Kannada Cinema

Is it only me, or does everyone get a grimace on their face after listening to or reading about kannada cinema? I am talking about today's cinema and not of the yester years. We all know and like to believe that the movies of yester years were amazing.

I will not go on about how kannada, on a broader spectrum, regional cinema sucks, but try to find out why these people are not able to get over rowdies and girls acting like "You Know What"s. (Starts with 's' and ends with 't' and no marks for guessing what it is)

1) Most film-makers are supposedly under the impression that people like to see other people being chopped up and surreal action scenes which end up looking idiotic. People, the days of Jogi are long gone. Nowadays, even techies, who used to keep yapping in english even when the whole group consisted of kannadigas are starting to talk kannada, and if I may add so, with a certain degree of pride. The kannada cinema audience no longer consists of wannabe rowdies and the so-called 'porki's who come into our mind whenever we think of a theatre showcasing a kannada movie.

And lets face it, however hard you try, you film-makers will never be able to mimick a Mission Impossible or a Terminator. Anyone who has seen those movies will surely walk out, or fall asleep during one of your action scenes.

2) To all script writers and directors. A heroine DOES NOT MEAN and arm candy. There are so many more sensitive roles that only a woman can play. And when I talk of an actress, I dont mean that girl whom you saw walking on the road and the next day she becomes a heroine. Qualifications for being an actress should just not be a pretty face and the ability to dance seductively. There is so much more to acting.

3) Especially to some new kannada hero called Akshay Kumar... I was watching one of those film review shows and this dude's movie had just been released. He humbly requested all the people to go watch the movie because IT HAD LOTS OF GREAT DANCE STEPS AND GOOD ACTION SCENES. NOT AN EFFIN WORD ABOUT THE STORY OR THE PLOT OR THE ACTING. Who wants to go spend, rather waste a whole afternoon watching dance and fights? Has the movie been reduced to just dance and fights and songs?

4) Songs... There have been some amazing songs in the post Mungaru Male times. But lets be realistic. If I am watching a movie, I certainly will laugh at some rowdy hero singing about love in complex lyrics. Please have songs which relate to the film in some way.

5) Casting... The casting sucks. Because none of the heroes knows anything other than kicking butt and none of the heroines knows anything other than dancing with skimpy clothes. We have heroines like Ramya who cant even deliver a dialogue and needs a voice-over for her films. Doesn't that kind of defeat the entire purpose of her acting? Isn't acting maimly about dialogue delivery among other things?

The Hindi cinema is coming of age now. They have finalyy figured out what people like to see and are doing a good job. There is atleast one radical, very different movie every year. Lets just hope that the Kannada cinema gets over Annavru and the golden olden days and comes down to earth. Rajkumar was a good actor, I agree, but his romance movies no longer work. Think out of the box and give us more to see and digest.