Saturday, January 5, 2008

TZP for Oscars? Dont think so!

I have had this debate with a couple of people, but what has forced me to write this post is something a friend of mine posted on Orkut - "TZP for Oscars"


TZP for Oscars? I mean TZP for the Oscars? Really??? That's how good it is? Well....

Firstly, I will say something in praise of the film. It's well made, with scenes that will appeal to children and parents. But that's all there is to it.
In terms of originality... well, there have been many such movies made before, in India and abroad. Only, they weren't directed by a superstar, hence didn't/don't get the attention needed. Why wasn't Parzania sent for the Oscars? It was also well made, had a more "non-cliched" story.

A few critical points:
1. Dialogues in the movie are partially lifted from another movie called Dead Poet's Society [a story about a new professor who changes the way things are taught and is loved by his students, Robin Williams ala Amir Khan]
2. Scenes are uncannily similar: One particular scene is literally a copy, but a poor attempt:

In Dead Poet's Society John Keating [Robin Williams] is sitting with professors having food [Amir in the staffroom where teachers are, guess what? having food] and questions are raised about his unconventional teaching methods. Amir says "Hail Hitler"!
In the DPS scene, a character named McAllister says to him that students must be dealt with strictly, while Keating then masterfully puts his point across:

McAllister: "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man."
John Keating: "But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be."
McAllister: Tennyson?
John Keating: No, Keating.

No, I am not bashing TZP, it is a nice movie. But i really don't agree with all the people calling it Oscar worthy and all. It's a genre thats been done before in Hollywood and in India too. A nice movie, but not a great movie. No offense to Amir Khan!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

dude i think u may be right, cos honestly i havent seen dead poets society , but lemme tell u the way film is presented is quite uniquea nd engaging. im ean this film has the biggest chance of entering the oscars than the earlier films because: f1.the film has quite the realism shown in it that the oscar guys love
f2.there is a huge interest in indian cinema shown by hollywood now
f3.the oscars prefer stories of victory and happy ending rather than sad ones like parzania
reply abt wt u think of these
summari@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

bleh.. bleh.. and more bleh..
surely the first anon is joking!

Anonymous said...

Refreshingly heterodox.......Nice observation.....ok thats enuough

Sameer said...

You think so or not, it is going to Oscars :P

Harshvardhan Pande said...

it may go to the Oscar but the Oscar wont go to it :D
don't get me wrong, its a nice film, but it's definitely not oscar worthy.