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The love/hate clubs

Published On: 2013-12-28

Author: unknown

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The love/hate clubs

Source :Screen India

 

Forget the camps, these days Bollywood is all about the clubs. They are ‘the love/hate clubs’. Every time a hugely -hyped movie starring a superstar comes out, these clubs get formed. Expectedly, this week’s menu is to do with Kites - either you belong to the club that loved the Hrithik Roshan film or you belong to the one that didn’t.

 

Much before the trade pundits and critics get to their number-crunching and analysis, the love/hate clubs are formed and an industry opinion about the movie is arrived at. A few months back, text messages spread the word, now it’s all done via Twitter or Blackberry messenger. Someone somewhere sees a movie, pings a few of his industry friends and Voilà! The verdict is plastered all over town.

 

Now if you happen to be in the hate club then you are swimming with the tide. Good for you. But if, God forbid, you end up liking the big star’s movie then you had it. Be prepared to give an explanation. Seriously. You’ll be asked to defend your choice. It happened with me just this Friday when I tweeted about liking Kites. A lot of people called, some texted, many tweeted on how could I like the movie. Huh. It’s my personal opinion. I liked it. You didn’t. End of discussion.

Kites is just one example. Something similar happened when I wrote that I quite enjoyed Kurbaan. Till date, a few industry insiders mock me about my choice. “How could you like Kurbaan?” almost became a conversation ice-breaker. “Why can’t I?” was my response. Ditto with Kites.

 

Whatever happened to the freedom of expressing one’s views? Where has the respect gone? It’s no fun when people shove their opinion down anyone’s throat. The beauty of cinema is that it’s personal. Each film talks differently to each person. Watching a film and then discussing it is one of the joys of movie-watching. It’s all about having a take on a movie. And each one’s take is going to be different.

 

I get it that everybody wants to be cool here. And really I understand that it’s no fun to hype the already hyped. Instead it’s way cooler to think of smart one-liners to kill the movie even before the audience - who actually is the whole and sole judge of the movie - gives its verdict. Nowadays Twitter makes it even easier. In 140 words, you can seal the fate of the movie and what’s more it is even preserved for posterity. ‘Kati Patang’or ‘Kites crash-lands’ are really very smart and cool sounding tweets. No wonder they were re tweeted all over.

 

God forbid if like me you tweeted ‘Kites Flies’. I’m still explaining that one.