The bollywood films ON THIS LIST are garbage. Simple as that. Oops what am I thinking mentioning a non-white anything in a negative way, clearly im Hitler.
Rang De Basanti has serious issues with a message that I find irresponsible and sensationalist to the youth of India. And please don't try to pass it off by saying "You're not Indian." That's a weak excuse often reserved for films that lack good fundamentals.
Tickets sold also doesn't make a film great. Don't think we need to look beyond Avatar for that.
Regards to Chinese/Korean films, I asked quite specifically which films you consider "crap." Police Story is not on any of these IMDb lists, which is the matter at hand.
India is obviously capable of making great films, but you are needlessly getting offended and defending mediocrity. As rohit says below, the Indian populace wants entertainment. And afterwards, if they had a good time, they go home and rate the film a 9 or a 10. The same happened for The Avengers, etc. Mainstream films, more often than not, don't pass the test of time. But the problem, of course, is that mainstream Indian cinema is still in hardcore copycat mode. What you see there now has been done and done arguably better elsewhere.
In contrast, you think Firaaq would get the same kind of negativity if it appeared on one of these lists?
I agree with pitn. The main problem lies in the audience's love for anything that is even remotely decent. That lets the mediocre run-of-the-mill get by with accolades.
The Indian audience, most of it, doesn't treat their cinema critically, or as a matter of fact, seriously. If you are there just to have fun, you let a lot of flaws slide.
From what I gather, the majority of Indian moviegoers aren't as exactly uncritical as they are 1) unknowing of the great cinema around the world that Bollywood often imitates, and 2) simply proud that their country can make something they believe is close to par in quality of the West. I recall watching Johnny Gaddaar after it had received glowing reviews only to find a rehashed, predictable plot that would have gotten middling reviews in the U.S. And more recently, A Wednesday's editing and cinematography reeks of decade old techniques that have since become trite. But both were fresh to the local market, so it garnered a voting premium amongst the populace. I worry that such is the case with Kahaani as well, which sits at #2 currently on the 2010s list. Hopefully, I (and others) can be proven wrong on this.
I worked in India for nearly two years, so I have a pretty good idea of the Indian film industry. It's a pity that most of the time Indian people are uncritical towards their films. I did like Udaan though, as well as Salaam Bombay and others.
Those are not IMDb lists. They are not voted by the public. You've started comparing apples to oranges.
The Asian films on the IMDb lists are generally of much higher quality because the general Asian populace does not vote for them (as they're busy using websites such as Naver that utilize their own character sets). Instead, they've been voted on by more seasoned Western filmgoers who are more critical of their media.
You seem to be missing this above point and unnecessarily going on the defensive.
Indian Cinema is NOT about Aamir Khan or any Khans only. Sure they deliver some commercial flicks which doesn't have any real "thing" in it. But remember, Indian Cinema is a dwelling place for some power house performers, outstanding script writers & phenomenal directors! Indian Cinema has world's finest ones working/worked in it. The thing is, only movies like 3 Idiots and the likes get immense popularity and find their place in some lists. To find the real treasure, you've gotta dig deeper! And keep this in mind, Indian Cinema doesn't speak Hindi only (so-called Bollywood) . It speaks Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, etc too :)
munshi, thank you for helping me to understand my 44 year old mother. I was unaware that as a westerner she watched chinese/korean movies for the martial arts/kung fu action.
Munshi, since you seem to have mostly missed my point, let me ask you this: After an Indian watches a big Bollywood blockbuster, what website do they go to rate that film?
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Comments 1 - 15 of 55
pitn
Seems like this list is slowly, but surely turning into a list of bad Bollywood movies.bwood
The bollywood films ON THIS LIST are garbage. Simple as that. Oops what am I thinking mentioning a non-white anything in a negative way, clearly im Hitler.Life as Fiction
Rang De Basanti has serious issues with a message that I find irresponsible and sensationalist to the youth of India. And please don't try to pass it off by saying "You're not Indian." That's a weak excuse often reserved for films that lack good fundamentals.Tickets sold also doesn't make a film great. Don't think we need to look beyond Avatar for that.
