Bollywood produces mediocre movies not because we don’t have the cameras, or the technology. We just don’t care – period.
In an upcoming movie, Anil Kapoor dons the uniform of an Air Force officer (Air Commodore) but wears it with the finesse of a headload worker. He is shown unshaven and acts like a ruffian.
For long, I have seen police officers depicted with weird uniforms – the rank is that of an IG, the cap of an SP, and the behavior of a junior constable.
And how hard is it to figure that out? The directors could have hired a retired sub-inspector and paid him 10,000 rupees, and all the authenticity could have been built in. But it wasn’t the money – they never cared.
By contrast, when the movie Lone Survivor was shot, the actors depicting the US Navy SEALs actually spent time with SEALs to refine even finer things like how the SEALs hold and fire their weapons.
But would the audience know how SEALs hold their weapons? Probably not. Then why bother?
Because that is your craft. When you do something, do it well.
This is not about India vs the US.
This is about our culture of not caring. The culture of ‘chalta hai.’ The normalization of mediocrity.
Hope the next generation stops it. Fond hope? I pray, not.