At the time of writing, the strike called on by the Producers’ Council of Bollywood is into its second week. You can read a wonderful piece by Mubashir Ahmed on the “Who’s” and “Why’s” of the whole fiasco over here.

Now, as a Bollywood junkie, it obviously comes as a disappointment to find out that a trip to the movies is something I can definitely cross off my agenda for the weekend. But, you know… In a strange way, it also comes as a weird sigh of relief. There aren’t many people who will disagree with me when I say that the benchmark set by the movies that have released this year hasn’t been very high. Save for a few like Gulaal and Dev D, most of the rest have struggled to rise beyond a level above abysmal, quite frankly. 

Take the last couple of Fridays, for instance. The two major releases during this period were ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ and ‘8×10 Tasveer’. Coupled with Jackie Bhagnani’s launch vehicle ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’, which is the next big release lined up for whenever the strike ends, the shocking depths of unoriginality to which Bollywood storytelling has fallen to recently can be illustrated through the following strip below.

In keeping with the cliche-ridden path that these screenplays have taken, I shall use one of my own to explain the point I’m trying to make here. “Every cloud has a silver lining!”, like a wise, done-to-death proverb spouting, man once said. And the silver-lining in this case being the break from an overwhelming barrage of nonsense that the audience has had to deal with recently. Now, admittedly, I haven’t seen ‘Kal Kissne Dekha’, so I really should refrain from passing judgment on it already. But the guy does look pretty “unconventional”, to put it mildly. And you know what, there are some movies that you can just tell from the trailers aren’t going to be good. I mean, come on!  Another flick on what is essentially crystal ball gazing!? That’s 3 in a row now! So even though I sincerely hope that the Bhagnani boys can prove me wrong, I don’t have my hopes up too high. 

And a word about the amazing timing of the strike here, while we’re at it. How awesome is it that all these Producers, who are usually at each others’ throats throughout the rest of the year, very conveniently decided to come together and not release movies a week before the IPL started? Say what you will about their scripts, but you can’t blame them Bollywood Biggies for not being smart strategisers. Competing with cricket is not something that they would’ve liked to take on, and not take on it, they did! And How! Making the strike clash with what just happens to be cricket’s television extravaganza of the year is nothing less than a stroke of genius on their part. And I guess the only thing we can do is try and look on the brighter side of things and appreciate all the time we now have to follow the tournament.

But the not-so-obvious motives and benefits of the strike aside, the real reason the break works for me in the audience is because I’m hoping that by the end of it all, I’ll get so desperate for a taste, I might even go watch another mindless Time Travel escapade… And not mind it! It’s a harsh comment on the sad state of affairs over here, really. But hey, between the celebrities, the producers and the multiplexes, why should we in the audience get a say, right?

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