Schalu was bored. Sunday morning and no great plans for the day. Lazily flipping through the newspaper, she suddenly came across some shocking stuff. Of course, people killed, sensex acrobatics, death sentences, cricket victories, didn’t thrill her anymore. So-called maturity and the resulting indifference had already taken their toll.
What really surprised her was that the latest Bollywood flick which she and Prudie enjoyed to the core this Friday, was given a poor 1-star rating by the newspaper. What the heck! The movie obviously wasn’t a classic but a decent entertainer. It deserved at least a 3-star rating, she thought.
“The movie reviews are losing their credibility these days. Look Prudie, what rating they have given to the movie we watched this Friday.”
“Lost credibility?". Prudie murmured being disturbed from his day-dreaming. "They never had any credibility in first place. What credentials do these reviewers have to review a movie? Have they themselves made one? If not, then these reviews are nothing more than a Mandira Bedi sitting in a commentary box, explaining how a Sachin Tendulkar should play his cover drive.”
“I think that they are particularly harsh with the Hindi Movies. English Movies have to be really bad to get a bad rating from them. I think it is nothing but deep seated Indian inferiority complex.”
“Hmm.. may be you are right, but not totally. The important thing to realize is that Hindi and Hollywood movies cater to different needs of people. If you take a look at IMDB top 100 movies, at least 40 of them would belong to crime genre and not even half of that to romance.”
“Yeah! Even the lovely ‘Titanic’ does not figure even in top 250 there. All they like is Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Psycho.. I guess they relate to crime better than romance. But Indians still have a soft corner for romance. Because of the social inhibitions we still possess, romance is still unattainable for many. And anything unattainable is attractive. That is human nature.”
“.. while I was wondering how much romance is left for imagination in a country where average age for people to lose virginity is 13?”
“..aarghh ! Now I think you too suffer from lack of imagination. Can you guys separate romance from ...”. Schalu was frowning.
Prudie saw that his genuine attempt to be witty was seen in bad light. A typical Mars Vs. Venus starwars wasn't his idea of a Sunday morning. Olive branch was the need of the hour.
"Alright! Alright!! But I believe there is one more thing. The rich and the poor divide. In Hollywood, cinema is seen as an art, as a form of expression. They can afford to take more risks. Whereas a typical Hindi movie producer is more worried about the commercial success. That is why he doesn’t take risks and rather continues with time tested formulas.”
“Whatever! But one thing is sure. I am not gonna give a damn about these reviews while deciding to watch a movie in future.”
"Ye!! And call 'em Schalu & Prudie's - S & P's !"
"After all, we are challenging some Moody evaluations ..."
They chuckled while their words echoed. Suddenly they realised something. Turning to me, both of them shouted in unison, "Hey you greenhorn-finance-junkie! Stop flaunting your paltry knowledge through us."
I was a lil bit embarrassed but happy. For a change, Prudie and Schalu found something they could mutually agree upon.
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