From negative movie reviews to unceremonious tweets by Indian journalists undermining the tsunami called Bahubali 2: the conclusion, the opponents tried all to ensure they subdued the craze.
But 8 days after releasing worldwide and grossing more than 10 billion INR (Rs. 1000 crore), the Bahubali frenzy seems far from calming down. Smashing all Bollywood records while cruising through to create history, director SS Rajamouli has managed to achieve what no other director has. Setting a benchmark for all forth coming movies, Rajamouli’s Bahubali has set such high standards, that it seems like a daunting task for any Bollywood director to even achieve a fraction of what Bahubali has.
Debunking the Aryan- Dravidian theory like never before, igniting a fire of nationalism for the motherland (Mahishmati) is a mark against the agenda of the left liberals who seek to divide the nation for their own selfish interests.
Although the big take away from the movie is not the fire of nationalism or the charm of Bahubali, but a sense of realization which one feels during the interval of the movie.
With trailers of upcoming (movie releases) blared during the intermission break, while the people get their quota of Pop-corn, the trailer of half girlfriend during Bahubali 2 seemed the most ridiculous.
The sudden transition from “Jai Mahishmati” to “Myself coming from village areas” during the intervals gives a very similar feeling as that of thinking that Nitish Kumar rules Bihar but then realizing it is Lalu who rules the state.
Leaving political innuendo’s aside, it is disappointing to see that there is a total dearth of creativity in Bollywood today with so many horrible adaptations and remix’s of old classics. Half girlfriend is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s book which had released in 2014, Its trailer is as pedestrian and average as the words in the book are.
Half Girlfriend (judging by the trailer of it) looks like Chetan Bhagat’s other classics that were adapted into cinema, predictable and boring. The story line is linear with Arjun playing a character of a desi stud from Patna (Which by the way is not village area) who hopelessly falls in love with an urban hottie from Delhi being played by Shraddha Kapoor. The guy follows the girl till eternity only to be told by that girl that she can only be his half girlfriend. Refraining from disclosing the plot any further herein forth, the trailer all in all seemed like a grand caricature of a rich man holding a glass of wine, with eyes full of sorrow (similar to Arjun’s face).
And while this review aims to show the disparity between the quality of cinema in South and North, it is high time that Bollywood accepts the fact that all that they can do is make average movies inspired by an old classic or by a book.
80% of movies produced by Bollywood are Rom-Coms with same or similar plots. Look at some of the films Bollywood produced recently – Sanam Re, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Fitoor, Baaghi and Befikre. When Bollywood is not busy producing pointless rom-coms it makes cheap duplicates of American Pie like Kyaa Kool Hain Hum and Mastizaade which are not erotic but cheap. And look at some of the Sports Biopics Bollywood has made – Azhar which was a bad propaganda movie and M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story where the director doesn’t focus on one of India’s biggest sports legend’s meteoric rise but his overly dramatic romantic side. We have Raaz Reboot for horror and Flying Jatt for Super-Hero genre.
Good Masala Potboilers like it Singham, Ghajini and Bhool bhulaiyya and even the critically acclaimed ones like Drishyam are mere copy paste reels by the glamorous B-town directors. The fervor of Bahubali has caught the grip of this nation and the audience have tasted quality cinema after a long time, but Bahubali wouldn’t have been Bahubali had the Production team invested in stars rather than plot, script, VFX and other production details. Bahubali wouldn’t have been Bahubali without Prabhas, who sacrificed 5 years of his life to concentrate on just one project. How many of Khans and Kapoors will be willing to take that kind of risk?
It was Half-Girlfriend Trailer while watching Bahubali 2, that shook me to the core. It got me thinking that unless Bollywood pulls up its socks, it is going to get rejected by the audience sooner or later. Bahubali with its1000 Crore Collections in 8 Days is a tell-tale sign.