Today I watched Michael Jackson's Memorial. It was very well put up. Everyone paid a fitting tribute to the 'King of Pop'. The fans, celebrities, family everyone celebrated Michael's life. I have heard from some of my friends and I have seen it myself on TV when somebody passes away here in America, they of course mourn, but what I have seen is they celebrate that person's life.
The family and friends get together and talk about the dead person. They recall all the good times they had with that person. They narrate anectodes, they laugh, they cry. They feel instead of feeling bad that that person has left us, let us celebrate his life, let us remember all the good things he did and let us give him a happy farewell.
I think it is amazing how they do it. It is impossible for me to be in that situation and be so composed and talk about the good things about the deceased. Actually it will be impossible for me to even talk forget about narrating anecdotes. Michael's brother Jeremaine was giving TV interviews the other day on the Larry King show. Looking at him, it does not feel like he has lost a loved one. It is impossible for me to be like that. Today's memorial was like a concert. In India, when somebody passes away in a family you know it.
A few months ago, there was a death in our neighbor's family. We did not even know it until the evening when we saw so many cars and we asked someone standing outside what happened and he told me that the owner of the house passed away. If it was in India, we would have heard people crying from the beginning of the corner.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying one way is better over another. I am not even comparing. There cannot be a discussion about what somebody should and shouldn't do when someone passes away. People react and deal with the loss in their own way. There can be no right or wrong way to it. I am just amazed at how two sets of people deal with the death of a loved one in two totally different ways.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Is Box office collections a correct indicator of a successful film?
We have always relied on box office collections to decide whether a film is successful or not. Do you think this is an accurate barometer? I think this is one part of the metric but not the only metric.
Now-a-days one month before the movie releases, the movie stars, director, producer, music director everyone goes on a promotion spree. They are seen giving interviews to every possible newspaper, tabloid, website. Apart from that they hop into every possible reality show on the television thereby creating a blitzkreig.
Based on all this hype the audience goes to the movie and packs all the multiplex theaters for the first 3 days. So because the movie is shown in about 10 screens in one multiplex, multiply that with the number of multiplexes within the country. The producer will probably get back his money in the first 3 days. The collections in the next week are his profits. After that he doesn't bother whether the movie is still running in any of the theaters or not. He has not only got back his capital but also made some profit. So because the movie made profit it is declared hit.
Last year there were some really horrible movies released. Lot of people went to see the movie based on the promos thinking that it will be good. But one hour into the movie or during the interval, they realized how horrible the movie is and walked away. His ticket will not be reimbursed and his ticket money will be counted towards the box office collections and the movie will be declared a Hit!!
So I feel the box office collections alone is not a good metric to declare whether a movie is a hit or flop. I feel the old system of Silver Jubilee and Golden Jubilee is a good metric. What that tells you is the movie made a good profit and it was able to sustain for so long. Our producers and directors should really think hard as to what they are making. Now-a-days the movies have only 2 weeks of shelf life. All they are interested is in making money. That is not wrong but they claim to be artists, so are they justifying their art?
Even the audience also should be smart. I know movies are a basic form of entertainment but you should not flock the theaters first day just because your favorite actor is in the movie. Your favorite actor can make a bad movie too. And by making these kinds of movies successful, we are encouraging the film makers to give us the same kinds of products. Once we start rejecting trash that's when we will get to see some really good movies.
Now-a-days one month before the movie releases, the movie stars, director, producer, music director everyone goes on a promotion spree. They are seen giving interviews to every possible newspaper, tabloid, website. Apart from that they hop into every possible reality show on the television thereby creating a blitzkreig.
Based on all this hype the audience goes to the movie and packs all the multiplex theaters for the first 3 days. So because the movie is shown in about 10 screens in one multiplex, multiply that with the number of multiplexes within the country. The producer will probably get back his money in the first 3 days. The collections in the next week are his profits. After that he doesn't bother whether the movie is still running in any of the theaters or not. He has not only got back his capital but also made some profit. So because the movie made profit it is declared hit.
Last year there were some really horrible movies released. Lot of people went to see the movie based on the promos thinking that it will be good. But one hour into the movie or during the interval, they realized how horrible the movie is and walked away. His ticket will not be reimbursed and his ticket money will be counted towards the box office collections and the movie will be declared a Hit!!
So I feel the box office collections alone is not a good metric to declare whether a movie is a hit or flop. I feel the old system of Silver Jubilee and Golden Jubilee is a good metric. What that tells you is the movie made a good profit and it was able to sustain for so long. Our producers and directors should really think hard as to what they are making. Now-a-days the movies have only 2 weeks of shelf life. All they are interested is in making money. That is not wrong but they claim to be artists, so are they justifying their art?
Even the audience also should be smart. I know movies are a basic form of entertainment but you should not flock the theaters first day just because your favorite actor is in the movie. Your favorite actor can make a bad movie too. And by making these kinds of movies successful, we are encouraging the film makers to give us the same kinds of products. Once we start rejecting trash that's when we will get to see some really good movies.
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