Hindustan Times
Can anything be worse than a really bad film?
I still haven’t seen Kambakkht Ishq but almost everyone I’ve met has told me to stay far, far away from it. The general view seems to be that it’s crude, offensive and unbelievably idiotic. There have been just a couple of dissenting voices and they went something like this: “Yes, it’s really silly but it’s okay timepass,” or “Yes, it’s really daft but you can watch it for the locations and for Kareena’s clothes and shoes.”
Neither reaction is particularly reassuring. I have nothing against silly comedies. I laughed in many scenes in Singh Is King. I like plenty of David Dhawan’s comedies. But a stupid movie that’s not even funny? Or a stupid movie that is supposed to be a serious movie? That truly is an ordeal.
And I keep wondering why actors and actresses agree to do such films. I never understood, for instance, why someone like Amitabh Bachchan who had been a part of such wonderful films as Deewar, Trishul, Sholay, Abhiman and many others, agreed to act in Mard and Jaadugar in the later part of his career (Mard was so horrendous you wanted to throw up and Jaadugar was so boring you went into a coma).
More recently, I couldn’t figure out why Madhuri Dixit acted in something like Aaja Nachle. I saw the film recently on DVD and found it dull, dull, dull. And I kept thinking – Madhuri makes a comeback after all these years and it’s in this film?
Yet another time my cablewallah showed a movie made by Mahesh Bhatt called Criminal (starring Manisha Koirala). I’ve enjoyed many of Mahesh Bhatt’s films, so I began watching but what a criminal waste it turned out to be! I couldn’t believe that Mahesh Bhatt had made this rubbish.
I’m particularly allergic to heroines who behave like half-wits (you know the kind of roles I’m talking about… where the leading lady is so vapid and silly, she seems almost demented).
I understand that good directors can’t always make good films and that film stars can’t always act in good films. Occasionally, they will be part of disappointing/average movies.
But why do they end up making/acting in seriously bakwas films? Why??
(10 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Posted by Poonam Saxena on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Filed under Pop Culture · Tagged Aaja Nachle, Akshay Kumar, Deewar, Kambakkht Ishq, Kareena Kapoor, Sholay, trishul
its a thing called money, most of the so called stars make worst kind of movie and in between act in good films so they are called good actors, see aamir he act in mela and a film with manisha shot in some ship where they both were crying a lot giving competition to srk in crying, or srk acting in guddu, or oh darling ye hai india(what was this a film ,documnetry or how to not make a film like this).
as for akshay is concern he simply not act in such film where there is athing called logic, most of his film are made for masses not meant for multiplexes so i can undersatnd where critic panned it downly and audience loves it . ones in a magzine a writer compare him with mayawati that most of the main stream media ignore him (so what his 6 film were hit in a row, where a actor called ranbeer kapur got cover ,who hadn’ a solo hit and who was one of the four “heroin” in bachna aye hasino) even brunch had not got a issue of akshay kumar(how the hell anu malik got it, i am still finding), so when main stream media suddnely got attentive to his film and so does film critics(who often wonder why his film they bash so badly and it still got super hit).
he is simply bollywood version of jackie chan whose all the film look same with no logic but they were entertainers and they made lots of money.
i am asking you what were so great about om shanti om(in what we saw on mtv and lots of spoof were put on it), here there was no logic, but mainstream media loves it and multiplex loves it coz srk was there!
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Anurag, as journalists we have to be fair. Someone may dislike most of Akshay Kumar’s films, but if he’s delivering hits, you can’t ignore him. As you yourself say, he deserves a cover story! It’s like Ekta Kapoor’s saas-bahu soaps. i couldn’t stand them, but they were tremendously popular and changed TV fiction programming for ten years. That’s quite an achievement. So I may not have liked them but that did not stop me from doing a serious cover story for Brunch on what made Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi India’s favourite soap.
As for Om Shanti om, well, what can i say? i loved it! I thought it was a full-on glamorous, fun Bollywood film with zany humour, super music, high drama — in short, everything! (Since you don’t like Shah Rukh Khan, you didn’t like the film).
I certainly don’t believe that every film should be ‘great cinema.’ How awful would that be! I’m all for light-hearted, enjoyable films, whether they’re logical or not. But what they CANNOT be is boring or so idiotic that they cease to be enjoyable.
