Anthony D'souza

The fabled Next Generation of Bollywood filmmakers has finally arrived – one that refuses to bow down to the Sooraj Bajratiya and Yash Chopra formula of soppy love stories and yawn-inspiring tedious family sagas. This new breed of filmmakers dares to be ‘different’, ‘think outside the box’ and ‘venture into hitherto unchartered terrain’… at least, that’s what they say.

Take for example the very articulate Anthony D’souza who, in numerous lengthy interviews, goes into great detail about how he has “plumbed the depths of the ocean” to make a “never-seen before film” named Blue. Sounds good in theory, but is Blue really as ‘groundbreaking’ as Mr. D’souza would like us to believe? Early audiences have already posted premature reviews, hinting very strongly at how Blue is inspired by the 1977 Peter Yates-directed The Deep and Jaws, but is not an exact copy of either of them.

For me, I think Mr. D’souza’s lame choice of name is the first signal of his unoriginal offerings. This is quite obvious when you consider that the plot, premise and even the choice of characters sounds eerily similar to the Jessica Alba starrer – Into the Blue. A far cry from the ‘never-seen before’ claims of Mr. D’souza, don’t you think?

Joining the queue is a starved-for-ideas Sanjay Leela Bhansali who delivers a double whammy with two of his ventures – one released and touted as one of the ‘most sensitive’ films made by Bollywood to date, and the other which is still in the early drawing board stages. For those of you who don’t quite follow, I’m referring to the much over-hyped and over-lauded Black, which in all honesty, is a shabby, over-hammed recreation of the Helen Keller biopic – The Miracle Worker. The other film is tentatively named Guzaarish, and projected to star Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. But by Mr. Bhansali’s own admission it is based on the Hugh Jackman & Christian Bale starrer The Prestige. Yes, I know it sounds ludicrous to place Mr. Roshan in Mr. Wolverine’s impressive, hunky boots… but that’s exactly what this post is all about! However before you fall down laughing, just stay with me till the end. This is serious stuff.

In their eagerness to break the norms and appear ‘unconventional’, have our Bollywood filmmakers discarded the all-important Golden Rule of originality and authenticity? Are we, the unwitting audience, being served half-baked, cheesy rip-offs under the guise of well-made masterpieces? To me the answer is obvious.