Watching trailers of Dark Knight, a question crossed my mind.. Can Bollywood make a movie or have a Superhero like a Batman or a Superman?
Well, the very question might seem absurd to many Bollywood fans reading this post and many more might rubbish the idea. But having said that, Bollywood did take a shot at making a movie on the lines of Superman, which had actor Dharmendra playing Superman! I found another one with actor Govinda flying or rather floating in the air. One look at the clip and you know that it is hilarious! And to say the least, it was nowhere ( even miles ) close to the Hollywood version of Superman!
So when one thinks about the reason as to why a Superman or a Batman is accepted in Hollywood while their so called ‘avatars’ struggle in Bollywood? Reasons may be many both on the side of the movie makes and the audience.
Come to think of it, Superheroes such as Batman and Superman were created with DC comics with Batman being created as early as 1939. And having created a reader base graduated to the celluloid. So, it could be understood that is over the years that these superheroes have evolved and been accepted. After comics, Batman was made for the small screen with Adam West playing the Caped Crusader with his bat mobile spitting fire!! Going on the lines of comics, Diamond comics is one of the largest comics sellers but its repertoire has the likes of Chacha Chaudhary * Saaboo , Biloo , Shaktimaan and their likes (http://www.diamondcomic.com) . Though Chacha Chaudhary was made into a serial for television, the characters apart from Shaktimaan from this publishing house do not have superheroes. However another comics house Raj Comics though has a few heroes such as Parmaanu and Nagraj ( http://www.rajcomics.com/joomla/) but the readership of these comics is limited to certain geographies in the country mainly north. As a result of which they might not able to score on the acceptability factor as far as a mass audience goes like a Spiderman or a Superman.
Coming to the more pragmatic aspect, why would a Superman or a Batman find it difficult to be received popularly. First things first, these characters have not been created here, so, it would take maybe some other Indianised hero to become popular and gain acceptance.
As mentioned, at the level of the director and script, a script to get a superhero who is emotionally entwined emotionally between his life and his commitment towards the society. But for an audience which is tuned to seeing their heroes dance with actress behind trees, a serious character who broods and bleeds, it would require some makeover from the conventional portrayal. This might be one of the reason, ‘Krissh’ , a Bollywood superhero of sorts was suited to do all the dancing and singing along with the heroic acts!
Going by the audience, Krissh was received well by the teenage and children. This could turn out to be a drawback for a superhero to be made into a Bollywood movie as the audience would be limited to a set of people like children or teenagers. Coming the aspect of making a movie, the visual effects , the technology and other such factors go, Bollywood has still a lot of catching up with Hollywood. A ‘lag’ in these aspects trivializes whatever attempts are made in this direction by directors in Bollywood!
In a way it would be unfair to think of the likes of a Superman or a Batman in terms of Bollywood, but one could think that this formula might work provided the Superhero is customized to the Bollywood formula – one where heroes sing, dance, romance and fight with equal felicity!
Drona is next…
you r correct i m agree with u.but i m not agree with some lines.in india/bollywood film should have songs dances of hero-heroines,ropmance etc. then only people accept it.so while making film based on sci-fi or superhero it shoud have all these things,only then it is accepted by audiance.this is indian mentalty.
directors just follow it. they r nt wrong.
rakesh roshan made krissh according to audiance interest.he made nice combination of hollywood style and bollywood style for people.he made it large,he put great stunts in it.krissh has good script.therefore it touches to heart.it has stunts with some emotional scenes.so rakesh roshan nothing done wrong.
india has capacity to make superhero films,but there r some limitations.we have less technology and less technicians.for krissh rakesh roshan wanted more technologyst and technic facilities.but he did not get it. he tried hard for it.so what is his fault? but he made great film.
our directors are taking inspiration from krissh and trying to make superhero movies.drona is result of that.there r many movies in making.so that is the biggest success of krissh.krissh is trendmaker.
we should hope that we will have more superheros in future.lets hope guys!
raj comics have some gr8 superheroes like nagraj.an animation movie is in making on nagraj. another hero of raj comics ‘doga’ is ready for his bollywood debut from filmmaker anurag kashyap.as a raj comics fan i know that both these movies will be hit.
After a great creation of ‘ABHAY’ AND ‘DASHAVATARAM’ kamal hasan should think about any superhero movie. He’s the only person who can think about a weird story of a superhero.
This is a sily queschin
sohail khan will be the right chice for doga movie by anuragh kashyap……………………….
Superheroes ..
talking abt them…i think batman or spiderman of India can only evolve from Rajcomics. They are the only publishers who focuses on superhero centric book…like DC and Marvel