Saturday, January 27, 2007

Genre Bender

New genre: Completely engaging, without being overtly preachy.

There are movies that preach. Unabashedly preach. Deepa Mehta's Fire as well as Water, for example. There are movies that are completely engaging, which don't really preach at all. (too many in this category).

There are also films that sometimes get so wrapped up in their preachery, that they get obscenely obfuscatory (read:Hey Ram!).

Then there are films that remain flat center at the middle of the philospectrum. Movies with high preach-potential, but still remaining engaging enough for the viewer to remain tensely involved. Basically subtle-crucial messaging through a brilliantly gripping storyline.

Two movies that achieved this superlatively in recent times were Rang De Basanti and Guru.

2 comments:

Zeenat Rasheed said...

Rang De Basanti - of course.

But must disagree about Guru. Was not impressed. See blog for details.

I'd actually put Krrish in that genre of yours. I know it was a little over the top, but what sci fi movie isn't? I rewatched it recently and really enjoyed it cos it's one of those rare movies that actually close all the loopholes with a tight storyline and believable characters. Plus the hero-sci fi genre has never been mastered by Bollywood in the past (even Koi Mil Gaya was a little lame) so this makes the movie all the more of an achievement!!

Paresh said...

You disagree with Guru?

My god. I have not the words for you.