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anurag Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
but mam u actually love all the karan johar saga, which was big screen cersion of ekta kapoor serial or vice versa, in fact both agreed with that. i still think the so called main stream media mostly ignores the hero for masses as they never existed.look at the deol family when sunny was giving hit after hit there were lots of spoof on him and his family, the media never gave credited the dharmendra(what a great actor was he,just wacth satyakaam and chupke chupke), they were never fav of media,coz they don’t gave interview or never say nasty thing about another actors(so boring) like your fav do’s.
i think the last hero who had masses as well as classes was amitabh bachan
after that no body come close(u may agree), the khan’s film were never hit in rural or semi city center, i came form that area so that i can say that why the bhojpuri film rise coz no one was making films for hindi hinterland.( u know akshay rock here also, they relate to him)
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But you must watch Kambakkt Ishq!!, If nothing else, just marvel at the creative depths directors and actors can plunge into, and dont take anyones word for it.
There is a market for really terrible Hindi Movies. It energises your sense of Inanity & insanity. It provides comfort that that there are people who are more intellectually impoverished than you are.
I, for one, really like watching these movies because they bring immense joy in asking questions like “How could he do that?”, or “Did they really mean that?”, or “OhMyGod can it be worse than this”? The list is long…….
Of course there are no answers, but they make for some great conversation. And believe you me, there are lots of us out there. Its also tremendous fodder for a dialogue / scene antakshari where you rattle out scenes and dialogues from terrible movies instead of singing songs.
So do see the movie, Poonam, and then can do do a post on your list of really really terrible Hindi Movies?
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hey ma’am,
i think one of the important reasons good actors keep doing rubbish movies is that they stop introspecting after they reach a certain stage in their careers.
for example, i am sure akshay kumar must be surrounded by ‘yes men’ ….
anyway, interesting post as always….
PS : i have launched a book review website : http://bhejakhol.wordpress.com/ ….
please have a look when you have time… if you want me to email you our first newsletter, please drop in your email id on my blog ( click on my name ) …..thanks.
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Ankur, I totally agree with you. I saw Kambakkht Ishq yesterday (Atul, I took your advice!) and wondered if Akshay Kumar had lost it. My theory: When Akshay had that incredible golden streak (everything he did was a hit, from Welcome to Singh is King to Namaste London), I think he began to believe he was invincible, that he could do ANYTHING and audiences would love him for it. He needn’t bother if the script was good or if his lines were funny or if the comedy was smart — all he had to do was appear in a film, do his usual comic stuff and it would work. Well, it doesn’t.
Kambakkht ishhq is a truly bad film. The gags are not funny, and the storyline (such as it is) sucks. Also, why do Hindi movies think hitting and slapping people/doing any other kind of physical violence is the height of humour?? Did anyone find the scene of Akshay being searched for drugs at the airport by an enormous black woman funny??
And what WAS Sylvestor Stallone doing in the film?! Why was he there? it made no sense! (Like the rest of the film!)
And by the way, Ankur, will definitely go to your book review website! And yes, I’d love to get your first newsletter
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ankur kakkar Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
hey ma’am,
by what means should i send you the newsletter ? dont have your email id/ blog link / website link !!!
in any case, if you do happen to visit any of the bookstores in south extn – 1, you may grab a free copy of the newsletter …
another alternative is you could give me your home/office address and i will have it sent to you personally …
thanx.
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Deb Reply:
July 15th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Poonam, initially I didn’t find myself agreeing with what Ankur said about the aloofness of stars, but your comment puts it in perspective. I see shades of Salman in what Akshay is doing to his career right now. And yes, I did find all the physical gags (including the disgusting airport scene) & obscene dialogues in the movie really off-putting. I rue the day I agreed to my niece’s suggestion to go for this trash instead of New York (which I watched later, with some satisfaction).
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Deb, I liked New York too. I didn’t LOVE it but I enjoyed watching it and thought the director Kabir Khan had made an interesting, fairly thoughtful film. Compared to Kambakkht Ishq, it’s a masterpiece!
mahesh Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Poonam, isn’t this what happened to Govinda too? He was funny with is comic timings and delivered quite a few hits but then he got over confident and thought he could get away with any script thrown on him. Where is he now??
Cheers
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am
You are spot on, Mahesh. I think Govinda is among the funniest people I’ve ever seen on film, but unfortunately he started acting in such vague movies
i am argeed to this too..why stars do such boring and nonsense films..they have a lot of money…then why they down their reputation by doing this type of movies..i like akshay kumar movies…but from now..he is alos on the same track..like.8*10,chandni chowk to china and the new one is kambhakt ishq…why choose so boring topics…???
