5 Bollywood Movies That Totally Missed The Very Point They Set Out To Make

For the longest time, mainstream Bollywood films have been all about romance, drama and above all hero being the messiah that saves the heroine and the day. While substantial films, that reflected the society or asked pertinent questions were there in the realm of the existence, but they were never a part of the discourse of mainstream  Bollywood.

In the last decade, one can say, without a smidgen of doubt, this attitude has lessened significantly and content-driven films have shown that one can win box-office without the falling for the usual tropes of commercial potboilers. But this change has also given birth to a bunch of films which have what can be termed as an existentially challenged. These are the films which want to have a ‘social message’ but does not really have a deep understanding of the message that it is setting out to deliver. As a result, these movies end up losing the very point they set out to make.

Here are some Bollywood films that terribly lost the very point they set out to make.

Ki & Ka

This film is one that is honestly difficult to watch without getting pissed off seriously, and we are not even talking about the poor performances of Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. The film, directed by R. Balki had the very noble intent of challenging the gender roles set up by patriarchy but ended up perpetuating the very stereos. By showing Arjun as a house husband and Kareena as the career conscious wife, it just interchanged the genders of the problem and not the problem itself. Plus it engaged in clichés like career conscious women cannot handle relationships, have messy rooms and freaks out at the thought of pregnancy. Maybe he should have taken a tip or two from his wife Gauri Shinde who made English Vinglish and made not only brilliant cinema but raised a pertinent point in the gender debate.

Sultan

All of us who do not worship the very earth that Salman Bhai walks on, we're excited about the prospects of finally having a strong woman character in his film when Sultan was released. In Sultan, Arfa was supposed to be a strong-willed from a small village in Haryana who had what it took to be a world champion in predominantly male sport like wrestling. But we forgot it is Bhai films we are talking about thus, instead of going for the world championship and winning the gold medal he decided to stay back and let his husband go chase the same dream for himself because she has already got her gold medal, that is, she is pregnant and that has made his husband very happy. Such respect, much wow!

Salaam Namastey

This is a tricky one for sure! Back in 2005 when Salaam Namastey released it was applauded for talking about the concept of live-in relationships in a Hindi film because before that Bollywood has never had a film exploring that angle. While it was a bold and applaud-worthy effort, by the end of the film director Siddharth Anand completely lost the point and ended telling a story that gave an idea that live-ins can lead to hazardous side effect like having a pregnancy that can leave you rattled. In a society which anyway has taught us to fear relationships not defined by social constructs or norms like marriage, it perpetuates the same fear. Thus although the idea of Salaam Namastey was to start a conversation about live-in relationships it ended up showing it in a bad light. Plus whatever little room for debate and redemption was there, the film shut it with the scene where Nikhil finally proposed to Ambar with a ring for, you guessed it, marriage. Because no matter if you are in Australia in live in relationship, in the end, it is 'phir bhi dil hai Hindustani', because ‘Indian culture’!

Aarakshan

When it comes to socio-political issues nobody reflects them on screen better than Praksh Jha. From Gangaajal to Rajneeti he has proved his command over a particular genre of films and we have to respect his knowledge and opinions on the socio-political menaces of our society. Thus, when he decided to make a movie on a much debated and controversial topic like caste reservation Indian eduction system we were thrilled. While it was not imperative to take a clear stand on the matter, some conclusion was probably in the order that the maker denied us completely. If that was not bad enough, he missed the plot entirely in the second half where the focus shifted from caste reservation in education to privatization of education and the culture of private tuitions. Go figure!

Jai Ho

We know this is the second film by Salman Bhaijaan on the list but hey, we did not ask him to make so many movies that brutally murder the point they set out to make. When the corruption debate was at its thickest in the country, Sohail Khan had this idea of channeling that spirit in a film and tried to make a film about social issues. The films tried to say, rather struggled to say, that if we all helped each other in our daily lives we do not need anyone else helping us. Jai Ho tried to bring the spirit of social activism through films, but Salman Khan with a military tank came in its way, quite literally. Funnily enough, for a film that tried to put forward the idea that if we all help each other in our daily lives we do not need anyone to help us, it was Salman Khan being the messiah of the common people and saving the day by the end of the film. Sorry for the repetition, but again, such respect, much wow!