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.

13 comments:

  1. Chaliye sahitya men na sahi filmon ne science fiction ko poochha (bhale hi ve kisi bhi roop men hon).

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  2. I came to your site from Tinkoo's VarietySF blog. Quite interesting articles. I love reading science fiction and would like to share my views off and on with you.

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  3. There should need more and more effort towards promoting SiFi in Indian films. A contribution small or large is necessary by each SiFi lover of India.

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  4. Dear Doctor Sahab, thanks for leaving comment on my blog. Interesting to see this Si-Fi blog. Would explore more...

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  5. I was finally able to find a vcd of Wahan Ke Log http://www.induna.com/1000003029-productdetails/ Does anyone have a link to an online retailer selling Mr X and Rocket Girl?

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  6. Thanks Zombie for this invaluable input !

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  7. Mr X in Bombay is available as CD (2) and I bought one from one mall in Lko. If you try in some mall or land mark etc., you may succeed.
    CMN

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  8. Bollywood script writers should have to broad their view to make original movies on the subject of Sci / Fi and Fantasy films which must not be resemble with any Hollywood Movie. Till now only "Mr India", "Koi..Mil Gaya" and "Krrish" have been successful in Box office and all others fantasy movies have been flopped. So script writers must work hard on writing great script first and then concentrate on showing great Special / visual effects. As only showing effects to overcome a bad script will not be helpful to entertain audience.

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  9. Infact many Indian Fantasy Television serials have been successful like Shaktimaan, Hatim (Best serial ever made), Antariksh, Son Pari, Shaka Laka Boom Boom (Jaadoo High), Karma and many more which I am not mentioning. This means Serials script writers are better than films script writers. So my advice to bollywood script writers is that if even after too much efforts they can't find great script then they can take the help of serial script writers without feeling low only because of their "Chhota Parda". Remember they have been successful in making these serials and have earned great profits. The best among my above all mentioned serials is "Hatim" and I am still wondering who was the writer of this serial's script which has been made by "Sagar Entertainment Limited" (My best production house). Hatim serials Script, costumes, sets, cast, visual effects everything was perfect. Hope Bollywood will take my advice seriously.

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  10. Thanks Mohan you ideas and suggestions are very well thought and deserve attention of all the stakeholders!

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  11. Thanks Mr Arvind for appreciating my comment and taking my advice seriously. Hope bollywood will also take it seriously.....

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