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nice one. stars are after all human. but these crappy movies end up filling my sunday afternoons and helps me complete my siesta…… so atleast we get something out of it.
http://mywriterkeeda.wordpress.com
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hey poonam,,guud post!! i just saw KI dis saturday..n in all fairness i thought..yes d storyline was crappy,,d songs were awful,,d locations,clothes,shoes etc.dat everyone was raving about were average..hollywood stars were dere just 4 d effect..but 2 be fair d first half was still enjoyable but d second half dipped n dipped really badly..BUT i see a lot of ppl have been slamming akshay in dis film n its okay coz he is d male lead but i thought he was d only positive of dis film..i ,,on d contrary i feel dat MS.KAREENA KAPOOR was horrible in d film..she looked pathetic n acted even worse..she is actually one of d main culprits of dis film..i mean how come a top actress or a so called n projected(by d media) top actress like her accept a film like dis..it was such an insult..i mean on one hand she is tryin 2 seduce akki in d film thru her song’ bebo-bebo’n den wen she wakes up in d mornin ..she acts all sati savitri n like a pure untouched flower..i thought dat was ridiculous!! its shocking 2 see kareena’s choices after JAB WE MET..she culd have build on her reputation as a good actress n a good entertainer after dat film but all she chose 2 do was **** like’ aditya chopra ki aag’ (i mean tashan),golmal returns n now kambakt ishq..i wonder why???
n den she acts all pretencious n says in her interviews–”i choose quality over quantity” ..as akki will say”FAKE *****” lol!!
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shiv Reply:
July 14th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
good one mansi!! i totally agree wid d kareena point.. she was quite horrible in the film..
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I too didn’t like Kareena in the film, Mansi. Her character was very badly scripted (and by the way, she’s a doctor — a surgeon for Christ’s sake — but she doesn’t know if she’s had sex or not the previous night when she wakes up in the morning!) It’s disappointing to see her in films like Tashan (how could I have forgotten mentioning this film as one of the worst films I’ve ever seen?!!) and Kambakkht Ishq. She’s said in her interviews that these are just meant to be fun, glamorous roles. But you know what, they’re neither! I mean, sure, she’s worn nice designer clothes and shoes in Kambakkht Ishq, but so what? The film is still awful. It’s like the BIG fuss she made about her looks and her figure in Tashan, but frankly, once the film released, no one cared. It’s particularly a pity becuse I really liked Kareena in films like Omkara, Jab We Met, Chameli
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mansi Reply:
July 17th, 2009 at 12:39 am
fun n glamorous–hahahahaha!! i think it was yuck,,boring n hideous…poonam..do u think deese stars do all sorts of crappy stuff just 2 be in d public eye coz public memory is short u know?? i mean a kareena does a film like 3 idiots in which i m sure she is gonna be great..n den she does **** like KI …y do dey have 2 do 3-4 films per year??just 2 maintain dere popularity..i mean even akki is comin out wid about 5-6 films dis yr..even if dey r crass..y cant dey be like say an aamir or a hrithik or a srk..do guud movies even if dey do one movie a year..
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 18th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Ya Mansi, I guess they do it to be in circulation/for money. Also, I think many of them are scared of being slotted in some ‘arty’ category wo they want to do hardcore commercial films too. But at least they should do enjoyable masala movies!!!
Nice article…by the way, Mahesh Bhatt had once said during a radio show on Radio City that Criminal is one of his worst movies ever; to quote him in his words, “bahut hi zaleeel picture banai thi maine!” But one cannot deny the fact that there is a market for horribly stupid movies; people do like to escape serious thinking once in a while in a country where living can be really stressful. Golmaal (*ring Ajay Devgan etc.) was the stupidest movie apart from Tashan that I saw, but my mother absolutely adores the movie. So no prizes for guessing why such movies are made and who they are made for!
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Rohit, at least Mahesh Bhatt had the courage to admit he made a lousy film. Most filmmakers and actors keep saying their film is great, it’s the critics who are biased, or some unnamed people in the industry are jealous of them and are trying to sabotage the film by saying bad things about it etc etc (apparently that’s what Akshay is saying about Kambakkht Ishq — or so I read in some paper)
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Rohit Pathania Reply:
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 am
I do agree on that one; listen to people like Sonam Kapoor and Sanjay Leela Bhansali when they defend a monument to slow torture called “Saanwariya”!
