We the Write stuff.

This post was sparked after watching Love Aaj Kal twice in the theatre. But it was set into motion, after hearing some excellent news this morning, which I shall get to later.
My cousin and I have lengthy discussions about how Directors in the Indian Film Industry(IFI) have a slight curse or disease whichever/whatever, that after making one excellent film, the follow can prove to be so disappointing that we agree that he had pretty much one good idea in his little idea locker or that it was a stroke of luck. I have a theory that no Indian director of current times and of mainstream cinema has been able to complete the 3-awesome-movie(s) streak: cause thats what it takes to be considered real freakin' good and among the top. Consistency. Consistency is how I have based this post, and please note that this means these directors are not capable (God I wish they were) but it seems that after making a big grossing hit, their heads go up into clouds until, inevitably, their next effort flops- actually flop is a bad word to use, mainly because sometimes their next movie may be excellently recieved and may go on to win multiple awards at multiple ceremonies(As we have no dearth of them) and be a high grosser; but it still also may suck. Bad.
Jodhaa Akbar, I'm looking at you, man.

Aditya Chopra. Some may remember him as the writer/director of DDLJ. An excellent movie with lots of great songs and funny dialogues and special moments; with high degree of quotability (I made up that word). He then made Mohabattein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Nuff' said.

Farhan Akthar. Man, I love this guy, for the sole reason that he could write/direct Dil Chahta Hai; which was the movie every Indian youth could finally be proud of, and then promptly make the less successful but equally important Lakshya, which was completely different in style and story. I loved it.
Then came Don, which just didn't cut it.

Ashutosh Gowarikar. He made movie freakin' history, with Lagaan, which was such a unique tale in fusing the two great passions that all Indians possess: Cricket and Movies. Needless to say I was bowled over (pun intended). Then came Swades, equally moving tale of the return of the NRI to the I. Beautiful music, great direction and excellent performances.
And then there was Jodhaa Akbar...

Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The only man who can make Salman Khan act (he should be given an award just for that!), made the wonderfully tragic Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, then the award winning Black. But then came Devdas which was gaudy to behold. He also made Saawariya, which is still to date the most beautifully-stylized Hindi movie I've seen, however the little or lack of story pretty much killed the entire effort, so it doesn't count.

Again, I have complete faith in these directors to accomplish (well, except for Aditya Chopra) but the news that made me write this post in the first place was about Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6). This bit of news is significant proof that some directors still have their heads screwed on the right way. Though Delhi-6 bombed at the box-office, I really liked the movie; that is right up till the last 20 minute sequence which kind of bummed me out since I felt the script did itself in by having a happy ending to what should have been a grim one to maintain the message displayed throughout the movie. I also remember discussing with my cousins the moment we left the theatre that the director probably succumbed to the wishes of the producers/distributors. However the news yesterday was that RO Mehra had decided to restore the original ending for film festival audiences, as he was never happy with it, and subsequently the film was accepted into the Venice film festival. Apparently he wouldn't have died in peace if the movie was not brought back to its original script.
Huh. Who'da thunk?
I can't even imagine how often directors across India are caving to the pressures of the distributors these days. Maybe even Ram Gopal Varma's Aag wasn't too shabby. But jokes aside, at least we've still got Anurag Kashyap.