They say that films mirror the society. And, one of the biggest influencers of the modern times for India has been the late Dhirubhai Ambani, a man who made into the billionaire club from scratch. And, inspired an entire nation in the process.
He loved to think big. And it seems that he has inspired the new generation film makers of the country as well. Gone are the times of Satyajit Ray when you showed the plight of rural India, the India that was struggling to find its place in the globe post independence. Today films talk of characters who spend lavishly to entertain their girlfriends and who take copters to show their love around Australia. Indians don’t consider themselves poor anymore, atleast in the latest films made in India.
I think it is very essential for people to see India as a modern nation. India as a country is today seen as an IT major and ITES major. We therefore cannot afford to have the image created by the films of Ray. Those days are gone. And the new times demand a different focus. And the filmmakers of today have understood and responded well to the needs to their audience and times.
But I have a feeling that Mr. Ambani, the great Dhirubhai Ambani, is the catalyst to it all.
Hey Tilak
While I agree with you that India today is modern and known all over the world for its IT prowess and a strong set of Gen X I disagree over the fact that we cannot afford to have the image created by Satyajit Ray kind of films. Because herein lies the disconnect. The hip urban youth thinks that all of India is a metro - a maze of lights, long winding roads, swanky commercial complexes, exciting night life. But this is not the only reality. While we are climbing the IT ladders and entering the billionaire clubs, we are still predominantly an agrarian society with 80% of our population living in rural areas in dismal conditions.
Satyajit Ray showed Do Bigha Zameen then (much before you or I were born), but there are still hand rickshaws lying, farmers committing suicide, landlords cheating labourers, money lenders sqeezing every drop of their blood. Even today a dalit cannot draw water from an upper caste well (imagine water itself flows through a nullah, an ocean, hills and mountains and does not discriminate but we humans do), a girl child is kiiled on or before her birth, young boys and girls are sacrificed in the name of honour killing, prominent leaders do not allow migration of labour from one state to the other.
Amidst all this reality, the movies today are still weaving a dream - that of every youth empowered financially, of being blessed by Venus or Adonis and the worst of all - a happy ending. Everyone knows that after the 3 hours spent in dreaming, they are going back to their humble abodes and miserable existence. But everytie there is that hope in their heart that glimmer in their eyes, that one day their lives too shall have a happy ending.
Yes you are right about Ambani being the root somewhere but what are his sons doing to bridge the urban rural divide? We don't need a Dhirubhai Ambani Internationa School. We need a Dhirubhai Ambani English Medium school for lower income groups. We need a DAKC where promising youth from villages will be trained on the softwares etc and be made to walk shoulder to shoulder with the yuppies. I want to see that day.