And I Take Watching Movies Very Seriously.

We Indians are just crazy about either of these three things: Food, Cricket or Films. I fall in the category of the latter. I watch films with no boundaries in particular, as long as they are offering me a work of art. From S-Korean dramas, Japanese anime, German, French, Spanish, to the coming of age Iranian films and obviously Hollywood. But Hindi films are slowly alienating me with its formulaic expressions meant to do the same things over and over.

Hindi films started out as one of the earliest film industries in the second decade of the 20^th century but even the ten decades have seemed to be too little for their (very) gradual evolution. Their pathetic predictability and loud ways of depictions have made the typical Bollywood films loving audience addicted to it. Now they are so wired in that every time a director even tries to go outside the box they are punished with a poor box office run, which in turn makes the producers skeptical about putting their money for such a script again. Though there’s a young breed of directors and producers willing to take the chances with a proportionate audience who encourage such art work, they still haven’t tasted the money the SRKs and Salmans have.

Films are a place where many art forms come and merge to culminate and give out a new dimension to the world. It adds Music, Photography (Cinematography), Story (Screenplay), Special Effects, Production Design, Sound Engineering (acoustical engineering) and many more that don’t stick out much, and give out the maximum exotic pleasure one can get sitting on a chair. I being a fan of the first three, they become sufficient to satisfy my taste buds, even if others are a bit out of place. Films are the platforms where imaginations come in the truest states possible. They have for many years been influencing the culture and traditions of the society in their own little or larger ways. They have the greatest power of bringing anyone the closest, to the typical experiences, whether it’s about feeling like a gangster or showing  the horrors of prison, travelling many light years ahead outside galaxy or making one crave the passions of love. Films are a fantasy everyone likes to indulge in once in a while if not always, to use it as a wormhole to travel back in history or journey ahead to the technologically saturated world. A escapade from the daily routines of monotony and dullness. Though mine goes a bit farther than that.

Films do much more to me than it does to the usual people. It gives me the hallucinations that LSD gives its addicts, it gives me the orgasm Hugh Hefner only hopes every night. It keeps reminding me how beautiful life can be: With realistic dramas and biographies I understand the indecisiveness and insecurity almost every other individual has been battling throughout human history. The fear that comes with unpreparedness and lack of exposure, engulfing any person, has been nature’s way of saying how similar we are. It teaches me character and gives me some along the way. An action movie will give those pump-it-up moments of punches and kicks, asking me never to back down, come what may and a comedy tells me how I should learn to laugh at myself and let a lot of things pass by without being too serious about it. Films narrate me how great people lived their lives, how historic wars were fought, politics and fiction. Other than enriching me with fulfilling pieces of information, they also shape a taste which I then start seeking for. After every few films, I notice, the various individual styles the film makers carry, the recurring task forces they hire and the producers they get comfortable with.

This gets me attached and personal, and unknowingly they begin to grow in me, to slowly become a part of my life without ever having exchanged a single dialogue. I now know them through their loudest expressions. Every film suddenly starts feeling a bit stronger and deeper. Every film touches me more than it did before, because now I am expecting it to be a certain way when I watch them. From a Nolan I expect it to be gritty, from a Fincher a tad darker, I wait Hitchcock to surprise me with twists and thrills and with Quentin Tarantino I just want to sit back and relax with his black comedy and detailed display. Though I might have a personal favourite but that doesn’t mean I don’t try others. Roger Deakins’ play with shadows and low lit frames are as much visual delight as Wally Pfister and Jeff Cronenweth’s neat detailed works while Janusz Kamiński’s master exhibition of period back drops are out of the world.

Films are the sources that have fed my pleasure portals for long. They are not just the modes of entertainment to me but my temptation of escapism from the boring days of life. They keep me alive. They are the ways God speaks to me and tries to explain, “Son, isn’t my creation worth living for?” to which I reply, “a thousand splendid lives!”

And I take watching movies very seriously. They’re not always great. They’re not always rewarding. Sometimes I am extremely busy or tired or bored. But I watch movies to discover, to learn, to feel and ultimately to champion.

Daniel Berger

President, Oscilloscope Laboratories