Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sci Fi Movies from Bollywood !

A still from Love Story -2050:courtesy-Now Running
We have just concluded a lively discussion on Yahoo Indian Science Fiction Group on Indian si fi movies.You could access the link and read yourself.

I only knew that there are only a very few movies which could be nominated under the scifi category ;I was surprised to know that there are many .

Er.Bimal Shrivastava and Dr.C.M. Nautiyal ,both renowned science communicators knew much more about the subject and upgraded my already meagre knowledge on Indian Movies.

I am tempted to quote here both these authorities .See what they say on it.


"While several books/ stories from classic literature of several Indian languages, especially of Hindi and Bangala, have been turned into films, hardly any Indian movie qualifies to be a real Sci- Fi. The first Indian movie (in Hindi) which had some element of Sci-Fi in it was Wahan ke Log (people from there) and included visitors from Mars in its story. It was made in 1967 by Nisar Ahmad Ansari with a good star cast but the film sank. Naturally, then there was a lull.
After more than 3 decades came Koi Mil Gaya (a main stream Hindi block- buster) which talked of attempts to communicate with ET and visit of a solar energy- dependent creatures from outside the earth. In between, there had been several television serials but no films. However, things seem to be changing now with about 6 films on floor, all claimed to be science fiction . These are main stream movies with one of them having the highest budget (US $ 25 million) to date for a Hindi movie. However, it is pre- mature to say whether these are going to be real science fiction, science fantasy or just fantasy with gizmos. "
Reference:

And now see what Er.Bimal Shrivastavaa shares with us on the issue:

Well I can add a few more films that had been produced in past and which could be termed as Sc-fi.The one which I remember was in 1956 or 57 named as "Mr. X" starred by Ashok Kumar and perhaps Nalini Jaywant. The film was based on the story of a Professor trying to develop the medicine of Cancer, inadvertently produces a chemical that makes a man to disappear. It was a successful and highly popular film because of its good story and very good & super hit songs. Subsequently a lot many sequels were made on similar topics e.g. "Mr. X in Bombay".Some more Sc-fi films were made on the topics of space travel (e.g. "Rocket Girl", where the Hero & Heroine try to go to Moon by a Rocket). However, none of the films could earn success.[Bimal ]

Trust you shall find the whole discussion informative and interesting.

Monday, July 7, 2008

"Love Story 2050"-A Sci Fi from Bollywood ,India

This Bollywood romance movie is based on the fictitious device of time machine for lengthening the plot and is being seen all over India.It recreates a futuristic Mumbai city of 2050 complete with flying cars, androids and breathtaking airborne fight sequences. Appealing special effects entail a robot teddy bear that runs errands for the heroine.
We already had some very really entertaining and so called sf movies like 'Krrish' and 'Koi Mil Gaya' having the elements of sci-fi.Even earlier we had Mr.India which unexploited the fantasy of invisibility to woo audience to cinema halls.It was a box office hit film .

But initial response from film goers is not encouraging .Though I have not seen movie myself but the comments which are incessantly pouring in discourage me to see the movie.

According to some it is a ridiculous and childish effort to ape the Hollywood's sci fi movies .

If interested you could access the following link.

http://in.reuters.com/article/bollywoodNews/idINIndia-34377220080704