Sports, Arts, Technology, Culture and yes....Cinema!

Supremacy in Sports is a symbol of power. China has recognized this early enough and invested heavily in sports across its country in the past decade and the results are there to see. The same thing can be said about arts as well. Arts indeed is a symbol of the power, the maturity and the imagination of its people. Many great civilizations were as much known for their art as for their might. The great VijayaNagara city of the Rayalu dynasty was known for its artistic grandeur as well as its military might. So did the Roman civilization, so much so that the Coliseum was as much a sports arena as it is a triumph in modern architecture. The many technological breakthroughs of the Roman times do reflect in the design of the coliseum, for almost every aspect of the Roman culture revolved around the arena. The coliseum is a terrific coming together of the technology, the culture, the sports and the arts of its civilization.

In current times, Cinema has become the coliseum equivalent in representing the culture, the many art forms and the technology of its people. US and to some extent Europe are the powerhouses of the world in the postmodern era, in all spheres of life, barring perhaps spirituality which the East still is the epicenter of. The scientific and the intellectual dynamism of US and Europe is largely responsible for the advances that Cinema has made and they have also benefited from this tremendously.

The availability of technology has opened up opportunities(that did not exist earlier) for their Filmmakers, who let their imaginations soar high into the skies like never before. This in turn led to further technological requirements to realize their visions to their absolute potential. Another classic case of arts fuelling the technological advancements of a people. ILM(Industrial Light and Magic), the visual effects firm that George Lucas has started using some of the profits from his first successful film "American Graffiti", has grown into a world center of movie making effects. ILM was behind most of the visual possibilities in the StarWars Films and later in Films like Willow, Forrest Gump etc. ILM was also largely responsible for initiating and then perfecting the morphing technology used in James Cameroon's 'Terminator II'. ILM's innovations further led to the creation and the popularity of the computer games which is a multi billion dollar industry now in its own right. In other words the advent of the technology created for the realization of epic Films has taken a different route to enter the lives of the children and adults alike and has now become a part of their pop culture. Directly or inderectly cinema has created thousands of jobs for the people across the world just by the sheer volume of its business. To paraphrase my words, Cinema offers a tremendous scope to make an impact on the culture and the economics of a people.

Given this context, what kind of an impact did Indian Cinema made on the culture and economics of its people? Largely unnoticeable. Very lamentable. It is infact regrettable that there are no real cross over Films from India. Now what is a cross-over Film? Very simple, any Film that crosses over and makes money, impact and fame across the world.

Zhang Yimou, Akira Kurosawa, Wong Kar wai, Takashi Miike, Ozu, Makmalbaf are some of the Asian Filmmakers who have become household names around the world for their themes, their craft, their love of the Cinema and for the monies their Films made. What kind of financial impact have our Filmmakers made across the world? Manoj Night Shyamalan, Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chada do not count, for they are not based in India and their films are not financed in India, making them for all practical purposes, very non-Indian.

To take this argument a little further, what is the most profitable Indian Film or should I say cross over Indian Film across the world? What kind of money has it made? Why aren't there many Films from India and Filmmakers from India that could engage and entertain cultures across the world? Is it lack of vision or lack of monies? Why doesn't Indian State recognize the potential of Arts and Cinema in particular, and fund the Industry? Why aren't there enough State Funded Film Schools in India? There are many hundreds in US. Why is it taking so long for the rich Indian Corporations to plunge into the kind of Filmmaking that could make a global impact? Lack of vision? 'Titanic' made a billion dollars across the globe. Comm'on guys, wake up! We can do it. Just think Big. We can pump $200 million into the making of the great 'Mahabharata' and give 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Titanic' together a run for its money. Trust me, we can do it!

I say, in 5 to 10 years Indian cinema should have as much a global reach as the other Asian Cinema does, such as the HongKong, the Korean, the Iranian and the Japanese cinema. There should be as much enthusiasm for Indian cinema in 10 years as the good Cinema coming from these other Eastern cultures, if not more. For guys, Hum Kisee Se Kam Nahin! For God's sake, we rule the IT world. We can rule the Entertainment world as well, if only there is vision and will!

Yes, we don't need the Oscars to tell us how good we are, but as Cuba Gooding Jr in Jerry Macguire said , 'show me the money', honey! 'cos after all is said and done, Money does Matter. Pun intended!

PS: Ladies and Gentlemen, your beloved Hari Yelleti is very close to making a Film now. All the good wishes and blessings are most welcome!

Other Ticket to fame articles:
• I have got something to say...
• The Sitcom Syndrome
• Of herds and shepherds
• What goes inside
• An Ode to Honesty
• Riding the movie express
• Flirting with Mallika Sherawat
• I am gonna be next Mani Rathnam