Today I will talk about “Pushpa – The Rise” movie. I saw the movie some time ago and have been thinking of penning my thoughts. For the readers, let me tell you that this is not your usual movie review. I don’t know what decision you will make after reading this piece, as this piece is more relevant if you have already seen the movie. This article will however give you a perspective.

How is the movie?

It would not be an understatement to say that the movie has no soul. Well, when I say, “having soul”, I mean something that affects me or lingers with me deeply and not just scratches me on surface. If I go through an entire scene without being connected to it, I feel there is something lacking in that bit. For “Pushpa – The Rise”, unfortunately, the entire movie is sum of such bits. I have nothing against the story, as all such Masala entertainers are supposed to have similar stories, which is essentially anything but a story. There is a masala movie template I feel, and what the filmmakers are doing is simply filling up that template. I understand, it is a journey of a man who has been wronged by the system making him vulnerable and arrogant. The man is weird, which is what makes such movies interesting. The man is everything that normal people like you and me would want to become in a parallel world. I guess, the filmmakers know this fantasy and play around it – with their movies.

What is my problem?

My problem is not with the masala movie that it is. My problem is that the movie is not good. To prove my point, let me tell you that one of the finest movies I have seen in quite some time is KGF. And I believe that the movie deserves all the success that it got. The thing is, whenever any movie is successful for the right reasons, there are similar movies that ride on the wave and become successful although they don’t deserve it. It is like a wave that engulfs not only what started it but also anything that comes on its way. With the success of KGF, the appetite of Indian audience for such over-the-top, brash, maverick, unapologetic masala entertainers touched sky high. The filmmakers know this. And they keep dishing out movies to satiate this appetite. When a man is hungry, he likes almost anything. This really sums up the success of even average movies post a mega success of a similar movie (which actually deserved success).

Let me take a moment to thank people who do not jump on such bandwagon and be themselves despite recognizing evidently where the world is heading. Remember, how everyone started creating action movies after Salman Khan did “Wanted”. We know “Wanted” was Salman Khan’s ultimate lease of life. It catapulted him to the status of “Superstar”, one more time. During those times, there was a deluge of such movies and everyone wanted to hop on the trend. There were very few people like “Sharukh Khan” who refused to work on similarly themed movies. Why? Because that man is a trend setter and not someone who follows a trend. So, a big shout out to the man.

So, what is it that I am trying to suggest?

All I am saying is that every successful movie is not good because there are many things that drive success. Sometimes, we just feed into a hype and get engulfed by a wave as described earlier. A smart and discerning individual like me can make out if we truly like a movie (which should propel the movie to success) or if we should ignore it because it is just a substandard piece that is being presented in the garb of entertainment. This is what is called a matured audience; that gives where the due is to be given.

What’s wrong in making such films successful?

If you like such movies, then you certainly need to improve/uplift your taste. Let’s just say that you are settling for too little. The problem with the success of such movies is that the other deserving movies fail. And, if you keep feeding into what is being thrown at you, you will forever be fed that. To get good movies made, you need to fail the bad ones. My suggestion would be to be more discerning, quality-seeking, and demanding from our filmmakers. Only then we will get to see movies that deserve our attention and that deserve the success in return. Let’s fix this.