The most fascinating aspect of cinema is the elusiveness of a clear answer to the reason for any film’s success. Anyone will give you a hundred excuses why a film tanked but never pinpoint a single aspect that aided a film to conquer the box-office.
The cinema hall is the most democratic place in the world where collective emotions flatten cultural, class and linguistic barriers effortlessly. As darkness descends, it’s the director’s ability to create characters and situations that elicit the necessary emotional responses from you that matter. The consensus of a majority will dictate the film’s fate, either way. I was caught in a strange situation a few days back. I ventured to watch the new release ‘1st Rank Raju’ because of the positive buzz. The crude promos had created curiosity like they never fail to do. The hall is packed with backpackers whose parents think they’re in college with the final exams fast approaching. I have a gaggle of giggly girls for neighbours. A few minutes into the film and you know you’re not going to like it one bit. You realise that the debutante director is in cinema for want of anything better and because it’s the only profession that doesn’t require training of any kind. Cinema is the last resort for the aimless, most of the time off late.
The director’s intentions are honourable though. I mean, he has a profound message for parents who smother their wards strictly with the curriculum. Of course, the honourable soul knows nobody will watch if it is told blandly. So, he conveniently wraps his brilliant ‘message’ in crudity, double entendre and cheap one-liners that are worse than the ones circulated on WhatsApp.
A soothsayer predicts that Raju will be a failure as a student and so his father vows to make him a ‘1st rank’ student. Such characters are cinematic stereotypes and so he sports glasses and combs his hair with a clear parting. His exposure to the outside world is limited to the classroom.
The director’s idea of establishing his ignorance is by making him mouth innuendo like those about ‘missing periods’ and not knowing the difference between ‘falling in love’ and ‘making love’. Remember that student speech mistakenly using the term ‘Balathkar’ in ‘3 Idiots’. Our inspired director makes his innocent hero mouth crude lines in a similar sequence. The girl sitting next to me is jumping in her seat squealing with joy and ‘high fives’ her friend after explaining the meaning. She glances at my expressionless face and grimaces, deciding I’m a grumpy guy battling a middle-age crisis.
Sample this. The father who suddenly decides to transform his nerdy son into a Lothario tells him that he has to impress girls. “Press What?” asks the 1st rank hero and there’s loud laughter in the theatre! Well, ‘1st Rank Raju’ trundles on a seemingly endless track of mediocrity.
The acting is loud, the cinematography perfunctory and the music, ear-shattering. There’s this actor who’s obviously a fan of Sadhu Kokila and who’s so irritating, you wish for his idol and lo, Sadhu appears too to inflict more pain.
In a strange co-incidence, I was re-visiting the 1999 classic, ‘Magnolia’ which Kamal had recommended about life being full of strange and unbelievable co-incidences. It also talked about a father who drives his son to excel in a prize money quiz show and a former whiz kid who yearns for recognition and love. The comparison ends.
sshivu@yahoo.com
