Do we need masala?

TWO ENTERTAINING Hollywood movies have been remade in Tamil with the talented Kamal Hassan as the hero. It is time that an actor of his calibre realised that having established himself, he has the responsibility to raise the standard of Indian films. It is obvious that all the masala ingredients were added to those films - "Avvai Shanmughi" and "Tenali" with the box-office in mind.

When "Avvai Shanmughi" was released in 1997, it was felt that without the absurd fight sequences involving the hero in the garb of an orthodox Hindu lady and those unwanted comic elements which bordered on vulgarity, the movie would have been a better one. A group of visiting professors to the movie at the drive-in theatre understood that it was a remake of "Mrs. Doubtfire", and enjoyed it in parts. They also realised the way it was indigenised.

Sometime later, when I saw the original "Mrs. Doubtfire", my estimation of the Tamil version slid further. The subtle points were replaced by crude, vulgar interpretations.

Recently, when I read the review of Kamal's "Tenali", I realised that it is a remake of "What is wrong with Bob?" even though the reviewer had not mentioned this. As I had enjoyed the slapstick in the English film, when I saw "Tenali", I felt let down once again and wondered why a great actor like Kamal cannot influence the industry against going for downright cinematic absurdities. To make the movie run for nearly two and a half hours, the Tamil version includes not only song and dance sequences (which are enjoyable because of the efforts of the actor/actresses, the choreographer, the composer and the music director) but also characters like a ("kadula poovecha") jealous senior psychiatrist and his side-kick and a host of other scenes that lead to a happy ending.

In some foreign movies (starring Bruce Lee, for example), the hero loses a fight when assaulted by many, but seldom does it happen in Indian movies, where more often than not, innumerable assaulters are beaten black and blue by the hero even though most of the villains have a better physique than the former!

It is time that leading actors like Kamal try to put an end to depiction of the impossible and absurd situations and convince film makers that their ideas are out-dated and that the audience need not be considered dumb, demanding only "masala" elements. Further, while attempting remakes, the original should be openly acknowledged and improved upon with indigenous components which add to the value of the story, rather than distort it with "masala" components. Isn't it the responsibility of established artistes?

- KSR

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Section  : Entertainment
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