Vulture Culture, writes Niranjan Iyengar

The colossal failure of Bombay Velvet (BV) at the box office exposes a severe problem. As soon as the film released the FB timelines, Twitter updates and not to mention the newspapers were filled with opinions, quips and stories about the `unmaking' one of the most awaited films in recent years. Everyone from my mother (who never watches any films) to my maid (who watches every film) had an opinion on what Anurag Kashyap should or should not have done. "I think he rubbed too many people the wrong way!" opined my Mom after reading a few reviews and news items. "Budget zyada ho gaya tha, bhai… Varna chal jaati!" said Mubina, my maid as she smashed a wine glass under the pretext of cleaning it! The moment it was declared that the first day collections were dismal there was a mad rush on every social platform to reduce the film into a smart one-liner or a nasty meme! I was surprised at the collective glee this failure evoked even within the industry, (which incidentally would be directly affected by the losses). What Ram Gopal Verma tweeted openly was what a lot of industry folks were saying at parties as they hi-fived!

So BV is a flawed film… So a lot of people hated it when they saw it… But wait a minute… Hasn't it been established that filmmaking is a collaborative medium? Let's visualize a hypothetical scenario: Had BV been a super successful film with 5-star rating from every critic in town, wouldn't the producers & the studio walk up on stage to pick up the best film trophy? Wouldn't the lead actors wax eloquent on how hard they worked on the film? Wouldn't the technicians squeal with joy as they doubled their remuneration pointing at their awards? Then how come none of them are being held accountable for its failure? If the film is grossly over-budget, isn't it the studio's duty to pull up the maker? If the director is getting carried away with his creative flights of fancy, shouldn't the actors restrain him? I'm not saying Anurag should be absolved but to mob lynch him solely because the film failed seems a bit unfair! And even though I did not like the film very much I want to shout loudly, Calm the f**k down people, we have seen far worse! And been silent! And as for the people who are going on and on about the `budget' and the `losses', let me break it to you, as viewers and audiences it's none of our business! We wouldn't have got a rupee even if it made 500 crores! So judge it for what it makes you feel and nothing else! Of course each time I froth at the mouth I'm told we live in a world where `opinion' has been equated to an `a*****e' but even if that is true it's not a pretty sight every morning to stare at people's nether regions on your timeline!