Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Pseudo Patriotism!

Zoom and Times of India remake Mile Sur Mera Tumara and launch "Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara"on the occasion of our 61st Republic Day.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara is a timeless classic which has lived through decades. I have grown up seeing this wonderful piece of art which instills a higher degree of patriotism, sense of belonging and oneness, pride about the rich and varied heritage of my mother land, India. When I came to know that a remake was being made, I had very high expectations that we would get to see another classic, master piece which would showcase the richness of our nation and make it an enjoyable experience to watch it.

First the good things:

The songs starts with our A R Rahman sporting a green kurta, playing a saffron fingerboard with white buildings as background. I am not sure if the tricolor was the idea they were trying to bring out, but I thought it was nice!

The song features a few talented but not very popular people like Amaan and Ayaan who play the Sarod. It also featured Vijendra Singh, our Olympic Champion Abhinav Bhindra et al.

A few elements represented contemporary references like the piece from drummer Sivamani, The Taj Mahal Palace & Hotel background which has stood the test of time in the 26/11 terror attack, the trio band of Shankar Eshaan Loy et al.

It was inclusive enough to feature children with disability (Minus Sallu, of course!)

It has a special coverage on the defense forces towards the end.(Though it appears to be an after-thought soon after a brick hit their head making them realize that there is too much of Bollywood in it!)

Shobana's Bharathnatyam at the Shore temple in Mahabalipuram, Gurdaas Maann and Juhi's Punjabi hymn with the Golden Temple Background, Zakir Hussain's tabla, Sivamani's Drumming, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons - Amaan and Ayaan playing the Sarod, Kerala's bit with Kaikottikali, Snake Boat race et al in the backdrop were nice!

Now the not-so-good things:

There is too much of Bollywood-ism in it. It completely failed to capture the original India, the common man, the cultural wealth, traditions, et al. Of course they have captured various parts of India. But the various parts of India does not necessarily mean Physical features geographically and the buildings ought there. The native people, featuring their culture was completely absent.

Every Bollywood personality was claiming his/her own share of glory than contributing to the objective of the video.

It was more like a 'Family affair' of the Bachans. Thankfully, Big Bachan appears separately in the beginning. Else it would have been like the Kajra re - season 2. Aish Bachan and Abhi Bachan romancing by holding hands on the sets of the Ajanta-Ellora (I hope I got the place right!)

Each Star was so busy building his/her own identity. SRK was trying to make his mark with his Kal Ho Na Ho looks and expressions, Aamir his 'Aye Kya Bolthee Tu' style singing.

It did not pay attention to small details. Rangoli is not a part of the keralite tradition whereas the traditional pookalam was not to be seen. They showed Rangoli instead! Well, the big details themselves were a big blunder, how one earth will they get the minute details right?

Some parts of India were completely forgotten. Goa did not feature. So was Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur et al. Bhupen Hazarika was the only reference to the North-East. Disappointing!

If sports persons are being featured, why is it like an eyewash? They come and go in a flash. What happened to the rest? Hockey - the national game of India? Cricket - the most popular game of India?Mahesh Boopathy? Leander Peas? Vishwanath Anand? Sania Mirza? Vijay Amrithraj? Karnam Malleshwari? They have brought numerous accolades for the country. None of them are featured.

If they were trying to Showcase progress on Science and Technology, what happened to Chandrayaan? The numerous PSLVs? The Nuclear Tests? Role of entrepreneurs in urbanization and technology revolution? NRN? Azim Premji? Tatas? Birlas? Ambanis? Indhra Nooyi? Nandan? Green Revolution? M S Swaminathan? They are a very integral part of India playing a pivotal role in changing faces of India bringing in people' progress. I could only relate Vijendra Singh to medicine from the entire clip.

Few things that were really sad:

Vikram dint look as though he was a part of a patriotic video. It appeared as though he was singing a romantic duet with an eye-candy heroine.

I dont know what patriotism is invoked by Deepika Padukone's wet body and bare legs!

What was the overgrown musk rat aka Sallu doing in the patriotic video with torn jeans and exposed muscles? Mr. Musk Rat dint have any idea as to what exactly he was doing in that video! In the making of the video clipping he told that the video's message is that we are in the same plane, no rich, no poor, no cast, no creed, no color. Whereas the idea was not that. We do have all these differences, yet united as Indians!

I completely fail to understand what good does Ranbir do to the video. Neither do I connect with the purpose of Shahid Kapoor holding the mike in POP star fashion with disco lights behind and bark!

In short

Most of it was bad. What a waste of time, energy, effort, money and resources!

I understand that times have changed, country has progressed which they have tried to showcase with by featuring tall buildings, glass houses, western clothes, Solar power gadgets in the backgrounds et al.

The original one was a 6 min video, an awe-inspiring one! This one, though spans for 16 mins, it does not convey what it is trying to convey. A sheer failure! It is painful to see the blasphemy of our very own pristine "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara"!

Links

Mile sur Mera Tumhara - Original Video
Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara - Part 1
Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara - Part 2

5 comments:

Syed Zaith said...

I agree. No SPB, Illiaraja or Kamal Hasan. No way I can think that Vikram and Suriya has done any good to world of art and music nor to the country. They are mere commercial heroes and not our country's pride. Deepika doesn't know what to dress, btw why is she included, What did she do to the country or to the art / music. Salman Khan is using this to correct his image.

Dilip Muralidaran said...

This is what i call as "bastardization" of an old classic. As you said, there is absolutely no reference to things like..

1. The Common Man
2. Culture
3. Country
4. Diversity

Lastly, a endangered animal hunting, killing people with rash driving salman khan doing with children in a T-shirt half naked? That's it, once i saw that, i've had enough of it.

My assumption is bachans paid a lot of money so amithab, abishek and ash on it. Sallu cuz well, we care abt bare bodies more compared to real patriots.

I see total lack of artists in the video. ARR was one, then who else? I dont recognize any "artist" on the footage. I think i would just shut up and summarize it here.

http://img124.yfrog.com/i/83553300.jpg

I'm hurt and im pissed.

Anonymous said...

Ditto.

As an afterthought, could we expect more from Zoom? I doubt it. That, however, does not absolve them of any responsibility towards the remake of a song/video so synonymous with national integration/patriotism.. or as Sallu says in that short video ..."almost another anthem for India."

(Disclaimer: I don't usually quote bimbos. But, in this case I make an exception).

Celebrities were part of the original video, however, look at the footage given to each of them. Big B has 2 seconds in the original, and that too shared with two other major actors of the time!

Is this an indication of the fact that the nation is built of whores of commercial cinema, and cinema alone?

Bindra and the olympic champs appear almost as an eyewash. What about science and the arts (Bollywood excluded). No reference to Goa (one of the major contributors to the nation's tourism economy), the Seven Sisters of the North East, Andaman/Nicobar/Lakshadweep?

Being a major Surya fan, I still don't understand how he and Vikram 'represent' Tamil Nadu in any way.

How does a 16 minute film manage to miss so many details in comparison to the 6 min original?

Unknown said...

In Short if I have to put it, I felt like watching the remake of Sholay - RAM GOPAL VARMA'S AAG.

This shows how people who made the video are biased towards power and insensitive towards the very objective of remaking this video.

Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

as 'thenewbnb' said what else can you expect from zoom which runs on gossips and crappy hindi cine industry news. Not once in the past, they have telecasted one news/program showcasing a good cause (like greenathon, child education,women empowerment etc). How can we expect from them.

Nevertheless they would have achieved breakeven by now.. may be would have got profit also from the investment made in making such a video..

I havent watched it yet & never intend to.. :)