We Indians, the largest movie makers

Thanks to this good friend of mine, who made me think, “I'm not a good KISS-er (Keep It Short and Simple)”. To prove to myself that I can relatively do a fair job in KISS-ing, and for those who are really impatient to read the entire text, here is the highly abridged content of this blog:

Expectations = fn (Perceptions, Experience)

For the rest and for myself here is the original unKISS-ed content:

If Wiki is to be believed, Indians are the largest film makers (877 feature films+1177 short films in 2003) Vs our nearest competitor US (473 in the year 2003). Believe me; the movie making is still not outsourced. (Hei, NAASCOM guys...a good market to jump on ....huh???)

In my attempt to understand the parallel between these two countries, my analyst brain could not think of anything but 2 reasons: 1. Heterogeneous Culture with common destiny 2. Uncertainty.

Formed by immigrants with a drive to build a nation, Americans shared a common destiny to create what became (and still is) a mighty land - United States of America. In 1947, Indians were given "freedom" to rule their own country. The people of democratic India, shared a common destiny to build a country which had (and still has) all the potential to become another mighty power. Corrupt politicians, Mindless bureaucrats, Nehruvian dreams (mixed economy & import substitution policies) and Lack of vision- all had its share in failing our dreams. Our dreams never turned into a reality and still remains a dream.

Americans probably are the friendliest guys having high tolerance and respect towards others' religion and culture. Indians, highly influenced by the philosophy of their land (which embraces the positive aspect of foreign culture and religion as its own) sustained their affinity towards heterogeneous culture. But sadly enough, uncertainty is always in the air for citizens of both these countries (USA and India) and both get caught in cycle of changes – a blessing in disguise.

Creativity is at its helm during uncertainties and it is not so surprising to see these countries make the largest number of movies which reflects the society, the attitude and the journey which the society embarks on. But the expectation out of a movie for an average American and an average Indian is radically different and are these expectations are poles apart. Though the kind of experience is similar (not necessarily same) the reason Americans make and demand quality movies has completely to do with their PERCEPTION.

Example 1– WTC was hit, hundreds of lives lost, not a single corpse was shown in any of the television channels. A case in point t0 prove the maturity of their media and the people.
Example 2 – Quality of themes picked up by the American movie makers, the finest amount of details and their relentless uncompromising attitude.

Not to deny the fact that Indians make amazing movies and have receptive audience. But what proportion of these audiences are receptive is the bone of contention. Movies have the power to bring in revolution, to bring in positive changes in the society, to influence people, to capture their minds with intelligent questions and the answer it may offer.

Not enough to have expectations, not enough to have experience (positive and/or negative) what we all need is a highly positive and constructive perception. Most Americans have it, which is reflected through their movies. Do we have it?????

The Quantity per se, does not produce victory, Quality does. Though we have made thousands of movies we might still lose out to Americans.

Lets be a part of the movement that brings in change of perception. It all starts with you and me.