So, what does make a movie enjoyable? There is no blanket “one-liner” to answer that question. It does depend…

While watching a drama, the constant nagging thought has to be, “What’s going to happen next…How are they going to get out of this one?”. You should be at the edge of the seat, holding your partner’s hand really *tight* in a thriller. An action movie should make you go, “Co-ol…Where on earth did they get that idea from?”. “ohhhhh…why does this happen only in movies?…sigh… ” should be what your heart says, when you watch a romantic movie. A comedy shouldn’t make you just laugh; it should make you laugh so hard that you are in tears. Movies based on social issues should make you squirm because you realize you live in the world that you see on the screen.

The very basic requirement of a serious movie is “attention to detail”; make-up on when the lady gets up in the morning – most certainly, big no-no. This could be a social issue or a story that has no scope for humor, it’s the details that make it feel real. Even a no-brainer masala movie, needs to have a base genre for it to work.

A horror movie…should not be made at all!

Of course, there are those typical things that are ever-so-annoying. No matter what justification the makers find for putting them in. Melodrama, slapstick, characters trying to hide a lie and thus behaving predictably, comic relief sub-plots – all extremely nauseating.

Even if a movie falls in two or more genres, it has to do justice to all of them and evoke sentiments that each genre is supposed to. Off late, we have had some unique combinations like social issue and comedy – “Lage Raho Munnabhai”. Another wonderful treatment was seen in “Dor”, it was a drama with a hint of romance – a romance with a non-existent male lead.

But, I think a movie that picks one genre and sticks to it works the best. Okay, I allow one more…any more and then the experience begins to deteriorate. Of course, there are gems that have touched almost all genres mentioned above and yet are as enjoyable as it can get. Really, how many times in a life-time can we expect a “Sholay”? But, exceptions can’t become the rule now, can they?

And then there are those great concepts that leave you with a bad taste. Either because two genres are fighting for attention (Krishh) or because they are oil and water and no attempt is made to make them blend (Fanaa). Not to mention the dozens that want to be everything and end up creating a ruckus. Just because a mixed fruit salad tastes good, you can’t watch it go stale on screen for two-plus hours.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 2:44 am and is filed under Just a thought. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.