Last weekend saw the release of the movie Aa Gaya Hero, a film by and starring Govinda. That the movie garnered awful ratings from the critics and also appears to have sunk without a trace at the box office; are not unprecedented occurrences. The question however begs to be asked; why do such movies get made at all? And why does Bollywood churn out so many awful movies with such regularity?
An aging, rather tubby Govinda, corny lines, tacky stunts and special effects, sad attempts to reconstruct Govinda's brand of comedy… this is what I got just from the trailer; I didn’t dare watch the movie. Universally panned by the critics, one reviewer asked the pertinent question, who will inform Govinda that we are no longer in the 90s?
Aa Gaya Hero is written and produced by Govinda and also has Govinda in the title role of the ‘hero’. Similar films of his had been runaway hits in their time, after all! This is Govinda’s nth comeback film and his umpteenth attempt to recreate the magic of his heyday; at least to stay relevant.
Perhaps the desire to continue to see one's name in the arc lights, to continue to enjoy the audience’s adulation, causes many stars to mistakenly engage in such ventures. Filmmakers hope that films will run on past glory. Sunny Deol and many other aging heroes have done this; even Amitabh Bachchan was seen in some pretty awful movies at one point (remember Ajooba, Toofan, Mard and other such errors of judgement?).
There is really no accounting for taste! It is a fact that crass, misogynistic lame brained movies that are an insult to the intelligence get past the board of certification and go on to do really well as well. These movies do so well – witness the success of movies such as, Mastizaade and Kya Kool Hai Hum – that we have sequels foisted upon us! In fact if these bad movies didn’t do so well, actors such as Riteish Deshmukh would be out of a job!
There are so many of us Indians, that there is always the hope that movies made will be watched. At least some of these movies are made on the hope that at least some people will watch it. Wanting some entertainment and escapism over a weekend, there will be those who watch a film on a whim, because other shows were housefull or because of promise of a star’s previous films or their other talents. Witness the inexplicable success of Himesh Reshammiya’s films; a man many feel should have stuck to singing… occasionally.
No logic? No problem. Stereotypes? They’re funny; heck even racism is hilarious! Poor production values and continuity issues? Chalta hai. Suspension of belief? Easy! We have no problem accepting a 50 year old as a college boy. In fact we even have the remarkable ability to tolerate something like this clip from Mithun Chakraborty’s unspeakable film Diya aur Toofan. Watch and weep!
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
