.
Well I will also propose you a few ideas in some time. Help me know your choices more. What kind of movies/books you like? Any philosophies/philosophers you like. Something that you want to externalize.
Anyways I hope we can have a great feature-length film from you soon!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"'Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul.' "
No comments:
Post a Comment