I also agree that Lootera is an outstanding movie - beautiful, realistic story that includes the heartbreak, love, deception and loss that many experience in true life. All cast and crew did excellent work on this movie and I'm grateful because it has become one of my favorites.
Even though I agree with folks here that Lootera deserves special notice, I don't agree with most of your comments. It's not even logical to make wide, sweeping remarks on the state of Indian cinema, "Most of them are so mind-numbingly dumb and repetitive." and then state that you ". . . usually avoid Hindi movies like a plague."
Not only do you see yourself as a non-participant, genius critic regarding Indian movies, but also with what happens on IMDb, "I know imdb (sic) is not frequented by the average Hindi movie goer, . . ." Your closing sentence of your first paragraph is rude, ignorant and prejudicial, especially considering your lack of practical experience! No one really needs to feed compliments to you since you're pigging out on your own self-congratulatory conclusions.
I'm an American who has only become a real fan of Indian cinema for the past 10-13 years. For the last 5 years, I seldom watch American movies or TV and even though I prefer Indian movies, I also watch Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Australian, and UK entertainment products. If you were to tell me that you are a faithful fan of Hollyweird fare, I would be in no position to criticize your analysis of American entertainment, and I find it fundamentally unfair for people to sound as if they are experts on a subject that they show very little interest in.
I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear that the Indian viewers who come to IMDb to participate in rating and discussing Indian cinema are rudely judged and criticized by others who regard themselves as sufficiently informed as to be adequate judges of other viewers (their comments are so terribly stuck up and egotistical). They harshly criticize what they believe must be Indian viewers who rate Indian movies higher than these smart-a$$es believe they are worthy of. My problem is that I find most of the ratings to be fair or sometimes much lower than I would rate them, but then my ratings are not coming from a place of ignorant prejudice. Besides, even when ratings/opinions do not match my own, I seldom get very excited about it because we all have wide differences in our tastes when it comes to, well, everything - movies, TV shows, food, clothes, cars, vacation ideas, etc. Now, when I have ignorant, prejudicial comments flaunted in my face, you're very likely to hear from me.
As for Lootera being that one, magical, mystical out of billions - that's also horribly inaccurate for most people who like Indian cinema. As I've already stated, I REALLY enjoy Lootera and I think it's an excellent film, but I'm also very impressed with a great many movies that come from the Indian entertainment industry. If you rarely watch Indian movies, of course you will not be aware of these excellent movies, but it certainly does not put you in the position of being able to accurately rate all the other wonderful movies. Even when it comes to what people see as "typical Bollywood fare" I've benefited by many of those movies that are overrun with dancing and singing numbers, always a happy ending, great scenery of numerous Indian locations and some of the happiest, closest families ever to grace the silver screen. I have PTSD and even though my service dog is miles ahead of anything else when it comes to helping me tolerate life and think some "happy thoughts," some of these fantasy-like movies are wonderful for attitude adjustment and loosing yourself among really good looking, well dressed, people eating some of the best looking food anywhere! Clearly, they are popular with a GREAT many people since I often read reviews by loyal Indian fans and, unlike you, I don't dismiss these reviews with a rudely ignorant attitude that they must not be up to an intellectual par! As I've stated elsewhere, it's not my place to harshly criticize what makes other people happy or content. Our individual tastes are vastly different and I see no reason to believe that there are more mentally handicapped people in India than elsewhere as you've indicated.
One of the things that I've appreciated most about the Indian entertainment industry is because so many of their movies are truly family friendly and uphold and support a strong family life, dedication to whatever your faith is and strong moral codes for many. Just the same as any country/culture/religion, etc. there are situations and circumstances where bigotry rules the day, it's not uncommon for women, children, the elderly and the disabled to be abused and misused both verbally and physically and corruption runs rampant. I don't want to just pretend that life is "lah, lah, lah - skipping
through the daisies . . . " however, it's nice to know that there are indeed citizens who live a pleasant life similar to some areas in the U.S. during the 1950's and that movies portraying that type of life style are still popular.
I like to be able to watch a large number of movies where there is very little profanity used, where I seldom see nudity or extremely suggestive costumes, yet I observe married couples struggling to keep their marriages healthy, children respect and love their parents because they are treated with respect and love and the parents are concerned with the type of role models they are for their children and if a couple are holding hands and looking deeply into each others' eyes there can be a "fade to black" as they walk towards the bedroom because the directors know that we're mature adults watching the movie and we know what will likely be going on, we don't have to get out our binoculars and sneak up on the couple for a nasty thrill. We have our own lives and/or memories and don't need or want to intrude into the private times for others.
Also, I'm a grandmother and I'm always keeping my eyes open for movies that I can share with my grandkids and not be embarrassed or ashamed to watch a movie together. Not only do I appreciate the family friendly entertainment, but I really enjoy the great scenery, bright colors, wonderful music and dancing and beautiful costumes. Besides, I'm a vegetarian who loves Thai, Indian, Chinese, etc. foods and I get great ideas for dinners while watching some of the movies!
I truly enjoy knowing that there are famous Indian actors who choose not to kiss co-workers on the lips even though he's more often than not, cast in romantic movies! And who can't use more dignified and elegant movie stars who have stayed married to their spouse throughout their entire career and we now get to see pictures of them with the grandchildren! (Of course, I'm talking about the marvelously talented actors Shah Ruhk Khan and Amitabh Bachbach, but I'm learning about even more Indian actors, scientists, astronauts and industrialists who should be viewed with pride.)
These types of attributes are not often measured by the same methods as the performances of directors, composers, actors, etc., but they are certainly very important to many of us.
Shauna & Ms. Phoebe, my God-given Happy Pill
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