Yesteryears Masala Formula only for Celebrities & Scions

The term overrated is used for several celebrity actors who have stood in the industry for long due to their background but have failed to deliver a quality hit. At a time when the industry has started the push towards Oscars, it needs to abandon the 70s & 80’s formulaic masala mix which filmmakers introduce saying it is needed.  The filmmakers are afraid to experiment with new themes and tailormade roles with strong emphasis on caste names being spoken in movies along with dialogues that “It is in our blood.”. They use all kinds of ways to demonstrate their family background and hence despite being in industry for decades still are not able to demonstrate acting skills. They get awards too in film festivals managed by their community but not in national film awards or independent film-maker’s awards. One man defeating even 100 people with weapons is oft repeated image in Indian cinema.

Ever wondered why villains with 100s of guns keep firing but not even one bullet hits Hero but villains die with aimless shooting of Actors. Villains die with one bullet but Heroes survive in hospital despite taking in several bullets.If in some case, the role demands that they die, they will re-emerge as the son of the deceased hero when they grow up. Joint families in rural settings always score well at the box office. The more rural traditions are portrayed in the movies, the easier it is to score a hit in the box office. Then there are formulaic movies from some stars where the hero enters the villain's family and gains their trust. Till then, villains are shown as ferocious and very intelligent. With the hero's entry, they are shown as dumb, stupid and not able to detect that it is the HERO in the house. In mass heroes movies, the heroines are just glamour dolls whose only job is to seduce the hero. Some movies stress on the hero’s handsomeness and girls swooning over him constantly in every movie. We audiences find those dialogues nauseating but masala movies still continue. 

This is the reason why many heroes in North depend entirely on remakes since it is easier to act in proven stories but it is a fact that some scripts which really demand acting skills fail in remakes since the formulaic mass actors cannot enact the talent of the original movie actor due to lack of talent. This is one of the reasons why some actors' movies are never remade into other movies since the remake actor cannot bring in the energy that the original movie actor demonstrates. Thanks to OTT, we all now watch movies from other languages in our own language since OTT offers audio dubbing. This is the reason why talentless actors who survive on remakes have found that in recent years, remakes are becoming disasters. 

Many of these with weak acting skills land big roles due to their family backgrounds. Several reviewers before me have commented that celebrity kids all follow the path of masala flicks rather than real cinema. They rarely do experimental cinema or offer anything new for the cinema industry. There are some stars who opt to do a different theme in every movie. Some of them do not turn out well since audiences for long have remained loyal to the masala formulas of the heroes and hence when the hero experiments, they find it hard to adjust/change their perspectives and immediately respond. So those who are doing the action films genre cannot move to other genre’s. Most recently, we have seen a top actor who achieved phenomenal success failed to register the same success in subsequent movies. The actor should have ensured continuity in the same genre for some time. . Do not know how the makers missed this basic point. In future movies too, the actor will fail in all movies where he does not show his machismo.Ultimately, it is the angry young man with machismo like Schwazernegger that has been his forte. Emotional thrillers will never work for him. Another actor made his magnum opus in a village based theme story. His next film which was a total shift was complete disaster. Film reviewers from national newspapers too asked the question " why did this actor choose such a script after stupendous success with .....movie".  Either the directors do not understand this basic point or the actors believe in their omnipotence. 

Actors like Yash too will carry this stereotype burden once his KGF Franchise ends. It will be hard for the audience to accept any other role for Yash for a very long time. Several child actors or TV series actors hence fail at the box office when trying to enact independent thinking heroine roles after having acted in obedient daughter/daughter in law in TV Serials. Unlike movies, TV Serials are viewed daily and hence the image of the actor/actress is strongly etched in the mind. This is the reason 95% of the TV Actors go back to TV after a brief attempt at commercial movies. The transition is really hard. Having portrayed Sita Matha for several years, Dipika found that the stereotype made it hard for audiences to accept her in commercial cinema. We audience remember Dipika sitting under the tree in Ashoka Van through more than 50% of the entire serial run. 

I sometimes wonder whether the monotony does not get to the actor since some serials drag for years altogether. Many serials crossed 2000 episodes and few crossed 3000 and one i guess crossed 4000 episodes. Actors are changed several times but some key actors cannot be changed. Those who play spiritual roles find that the audience relates to them in those roles only like Arun Govil and Dipika found. With this stereotyping, one finds it hard to diagnose the true acting skills of the performer. Actors should avoid this stereotyping by getting out of the formulaic trap. Audience votes for quality. Change is permanent. Actors should think about quality and not their fans expectations when they act in movies. 

The Nepotism Iron Curtain makes entry barriers into the industry very hard. OTT has broken down those entry barriers but many aspiring filmmakers still want a hit in the box office instead of direct OTT entry. Despite a lack of talent, some actors still keep getting the roles. In a scathing review,a critic asked why directors do not want to experiment with new storylines or plots with the current crop of mass masala celebrity actors.In every movie, the hero easily beats a dozen guys and that becomes his USP. Why cannot they carry a story without a fight scene? It is as if they never can tell a common man’s story. They show that every whistleblower needs to know how to fight. 

Movies like Rangasthalam, Kanche, Bahubali, Pushpa, KGF brought out extraordinary talent out of actors and elevated them altogether to different heights. It also made them mature actors. They have reached a pinnacle stage from which they should not have come down. They should not go the mass masala route again after having elevated themselves. Another self made star is Allari Naresh who filled the void left after Rajendra Prasad quit doing his comedy movies. In a formulaic restaurant like McDonalds, the taste will remain the same always. In restaurants, the taste changes many times based on the mood of the cook. Movies are the same. It entirely depends on the director. It depends on the director to bring out the best from an Actor. If the director is not able to bring out the best, he should not even take up the project just for the sake of money. Hence instead of generalising actors, we should focus only on discussing each movie based on its merits. Do not rate or rank actors overall. A genuine actor slips into specific genres always. It would be so strange if Jim Carrey switched to Violence.  Tamil and Malayalam actors have been picking up different themes in the past decade. So be it Marrakkar or Ponniyin Selvan, the themes are becoming unique instead of archaic.