Art movies

I was talking to a friend recently about "Dor" and he said something strange "isn't that an art movie?". That got me thinking 'how do you classify a movie to be art movie'? I think the general perception of a movie in India is the following storyline (or its umpteen variations) : "boy meets girl, fall in love, fight for love, marry and live happily ever after", spiced with generous sprinklings of song and dance sequences. Other aspects of the story such as corruption, oppression are woven around this main thread. Of late, this definition of a movie has been relaxed a bit to include movies that have a big star listed in the credits. (Just imagine how much impact Rang de Basanti would have without Amir Khan.) Any movie that doesn't follow this 'formula' is an art-movie.

I was actually very impressed with Dor. Two things that worked in favor of this movie were the strong storyline (bought from a Malayam movie) and Nagesh Kukunoor's direction. The cinematography was rich (as rich as any mainstream movie!). Some of the locations were stunning. Despite all this, it was still considered an art movie because a) it didn't follow the accepted storyline b) it didn't have any big stars.


I also saw "The Namesake" a couple of days ago. Again, the story was what made the movie good. Strong performances from the lead characters made it even better. The episodic style of direction gave a feeling that we were being rushed through the story. I guess I'll have to read the book to actually get the nuances of the story. Now, if only I could find enough time for that!!