Murder 2, and Mahesh Bhatt’s school of filmfaking
The other day I heard Mahesh Bhatt promoting Murder 2 as a film inspired by the Nithari killings. The gullible me believed him momentarily yet confided in one of my friends that it is not possible for Bhatt or most of the present breed of Indian filmmakers and writers to develop an original script. They are pathological and genealogical copycats, cheats, liars, and practitioners of the pastiche art.
And then I watched Murder 2 and was pleasantly surprised by its screenplay that had some really brilliant moments. I felt the film could have swept the world audiences off their feet but for its stupidities like the insipid loud-mouthed fake acting by its actors. However, the doubts persisted and I checked out the ever-reliable Wikipedia and Google for further revelation and learnt that Murder 2 is a straight copy of the Korean film The Chaser. The news was there on the net, but I had missed it.
I fervidly wish that the makers of The Chaser and the Hollywood producer, who has the original right to remake the film, sue Mahesh Bhatt and Vishesh Films to bankruptcy. Putting them out of film business will do so much good to Indian cinema.
Here are the links to the Wiki and IMDB pages of Murder 2 and The Chaser for your direct reference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chaser_(film) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190539/synopsis
Please have a look and compare the plot and story of both the films. Whatever you find remarkable in Murder 2 is taken straight from the Korean film. You just have to replace the names of the characters in The Chaser and you have the Murder 2 story. Even small details like the villain hurting himself while trying to kill one of his victims is copied ditto from The Chaser. And whatever little is added by Mahesh Bhatt and his team of counterfeiters and filmfakers is wholly superfluous, third-class, and crappy.
And look at the gall of Bhatt; he shamelessly connects his Xerox copy of a film with the Nithari killings. This is what has he been doing all his life, telling white lies to hoodwink people and the media. He and his ilk are the bane of our cinema. He has been propagating and nurturing the disgusting, reprehensible, and criminal ‘copycat’ culture.
We have an example in one of the Bhatt protégés Anurag Basu of how it affects the new generation of filmmakers. The poor guy cannot write an original script even if he has stars like Hritik and producers like Rakesh Roshan to back him. He has become brain-dead under the tutelage of his ‘Guru’ who has been going ballistic in public forums, exhorting filmmakers to read extensively and develop their sensibilities and intellectual prowess. Look at what he practices? He encourages his own brood and cohorts to become counterfeiters. He himself is one. He shares the writing credits of most of these films. Murder 1 was also a horrible fake of Unfaithful.
Bhatt proudly proclaims that there are no original ideas. This is his excuse to cover up for his dirty deeds and innate mediocrity. In my well-considered view and final analysis he is also stupid and idiotic like any of those petty ‘chindichors ’. Why did he copy the Korean film when he knew about the Nithari killings? He could have easily sought inspiration from the heinous and gruesome infamous incident to make his film. That would have been an Indian original and probably turned out far better than the Korean thriller.
However, Bhatt is rotten to the core and thus incapable of discovering great opportunities around him and working hard for his living. He represents the scum of the Indian film industry and humanity, the scum that rules the roost today in every sphere of our life, from politics to industry, sports, social activism, academics, the media, the sciences, and the arts.
Murder 2 has done well at the Box Office. Mahesh Bhatt will make a lot of money from the film. This will give further impetus to the business of film faking in our country. That is today's credo. Money is the greatest virtue in a crass capitalist economy. Screw the age-old morals and the idea of seeking excellence learned in your early schooling days. If you can make money this or that way by hook or crook, nothing is wrong with you. It is all right to lie and cheat and steal so long as you can fool the hapless law. The media and the rest of mankind will extol you and look up to you and even follow your debased legacy.
Some say you need a smart and active brain to be a top-notch criminal. This is hogwash. Stealing is easier than working hard to earn your living. That is why thieves and parasites exist, living off someone’s hard work. They are mentally, intellectually, morally, and creatively stunted individuals. Incidentally, Indian thieves, the white as well as the blue-collared ones, are also copycats. So much has gone wrong with us since the mediocre Italian woman has started ruling this country. The thieves and cheats have become bolder, and financially stronger and have been squeezing us dry in all sorts of ways.
Why cannot the judiciary take suo-moto action against a cheat like Bhatt? Sadly, the judiciary itself is media-driven these days and Bhatt rules the media space. He is present in every TV panel discussion, pontificating boisterously on serious issues like corruption and the state of our nation. He has been stoutly defending Sonia’s Congress party and Man Mohan Singh. He obviously is part of the axis of the corrupt and cheats among politicians, industrialists, bureaucrats, sociologists, educationists, media persons, judges, entertainers, and professionals of various hues and cries, including the dreaded ‘D’ company.
Mahesh Bhatt also speaks about the menace of video piracy every now and then and how it has been hurting the film business. It is a classic case of a kettle calling a tiny pot black.
A video pirate serves some public cause by providing dirt-cheap DVDs of films to the poor who cannot afford an exorbitantly expensive outing to a multiplex. Bhatt purloins a film idea to serve his ‘get rich quick’ cause. He neither serves the cause of cinema nor its audience, yet this shameless filmfaker calls himself a filmmaker.
RKS
