Mumbai:
 |
|
Critic Rajeev Masand and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap trying to make their points Pics/PRADEEP DHIVAR |
It happened again recently. A debutant director's film sank at the box office. He impolitely accused me, a blogger on the website
http://www.passionforcinema.com/, of viewing responses to his film through the 'media angle'. I explained that there was no conspiracy theory behind the two-star rating he received. But his conclusion? Reviewers killed his film in a day. One he made over seven years.
The same passion that binds the filmmaker and his critic, defines their love-hate equation. It's not that strange when I look at myself. At PFC, film fanatics like us don't belong to any category. We fight it out with every new release. We rave and rant at each other, Friday to Friday, sometimes on the side of the director, sometimes with the critic.
But I got a chance at the real thing: to watch the filmmaker and the critic slug it out, in the same space. Anurag Kashyap, easily one of Hindi cinema's most controversial directors and CNN IBN's entertainment editor Rajeev Masand, voted television's favourite film critic. "You need to put the blame on someone to survive this brutal industry," laughs Anurag, "And the moment you do so, you can make your next. Less than three stars bothers me a lot and more so, if it's a smaller film."
Rajeev, who rated Anurag's Black Friday with four stars and his No Smoking with one, agrees that it's difficult to judge every film within the template of stars. "How do you judge a Singh Is Kinng against Aamir? But it's a standard practice followed internationally. So I try to judge the overall experience," says Rajeev.
Yet Anurag accuses that it's the very thing that's missing the film critique. "There's the trade analysis, plot outline and technique, but where's the critique?" he says, "Every review looks like a rush job. One reviewer, five films, 500 words each. And it's done?!"
Rajeev fires back that it's the filmmakers who are at fault, refusing to show critics their films in advance. "Truth is filmmakers are insecure. Don't live with the conviction that we'll spread the bad word. Give us respect," says Rajeev.
But Anurag is unwilling to let go. "Reviewers never try to decipher what the filmmaker is trying to say. They just let out half the story and dissect the acting." Rajeev retorts, "But we're yet to see film as an art form. It's filmmakers who have taught us all these years to treat the audience like a big monster that needs to be fed!"
Next comes the theory that critics huddle over their reviews at press screenings. Industry insiders visualise the scribes as a mafia, wanting to pull down the filmmaker. The truth, Rajeev says, is that the movie is barely discussed over the interval samosas. Anurag thunders, "It's subjective, but there is a 'gang' with an agenda. I read every review and know them all." Rajeev laughs and asks, "There are few failed artistes and some aspiring filmmakers who abuse this platform. But why mistrust everyone?"
At the end of the day, the two agree that critics have to champion movies. But as Rajeev says, the fact that filmmakers are willing to experiment doesn't always guarantee good cinema. "We can't rate the passion of the filmmaker. It's the film we have at hand." Anurag points out, "Nobody would have known Wong Kar-Wai if he wasn't discovered by critics. Here, it's all power and no responsibility."
So I pop the final question. Isn't this love-hate relationship unavoidable? "Artistes love those who love them. And hate those who dismiss their art. That's universal," shrugs Anurag. "Sometimes the backlash is harsh. But we feel for cinema passionately. Every mission has its brickbats," signs off Rajeev.
Stepping out, you see the No Smoking poster hanging on the wall of Anurag's office. It reads, 'In theatres: October 26th'. In Anurag's writing below is: 'Out of theatres: October 30th". Courtesy: film reviewers? But Anurag is willing to concede this one. "It was a very personal piece. I never expected it to be accepted. To find my audience was enough," he smiles.
smdmail@mid-day.com
Somen Mishra is a moderator on Passion For Cinema and an avid blogger on the website
asdjflsdf
asdfds
