Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Why I hate Priyadarshan



They say ultimately everyone is a good person.Everyone has a good heart and it is outward appearances and wrong choices that make a person seem bad,evil or an asshole.Maybe so, but there are several guys whose guts I hate.And that too with passion.There are people who I have known in school and in college(thats you ananth) whose very existence disgusts me.Mr.Priyadarshan , famed director is one such person that I hate.Why?for one reason and one reason alone.His blatant and flagrant ,unacknowledged plagiarism of Malayalam films.
He is not a bad director by any stretch of the imagination.His films are taut,well directed,inscrutable, and the guy has honed his skills to near perfection and he knows what the public wants.He started out with comedies and many mallu's( i hate this term,mallu,i find it derogatory) swear by them.My friend Jimson points out that the Mohanlal-Priyadarshan combo of the late 80s early 90s was instrumental in Mohanlal's position today.But I differ in opinion.I believe it was the Sathyan Anthikad-Mohanlal combo that started the trend of social comedies in the first place that led to his iconic rise.Anyway,he was going on fine with slapstick comedies with comic titles, that without doubt delivered ,and how.He had a string of hits one after the other that cemented his position as an able mallu(here we go again) director.In fact he directed Chitram the mega blockbuster of Mollywood.I dont resent his work in fact I am rather fond of several of his mallu films like Vellanakalude Naadu,Dheem Thariktia Thom,Chithram,Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu ,Kilukkam,Midhunam,Minnaram etc.These are all rather good films that make for excellent viewing with the whole of the family.He directed Aryan and Abhimanyu two crime dramas that excelled in their portrayal of Bombay underworlds and had great acting by Mohanlal.His Kaalapani was released all over India and no one can deny its greatness.If he is such a good director then why the backlash?
Because he set out to remake the true,incomparable comedy gems of Mollywood without even acknowledging the immense genius and talent that went into their creation.It all started with him remaking his own film, Chitram as Muskurahat.I donno whether it worked or not but he proceeded on to select the best Mollywood had to offer and blatantly copy them.He realized he was onto something,a rather simple way to mint money.He remade Kireedam( my father's all time fav flick) as Gardish.He went on to remake several of his own earlier comedies too,( for which I have no love,so excused)Then came the real stinker.He remade Maanarmathai Speaking as Hera Pheri.It was a super hit, showcasing the comic excellence of Paresh Rawal.He acknowledged Neeraj Vohra as the writer.Bullshit!! It was a frame by frame remake with all the jokes spot on repeated ,even the dialogues weren't spared.When asked why he did not direct the sequel (Phir Hera Pheri)his reply was that he did not like working on the same material twice.His nerve!! Then he went on to remake the sequel to Maanarmathai Speaking ,Ramjirao Speaking as Bhagam Bhag.No reluctance there huh?But his greatest transgression was desecrating Godfather.He remade this one as Hulchal which was a very hurried up affair,without giving time to let the story sink in.The original ranks among my all time favs.Now hes out once again with Dhol, a remake of In Hariharnagar.Isnt anything holy anymore??The trailer had I and my friends ripping out tufts of hair from our head... even the way the songs were shot has been copied.Next up is also a remake of the magnificent Malayalam thriller/comedy Manichitrathaazham as Bhul Bhulaya...He is making so much money and no one(except us mallus) realizes that he is not bringing anything new to the screen.OK, granted he copies, and that too frame by frame, could he not acknowledge the genius of auteurs like Sathyan Anthikad,Rafi Mecartin and the insuperable Siddique-Lal.I cannot hold myself back when my north Indian friends say he makes great comedies...
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Arjun:God please make him stop.I promise i will be a good boy...


You wont be smiling when yu hear the box office returns of CHUP CHUP KE

Trivia 1:A ball hit his left eye when he was young,shattering his dream of a career in cricket.That also explains the glasses.
Trivia 2:he is married to Malayalam actress Lizi,.. lucky bastard.

PS: God, I was just kidding about the good boy part.. take care up there...

2 comments:

Unknown said...

arjun raju....dnt wrry the feeling is mutual...

Rennu Clare said...

Thank you! Thank you for writing this.I mean if you are making scene to scene remakes atleast you should acknowledge the original makers.(Hera pheri:"enne thanne udeshichanu,enne mathram udeshichanu"Yup.)