Filmindia (1941)

Englishman On The Mat! ««Goodbye To Indian Films" — H Rejoinder He Confused A Trailer With The Feature By: T. N. Mahadevan. (Though it is rather late in the day to give a rejoinder to John Alexander, still the writer, in his criticism of the critic, has argued many a point interestingly.—The Editor). I read with much interest t'he article under the caption, "Goodbye to Indian Films" by John Alexander, the Englishman, which appeared in the January issue of "filmindia." I appreciate very much the spirit in which it was written. Mr. John Alexander says in his article that he spent about a year in India seeing various Indian films. However, after going through the article very carefully one is not much impressed with its intrinsic value. I am of the opinion, and, I am sure, many a film critic will share my views, that, although J. A. has pointed out a few faults in the Indian films in general, and the Cinema Houses in particular, he has neither exhaustively dealt with them nor shown the way to remedy them. And he has not discussed either, the various underlying causes which contribute to make the Indian film industry the partial failure, which he suggests it is. In short, what J. A. has said about the Indian film industry amounts to very little compared to what he has left unsaid, which is evidently through a lack of knowledge of the various aspects of the industry; his sporadic visits to a few pictures, (mostly Western ones), and his frivolous treatment of an important problem like the one under discussion, vouch for that. In any case, the article itself appears to have been made up of a few parting hints, thrown at random prior to a hasty embarkation, mostly on such inconsequential subjects as armchair comforts (or, rather, discomforts, I should say) and orchestra accommodation, film fans and fancy costumes, Tom Mix serials and tiresome trailers and audience interest and attractive film heroines. None of these points serves any useful purpose, not in any case, for the improvement of Indian film technique. What they do serve, however, is to provide food for thought for some of those capitalists, w'ho never let go an opportunity by, without exploiting the poverty-stricken masses of India, by building a few more cinema houses of the magnificence and splendour of the "Metro" in Bombay. ART AND POLITICS Although I do not like to mix up or confuse politics with Art, I have no doubt that, under the present Imperialistic regime, they are so intimately correlated, so inseparably intermingled that one cannot be visualized without the other. I can quote a hundred and one instances where Art in any form whatsoever, is never allowed to make a headway due to the myriad obstacles put in the way of its advancement. Unfortunately one cannot be too careful these days with one's pen, lest the long arm of the law stretches its grim tentacles to grab the unwary victim. How, then does our friend, J. A. expect Indian cinema houses to provide arm-chair comforts and alabaster flooring? How can these luxurious facilities be provided for the fans who pay the ridiculously low sums of 4 and 8 annas for a seat, especially when the Indian capitalist has to pay highly prohibitive duties on raw films and the various other adjuncts such as machinery etc. which have, of a necessity, to be imported? I should now like to deal, seriatim, with the points which struck me most as having received an un Mr. T. N. Mahadevan fair treatment in the hands of Mr. John Alexander. WESTERN CULTURE In opening his volley of criticisms, J. A. starts with blowing his own trumpet, or rather blowing his National trumpet. He says: "I had been a Flash Gordon fan; to find one of his films in this exotic Oriental centre struck me as a worthy achievement for Western Culture!" One would very much like to be enlightened as to how a Flash Gordon serial shown in a Rajkot cinema proves the achievement of Western Culture! J. A. goes on to say, "the cinema was in a narrow street, like all the streets in Rajkot, and I found great difficulty in manoeuvring my car anywhere near the entrance." Did J. A. expect to find a stately Marine Drive leading to the Rajkot Cinema for his car to manoeuvre? He then describes the opulence of British pictures, and complains about the poor lighting in the Rajkot cinema auditorium. Well, what more could he expect in a Rajkot cinema hall? Did he expect invisible lights and incandescent lamps, hidden wires and hundred kilo-watt bulbs? Did he, though? He could as well have complained about the 51