I started watching Indian films because The Chair loves them.
Having lots of fun identifying the tropes that make up their filmmaking formulas, and seeing how different actors/directors/writers interpret and execute them.
Also has me thinking about Nigerian film tropes.
Having lots of fun identifying the tropes that make up their filmmaking formulas, and seeing how different actors/directors/writers interpret and execute them.
Also has me thinking about Nigerian film tropes.
I think *some* of the negative feedback to some stuff we see in our movies is because viewers haven't accepted that Nollywood has its own tropes, which aren't better or worse than Bollywood's or Hollywood's. Just *different*.
The long, single-shot emotional monologue to appeal to the antagonist, followed by antagonist's reaction shot seems to be a Bollywood standard trope.
Viewed through a Hollywood consumer lens, it's too melodramatic.
But if you come to it without that judgment, you'll see art.
Viewed through a Hollywood consumer lens, it's too melodramatic.
But if you come to it without that judgment, you'll see art.
Same with the "her scarf got hooked" trope.
Or let's take 2 tropes even more jarring to a Hollywood-trained sensitivity:
-the dance sequences
-comic relief in serious films.
Indian audiences accept these completely, because it's simply part of their filmmaking tradition
Or let's take 2 tropes even more jarring to a Hollywood-trained sensitivity:
-the dance sequences
-comic relief in serious films.
Indian audiences accept these completely, because it's simply part of their filmmaking tradition
The "comic relief in serious film" trope is rife in Nollywood. Regular movie watchers seem to love it, while many critics don't. My hypothesis is that the critics are refusing to expect it, as they're refusing to accept it's simply part of how we tell stories, unlike Hollywood.
Or take a movie like Soole. I understand why lots of folks panned it. I loved it, because I saw what the makers were doing. They were leaning into Naija tropes.
(Another reason lots of folks disliked it is that they give Nollywood far less latitude for suspension of disbelief).
(Another reason lots of folks disliked it is that they give Nollywood far less latitude for suspension of disbelief).
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