Hardware v/s Software, writes Sajid Khan

Going into a multiplex these days is more than just watching a film. The ambience, décor, 4K digital projection, crystal-clear surround sound and  recliner seats that’d put most beds to shame. Obviously, the cinema halls of the 70s, 80s and the 90s can’t match up. Today, the sound and picture quality of a good smartphone is far superior than that of a regular TV set that existed a few decades ago. Earlier, when films were shot, it could take up to a week to see the daily rushes. Today, you can see it on the spot. While it’s being shot. Thanks to superior quality HD monitors. Matlab kya hai? Obviously, the technology in hardware is only getting better and better by the year. But the quality of the software?? Hmmm….

My best friend Sajid Nadiadwala once mentioned to me that if a film is good, one can enjoy it even with bad projection and sound. But no HD picture and sound can make you like a bad film. True that. For example, today’s films are more about technique than content. And not necessarily, only action films. So even though it sounds good, are the sounds really good? For example, dialogue, narration, screenplay, music. I am talking about those sounds. Now there is no denying the dearth of talented writers, gifted filmmakers and melodious music directors. Melody is the very essence of music. So whenever melody takes over short-lived bass blasting songs which we hear today, the winner is clear. For example, Aashiqui 2. Now, Aashiqui 2’s music would have been a hit in any decade on any sound system. Why? Because it has melody. Most of the songs of yesteryears which we remember and sing were the songs we heard on tiny, mono, bad quality transistor radio sets. A song becomes a hit when you can sing it, not hear it. Same goes for the writing department. Ninety percent of the films being made today are pure remakes. Whether it’s South Indian, Korean, French or American. Why is it that even small kids today remember dialogues of actors of the 70s and 80s? Cut to the present. Barring one or two actors’ one-liners, you cannot remember any dialogues from films today. Perhaps, it’s also got to do with the fact that earlier writers were only writers. Today, most of them multi-task. One would say that the content of cinema is changing because of the changing taste of the audience. Not true. You see when technology was not available to the common man i.e FB, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and others didn’t exist. There was just one world for the film industry. That of the audience. Today, there are two worlds. For the film industry, their world now exists from Andheri to Bandra. That’s where the film industry lives, works, talks and that… is their Valhalla. So, what’s happening in the real world outside is now overruled by this small world. Reputations, credibility, perception, what sells what doesn’t, what will work and what won’t is adjourned in this world. But the truth is OUT THERE! In the real world. Where the movie-going audiences don’t really give a damn about the sound and picture quality of the content. They care two hoots about which actor is endorsing which brand. They really don’t follow reviews and collections. They just want to watch good ol’ Hindi cinema that’s over-the-top but fun. The cinema which has song and dances but is interestingly done. The one that has larger-than-life characters which they want to mimic and remember. That cinema, thanks to the inner world, has taken a backseat. Heck, 90% of Bollywood music is not even sung by actors today. It has become background music now. Just remember. The inner world feels it controls and dictates the outer world. It is like saying that the hardware will dictate what the software will be! Khane ka mazaa khane mein hai, plate mein nahi. Now, of course, hardware is important but it has to enhance the software, not take over it. Or else, that would be like having great sex without a climax.