Why Today’s Movies Lack the Heart of Yesterday’s Classics
Cinema has always contributed something to our lives, no matter how it's done. It's sad to see cinema in such a decline today, whether it's Hollywood or Bollywood. We've seen cinema in its prime, with every movie becoming a hit. Back then, movies like The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption, and Interstellar had so many great scenes. There used to be so much side knowledge, and all of this is disappearing today, as people seem to prefer superhero movies and illogical ones. But in the past, people liked different kinds of movies, and people preferred simple, understated classics. But today's generation is heading in a different direction.
In earlier times, passion was the most important factor in movies. Emotions and imagination were also a factor. However, movies have changed a lot these days, and people today prefer different types of movies. Back then, movies used to be full of suspense and a lot of thrill, and I loved franchises. I was very dedicated to my work. But nowadays, there's a rush to make more and more movies. No one cares about how we make the best and most effective movies. These are the things that I believe have made cinema great today. Our earlier cinema, our earlier movies, were so well done and had such wonderful stories that we were amazed by them. That's why we say that earlier cinema was very different.
I saw things from here in Bollywood, and those people also became very successful. Before all these things, Hindi movies like Naadan Nayak, Guide, Pyaasa, and Mother India used to be such movies that were made according to the time. Great directors like Satyajit Ray, who have made very good movies, have also said that a time will come when Bollywood will be in great depression. In today's time, Bollywood is suffering a lot. From crisis, because most of the filmmakers are always going into loss. No one wants to make a film because they can never make a profit.
If I were to share my personal experience, I used to think that old-time movies were neither entertaining nor of good quality. They didn't have any sensible elements. But when I watched them one by one, I realized that the old movies were still the same. Even if their quality had declined significantly, their cameras weren't very good. The editing of the actresses' voices, the emotion they conveyed, the style with which they acted, the way they delivered their dialogue, and the way they shot the camera—all of that was far superior in those days, and even today. I can't even say that today, and I can't make something like that. The filmmakers of that time were never thinking about money. They only cared about creativity and how to make a good and beautiful movie that people would enjoy, and they made movies that I couldn't even understand how the endings used to happen.
Bollywood is the biggest reason for depression. I have seen their nepo kids in today's time. Most filmmakers pick up only Tara's kids. They cast them only, which is right in a way, but if they do not know acting, then what is the use of making them act if your children are not able to act properly? If they do not understand acting, then what is the use of making them act? And I have seen this thing that in today's time, due to digital rights, filmmakers earn little money. And the songs used to earn them a small amount of money for digital rights, so they thought they'd made a movie, and once their money came in, more would be made. But for the audience who earned their hard-earned money and who liked the movie, it was a very sad thing. If someone buys a ₹500 ticket, they always expect the content they see, the movie they watch, to be a money-making exercise. However, in today's world, filmmakers make movies solely to earn money. No one creates art with such heart.
The earlier directors who used to do that were also very passionate about how to understand their movies in a better way, and I would like to take the names of some selected directors who were the best in their time, like if we talk about Bollywood, then Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani, and Anurag Kashyap; if we talk about Hollywood directors, then Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron. These are all great directors who have given their best movies in their time, and these are the ones who kept cinema alive at that time, and these directors of today have not contributed that much. Many such directors have never earned a profit to date, and similarly, many such directors have never let their movies go bad to date. So this is the identity of a real director who is successful through his movies. It does not matter to him who is in his cast, but it matters to him that if his storylineis right, then it will always be beneficial.
Finally, I'd like to say that it's very sad that cinema used to be so good in the past. My father's generation had such beautiful movies, and he told me about the long lines they had to wait in when movies first came out. But in today's time, when everything has become digital, cinema simply doesn't have that quality. It doesn't have the storyline. It doesn't have the emotions. The imagination that directors of the past possessed has made cinema a mere business. Today's directors have made cinema a business, but cinema was never a business. Satyajit Ray said some very beautiful things. Cinema is an art that not every artist can master. Cinema is an art that you must always approach with great care, because making a mistake can ruin the entire storyline. Therefore, I see such degradation happening during good times, and it saddens me greatly.
Posted Using INLEO