Punjabi Cinema is at cross roads actually
because only two hits amongst the 16 odd released does not auger well for its
growth pattern.
One thing is certain for the media to
take notice that it has a very huge responsibility towards their readers who
rely on them for facts and not tweaked reviews. A Film which is doing roaring
business overseas cannot be berated
because it not from a known Production house which does not have money to spare
on favorable media reports. Another important factor is that the editors should
check the competence and years of experience in reporting on Punjabi Cinema
because a media reporter has the competence in judging a film based on people reactions
and they usually write that movie is interesting and boring depending upon the
production house setting with the media house. But to judge the production,
technicalities and cinematography you need experts from the field of Direction,
Production, editing or cinema photography etc.
What criticism and from whom is the query?
What is the Boring Meter that gauges the
boring levels either you have hidden laughing meters to check the comic levels
or the tear gathering swabs to check the emotion quotient.
A
notion has been formed in the Punjabi Film trade circles that only a comedy
film with an odd singer thrown in will work and be a hit and to support this
view we have the media reporting of about 40 odd Punjabi comedy movies in
various stages of completion.
Another known fact is this also that if
Punjabi’s get after a THING they make sure it reaches its conclusive disaster
and burial – be it paddy cultivation, building marriage palaces, building
illegal colonies or getting cassettes of little known singers released.
So fast
is the speed of these quick buck earning Punjabi film makers is
that they are going to make mockery of THEIR RELATION SHIPS WITH
PARENTS ,Punjabi language, Punjabi culture, Punjabi Psyche , Punjabi spirit
rather than true comedy.
The actual tragedy of this comedy only Punjabi cinema will be unfolding every
week on every Friday as one Punjabi movie per week is lined up for release till
December end. Some Punjabi Films are actually PURE DRAMA GENRE but to attract
the GULLIBLE viewers they are projected or painted as a comedy in their teasers,
trailers, theatricals as well as film’s posters.
This sets us on the path how do we make
Punjabi Cinema grow. Unless the Punjabi cinema has all the genres like Drama,
Comedy, Romantic, Romantic-Comedy, Tragedy, Action and Art cinema growing and making
its own space – how will Punjabi Cinema grow?
Or by Punjabi cinema growth we only mean
Comedy and Comedy and nothing else or it is the age of extended comedy videos
or Chankattas being labeled as Punjabi Cinema.
Some serious thought needs to be given to the
above issues. In order to make quick bucks the makers of Punjabi cinema are
resorting to street language usage, and crass vulgar comedy. There are reports
that hardly any Punjabi film has a proper screen play which is sealed and not
tempered with later during the production. It is also known hardly any
production house is giving proper typed screen play to be actors but most give
hand written pages which are written on the sets it. So lesser said about the
storyline or idea development of the Punjabi cinema.
Now take the case of Singers only as heroes in
a Punjabi film syndrome and if that is true then the doors are closed for non
singers heroes and second leads. This will only lead to monopoly of film acting
space by a few good and some very bad looking Punjabi singers and the UNKNOWN
FRESH FACES the likes of which are seen on Bollywood screen day in and day out will
never set the Punjabi cinema screens ablaze. So a lot of introspection is
required on the part of the Punjabi Cinema Viewer as well as Makers.
Another lesson to learn for the makers is
to never release a movie in the single screen cinemas in Punjab as they are making mockery of the area’s
captive audience. The best of prints that look marvelous on a multiplex screen
with excellent sound in a Multiplex will go black in a single screen and a
jarring stereo sound with no Dolby sound to boot. With a few exceptions which
are tolerable the rest of single screen
cinemas should be closed down after a
review by a committee formed under Govt directions so that these cinema owners
do not cheat the area cine goers where they monopolies because of lack of
another quality cinema or multiplex in their close vicinity. They are so bad in
terms of infrastructure including the
basic equipment that is the projector and the screen. You can’t believe it.
Like the one in Jagraon which has a monopoly over the area viewers because of
its location. These cinemas require everything from a projector, projector lamps
and almost grey color screens which have never been changed since the inauguration
and very bad sound systems. A little description of a projector lamp - One lamp
has a life of 2000 hours while some very few good owners change them at 1600
hours to show movie with sufficient light while the others carry on till the
1999th hour despite the screen going almost black. The scene in majority single screen cinemas is
so hopeless that the day in a movie scene looks like an evening and night scene
you rightly imagined cannot be seen at all. The lesser it is said about their
toilet facilities is better.
Any serious effort to make a film which
goes against the grain of COMEDY ONLY movies syndrome requires a lot of guts to
go a make genre of Drama with situational comedy as per the demand of the
screen play. It required lot of guts from the producers to put their money
where their heart is because by having immense faith in the Punjabis who like
good quality cinema with clean family entertainment. Some Punjabi Movie Makers
are still going ahead and making a musical romantic dramas or romcoms.
