The noon clouds passed over as illustrious figures took the center stage. With an elaborate topic of discussion – ‘Unraveling a Hit’; the conversations took place around what makes a movie well acclaimed. The 45-minute discussion also touched base on what are the categories a critic looks into whilst reviewing a movie, how the medium of watching films have changed over generations.
MD & Chief Learner @LXL IDEAS, Sultan Ahmed mediated the discussion. He is a 1st generation social entrepreneur and a winner of 6 President of India’s National Film Awards. Along with Bhawana Somaaya, Manish Mundra and Supriya Pathak – the dais discussed on how movies have evolved over the decades. Bhawana Somaaya has been writing about Hindi cinema for more than 40 years. She is a film critic, columnist, and author of several books which includes biographies of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini. Manish Mundra is an Indian film producer, philanthropist and businessman. He is the founder and head of Drishyam Films, and Managing Director of Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited, a group company of Indorama, a multi-billion dollar petro-chemical firm headquartered in Nigeria. Supriya Pathak is an award-winning theatre, TV and film actor. Her films include Ram-Leela, Sarkar, Sarkar Raj, Wake Up Sid.
The conversation opened with the importance of critiquing a movie. They discussed on what are the aspects of movies that critics look into for a 5-star performance. Bhawana took an example to illustrate how the star system works. She mentioned about the 2010 drama-romance hit Band Baaja Baaraat. Of the total rating she gave for the movie, Bhawana highlights how she dedicated an entire star for Anushka Sharma’s performance as Shruti. Discussions also moved in the direction of what makes a good movie. Manish on a personal note mentioned that any movie that makes efforts to highlight the tradition of the country is taken well by the audience. His acclaimed movie, Masaan – when mentioned during the discussion received a huge round of appreciation from the audience. The conversation was looped around the idea of change of screens over time. As technology imbibed within our households, people have become reluctant to leave the premises of their home. In the comfort of their walls – technology has given them new forms of screens to watch and enjoy movies. Supriya also stressed on the fact that the age of television was golden. And with the new age screens, the flavor of watching films has changed too.
As Sultan opened the floor to questions, the seated audience was keen to voice their questions. Manish expressed that it is painful to know that people head to pirated sites to watch movies and how it is a big blow for small producers.
About the Author: Liyana Shirin is a modest graphic designer and an amateur blogger. She believes in weaving stories that come as a ‘solace on a late winter night’. She loves climbing mountains and can be seen spending hours looking at the night sky. She currently writes for TheSeer. She also writes on her personal blog: liyanashirin.wordpress.com.
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