After watching films like BEWAKOOFIYAAN, the very first question which disturbs majority of viewers is that, Why on earth such mediocre, directionless films get made which have nothing to say or offer even in simple terms of entertainment?
The question does raise a valid point, which I would be answering later in the review with some practical details but to begin with, its not that BEWAKOOFIYAAN is something very poorly made, badly directed or pathetically enacted. Coming from a big production house it has all the gloss and glamour of two young known names, an experienced veteran and some fine production values having a decent budget. But what actually disappoints the viewer hugely is that the film says simply nothing in its 120 minutes at all neither in terms of entertainment nor as a romantic or an emotional film, quite strangely.
In straight words, except the honest attempt from Ayushmann Khurrana, everything in BEWAKOOFIYAAN simply falls flat making no connection whatsoever with the viewers right from the word go. Rishi Kapoor sadly fails to make any major impact due to the less interesting writing and Sonam Kapoor is once again more busy in promoting her fashion brands along with some skin show instead of doing some acting. Interestingly just like Yami Gautam in last week’s TOTAL SIYAPAA, here too Sonam has nothing to do much except standing between her lover and father, wearing some cool designer wears. The supporting cast has Gurpal Singh trying hard to bring in that much needed humour but eventually the end result is exactly like what we had in TOTAL SIYAPAA mainly due to an unexpectedly inferior script and below average writing.
Taking the basic plot from MEET THE PARENTS (2000), which has already been used in more than one Hindi films in the past, the writers force in ‘a recession event’ into the narration which holds it for a while. But soon after, the film nosedives at a roller coaster speed and doesn’t come up with even a single impressive scene post interval. A few ridiculous dialogues force you to check your watch repeatedly in its final hour like the one where Sonam uses the term ‘Thulla’ and I really wondered what kind of Senior Executive of an Airline doesn’t even know how much is left in his bank account even after days of being fired from the office. Further inserting few forgettable songs every 10-15 minutes, it ends on a completely predictable note and one starts thinking that why these film-makers consider we the viewers as fools, while walking out of the theater once again.
The cinematography and background score are just there as required but I couldn’t figure out why the lyricists are seriously after URDU language words nowadays to be used in their hook lines. Following this questionable trend here we have the word “Khwahmakhwaah” used in the same deliberate mode as seen in some of the recent songs, not able to leave any kind of mark even while watching the film. However the only silver lining in the story concept of BEWAKOOFIYAAN remains the fact, that today if money is taken out from any so called love affair around, then in most of the cases it will instantly result in a breakup as an undeniable outcome……with only some rare exceptions.
Directed by Nupur Asthana and written by Habib Faisal (along with Nupur), the end product is really nothing if compared to their earlier projects. And its really sad that even such reputed banners are not able to find new stories & are just enjoying moving in those repeated rounds being taken around the same circle, playing it safe.
Anyway coming to the question we left earlier that, Why such mediocre, directionless films get made which have nothing to say or offer even in simple terms of entertainment?
The one word answer to the question is that it happens since these films are not films but just FILLER PRODUCTS which every big production house needs to keep throwing into the market at regular intervals to continue the business pace with their exhibitors.
Explaining it further, before the nineties, films remained in the making for a long time and there happened to be only 2-3 major releases in the whole month. The single screen theaters managed to earn from the reruns of many old classics in these gap weeks and the big releases were always awaited with advance bookings starting even 10-15 days before.
On the contrary in the present world, the situation has completely changed and the entertainment business has taken the shape of a full-fledged commercial industry looking at some gigantic profits. The multiplexes have a huge running cost to pay and for that they desperately need a significant new release every Friday to keep the footfall coming. Gap weeks are simply not affordable in these present settings and the pressure is all on the big productions houses to give at least 10-12 films every year maintaining the continuity.
Now studying it from the Big banner’s viewpoint, at one end they all have their lavish projects planned in details with big budgets and top stars which obviously take time in their making going into years. And on the other end, if any experimental or off-beat script is chosen then that doesn’t have that huge market to exploit in terms of returns plus multiplexes are also not interested in giving them more number of shows.
So in this pressurized scenario, a big production house obviously has to do something to keep the business flowing, till its major well planned project gets ready to make that big kill. Hence in order to cover this unavoidable gap and to keep the things moving they decide to feed the market with some quick FILLER PRODUCTS (read films) every two-three months having at least one saleable star in it plus few good songs, some glossy looks, a three week publicity campaign and a decent recoverable budget .
But then for making such quick fillers, they don’t have the time to go for any well thought of novel subject or work for any exceptionally well written script due to this urgency of delivery. As a result, they just finalize a (somewhat) safe-looking project with nothing new to say, signing at least one known actor or actress in its star cast (to give it a look of a reputed project). And such vaguely made (so called) films, simply target the young multiplex viewers in particular having the paying capacity who in any case have to go to the theaters as their regular weekend outings unconditionally.
Thus revealing the truth, what these intelligently designed FILLER PRODUCTS aim at, is only the first 3 day theatrical business specifically, which can easily be done by fooling the audience by some inviting promos, exciting songs and few pretty faces. In addition the real catch is that if only even 0.25% of our young population goes to watch this forced project in the theaters in its opening weekend (both in the country and overseas), then it’s a hit, recovering its complete cost instantly plus bringing in some profits too by selling its other rights such as audio, video, satellite, digital, brand endorsements and more.
Also since ours is a widely known cinema loving country, wherein people have the habit of visiting the theaters every Friday and weekends as their fixed ritual. So that makes the target of these big banners or production houses even more easier, without any big problems. In other words it actually means that even if such a medium budget film gets rejected after its first 3 days, it would have already achieved its set target and no one will ever be feeling any regret for making such flat, worthless film at all right from the producers to the actors and the director.
To sum up, these big production houses or big banners, fast turning the medium of cinema into a departmental store literally, are least concerned about what happens to such film after its good initial weekend from Monday onwards, since they have already hit their desired mark and fooled the audience once again without any visible hassles.
Hence next time you tend to think that Why such directionless films get made OR Who approves such poor songs to be added into the movie’s soundtrack?
Then just remember that it is so because these are not any creatively expressive films but only those deceivingly designed FILLERS vaguely made by the big production houses to keep their businesses going. And regarding the poor songs, they actually manage to get into the film since they are being approved by CEOs, COOs, MBAs and family managers but not by any musically inclined or any passionate music lover to say the truth.
Rating : 1 / 5 (Just for Ayushman & Rishi Kapoor’s honest effort)
