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Shailaja Bajpai
Of this we're sure: when perchance, the producers and distributors of the latest Hindi films tune into the local cable TV channels, then kuch kuch will hota hai to their hearts. And it isn't a love beat, either. If Bade Miyan were to see how flagrantly these channels flout the norms of the industry, to say nothing of decent human behaviour, his black (dyed?!) hair would turn white and Chote Miyan's hip joints might be permanently disjointed on account of the kicks he'd be flying in the operators' direction.
Within three days (perhaps even earlier) of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan being released in cinema halls across the country, they were running to packed audiences -- at home. Cable operators, without the slightest hesitation or moral misgiving, are running videotapes of the films. Not just in the stealth of the night but during the day and afternoon too.
In the event, the cable operator has saved the public a substantial sum of money which canbe better spent on onions. That is no justification; it is, however, an illustration of how the law is an ass. People treat it as such a stupid animal: the law quite clearly stipulates that newly-released films cannot be pirated onto television. But it happens every single day of every single month and year. And nobody is doing anything to stop it. On the contrary, everyone and their family is watching the films.
Television rating points indicate that the local cable operators' channels (as opposed to branded ones such as DD, Zee, Sony, STAR) enjoy the highest viewership.
These channels almost exclusively run films; ipso-tipso, people are watching a high percentage of pirated film tapes. Film piracy represents the strongest argument against the small-time independent cable operator -- the major offender in this respect -- and the strongest argument in favour of a cable industry being controlled by a small number of big operators. If there are just a few cable guys, film piracy could be controlled, if noteliminated.
Onto The Grind. No, it isn't the new name for a mixie (even though it ought to be). It's a music show (MTV). Well... music is mostly in the background; in front are young bodies in apparel skimpier than a bikini; and the cameras dwell upon those parts of the body which are as golden and bare as a desert. Those bodies are doing something you never realised they were intended to. They're grinding out the music, whirring round and round, till you think Something is bound to fall off.
Is this offensive? Yes, if the sight of magnified human flesh is offensive. No, if you belong to television-next generation.
Far more offensive to many of us is what music videos have done to our songs, now. Music was something we listened to; now we watch it or watch people grinding it. A song was something that led you into a world of fantasy where each individual wandered free to make associations; now there is one designer-fantasy making associations for you. On Thursday night, MTV played that old song,Brother Louie. It's been remixed and picturised. All the associations the song evoked, have been replaced by a string of video images.
Long, long time ago songs had only a voice through radio and records. Then, they acquired faces through film and TV top-of-the-pop shows. Now they've got a narrative through the music video.
Is this the end of imagination and the expansion of the collective unconscious?
Certainly, the MTV promos have extended our universe. Their creativity is `chilled out'. So is the visualisation of many songs. But simultaneously, we've been robbed of our individual kingdoms in which each one's imagination reigned supreme.
Which brings us to another grey area: Indi-pop. And Indian film music. Both are spreading like a communicable disease from Channel [V] to MTV. They're just so much boredom. It has reached such a state, that now Channel [V] is swinging in the opposite direction. It has recently dedicated Saturday to music without Indian music. Because PIPS (Punjabi Indian PopStars) and POPS (Poor out-of-tune Pop Stars) are swarming on the screen like ants in sugar. The quality of their music is majorly bad and minorly good. They don't deserve so much expo but they're pulling in the viewers and that's all that counts.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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