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guess our stars think the audience would like wateva kinda movie they act in! especially stars like akshay kumar, who seems to b acting in d same way in almost all his movies that have come up til now!!! especially the comic roles that he performs!!!! i do like his roles but its just that his comic roles have become quite a bit monotonous and i guess he needs to realise this asap so that his fan following does nt get lost!!!!
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Now that you have seen the movie (and welcome to the Gluttons for Punishment club!!), do you think this is the nadir or are there movies which even worse?
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 18th, 2009 at 11:39 am
That’s a tough one, but I think there are worse movies!!! And yes, am a total glutton for punishment when it comes to movies… kya karen?
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hehhee, when people can watch “rakhi ka swambar” on tv than they can watch any rubbish, this is the lowest point of tv.
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Poonam,
the really strange part of it all is that producers are willing to sink good money into films like KI that really suck! When an average person can be put off by the poor-excuse-of-a-story- line and the crass humour, how can a person who is shelling out millions on it not realize that the movie is money down the drain? Or perhaps they think that audiences can be taken for a ride and would be impressed with the attractive packaging. And frankly, I don’t understand what the fuss about Akshay Kumar is all about- he’s doing the same kind of trashy movies again and again and thinks he has surpassed amir and srk, who by the way star in far more watchable, entertaining movies.
P.S. I must add here that i eagerly wait for your saturday t.v. review columns- one of the features that make Saturday HT so interesting!
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 19th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Thank you! And I totally agree with what you’ve said about Kambakkht ishq!
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Dear Poonam,
I do agree with Shruti, and would like to congratulate you for the such amazingly entertaining TV bites you provide us with on Sat Columns.. I too eagerly await the Sat HT to read your space..
My best wishes to you and HT .. Tc
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Hey thanks!
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Akshay Kumar said about Kambakht Ishk, that the audience is supposed to come to the theatre, enjoy the popcorn and the drink, go back & enjoy the evening. Did anyone notice how he missed saying that you are supposed to enjoy the movie ? After all you can eat popcorn, cold drink in your home. Why will you pay so much money to see a film you can’t even watch completely ?
BTW Yeah, I do agree that Akshay had thought that he just needs to show his face in the movie and it will be a hit, but it doesn’t work that way. The Audience has matured now and they want content in the film (or atleast something to enjoy). Those Starts who think they just need to “star” in a movie to make it Super Hit, will see their movies tank in the near future.
Seriously I think we should have a sort of Money Back or Transferable Tickets thing. If I’m not satisfied with a movie & venture out in the first half, why shouldn’t I be paid back my money or given tickets to some other film. If I can do the same for some defective product I use, why can’t same logic be applied to movies nowdays ? Aren’t they also products ?
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hey poonam,
i saw d movie recently…… blv me it was a trash…… i like akki’s movies coz even i thought dat his mere presence in d movie is enough to drag ppl 2 theaters.but wat d hell was dat movie ???? looooootsa publicity was made dat it was a war of sexes blv me it wasnt war of sexes but war FOR sex…..absloutely **** movie…. kareena must hv signed d movie just on d basis of showing dat she can carry off glam roles along wid performance oriented but i strongly blv she did dis only 2 show off d designer wear outfits n shoes ……..puhlease movies dnt run only 4 designer clothes n shoes !!!! audience doesnt pay money 4 c ing dem yaar !!!!!!!!
akki did is best 2 save 4m such disaster but how can he save wen story is awefull …………………….
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poonam saxena Reply:
July 25th, 2009 at 11:08 am
And Kareena and Akshay say this is all a plot by their detractors to pull them down! Why don’t they just admit they acted in a really lousy film?
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well rite now m sittin in my office, due to recession effect (no work) i could find some time for one of my favourite topic ……… MOVIES…..
sory for intrupting your ongoing desi movies chat………. but as i found this 1 interesting i could not prevent myself from givin opinion about d problm wid bollywood ….
Indeed bollywood has produced some real gems, both in terms of movies n casts, but m really waiting for somthin comparabl to saving private ryan, shawshank redemption ……………………..
i firmly believe dat we r not lacking the talent but the minimum expected thinking or probably understanding in public to accept such movies on mass level. there r some excellent actors present in our industry but they av to compomise wid the same 3 hr dancing and singing torture because they cant risk some crores on movies, which wont be accepted by more than 10 15 % of population i guess.
how can you expect a movie like forrest gump be accepted at place where peolple are still fond of “OM SHANTI OM”
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hi,
why everyone has forgot to mention a super marvelous film BLUE!!! has anyone seen it..it is the most horrible movie i have evr seen…what you say
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