Regards to Chinese/Korean films, I asked quite specifically which films you consider "crap." Police Story is not on any of these IMDb lists, which is the matter at hand.
India is obviously capable of making great films, but you are needlessly getting offended and defending mediocrity. As rohit says below, the Indian populace wants entertainment. And afterwards, if they had a good time, they go home and rate the film a 9 or a 10. The same happened for The Avengers, etc. Mainstream films, more often than not, don't pass the test of time. But the problem, of course, is that mainstream Indian cinema is still in hardcore copycat mode. What you see there now has been done and done arguably better elsewhere.
In contrast, you think Firaaq would get the same kind of negativity if it appeared on one of these lists?
John Milton
pfff those are a lot of Bollywood films to check....monclivie
Oh bolly. 6 movies left. Average runtime: 186.5 min.Rohit
I agree with pitn. The main problem lies in the audience's love for anything that is even remotely decent. That lets the mediocre run-of-the-mill get by with accolades.The Indian audience, most of it, doesn't treat their cinema critically, or as a matter of fact, seriously. If you are there just to have fun, you let a lot of flaws slide.
Life as Fiction
From what I gather, the majority of Indian moviegoers aren't as exactly uncritical as they are 1) unknowing of the great cinema around the world that Bollywood often imitates, and 2) simply proud that their country can make something they believe is close to par in quality of the West. I recall watching Johnny Gaddaar after it had received glowing reviews only to find a rehashed, predictable plot that would have gotten middling reviews in the U.S. And more recently, A Wednesday's editing and cinematography reeks of decade old techniques that have since become trite. But both were fresh to the local market, so it garnered a voting premium amongst the populace. I worry that such is the case with Kahaani as well, which sits at #2 currently on the 2010s list. Hopefully, I (and others) can be proven wrong on this.pitn
I worked in India for nearly two years, so I have a pretty good idea of the Indian film industry. It's a pity that most of the time Indian people are uncritical towards their films. I did like Udaan though, as well as Salaam Bombay and others.Life as Fiction
Those are not IMDb lists. They are not voted by the public. You've started comparing apples to oranges.The Asian films on the IMDb lists are generally of much higher quality because the general Asian populace does not vote for them (as they're busy using websites such as Naver that utilize their own character sets). Instead, they've been voted on by more seasoned Western filmgoers who are more critical of their media.
You seem to be missing this above point and unnecessarily going on the defensive.
vishnu
Indian Cinema is NOT about Aamir Khan or any Khans only. Sure they deliver some commercial flicks which doesn't have any real "thing" in it. But remember, Indian Cinema is a dwelling place for some power house performers, outstanding script writers & phenomenal directors! Indian Cinema has world's finest ones working/worked in it. The thing is, only movies like 3 Idiots and the likes get immense popularity and find their place in some lists. To find the real treasure, you've gotta dig deeper! And keep this in mind, Indian Cinema doesn't speak Hindi only (so-called Bollywood) . It speaks Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, etc too :)jktomas
@ZeltaebarCalm down! Everyone has different taste. Even if it is so high on this list, it doesn't mean you have to like it.
leannan
This really was a great decade for films. It kind of started with a bang and ended in a whimper, but still it's a really decent collection.SkilledLunatic
Donnie Darko is at #46 and falling, while Hachiko just entered this list... :'( that is really sad to me, I'm not even joking.OtherBen
munshi, thank you for helping me to understand my 44 year old mother. I was unaware that as a westerner she watched chinese/korean movies for the martial arts/kung fu action.Life as Fiction
Munshi, since you seem to have mostly missed my point, let me ask you this: After an Indian watches a big Bollywood blockbuster, what website do they go to rate that film?Showing items 1 – 15 of 55