The elusive search for badmaksh movies

Having become veterans of atleast 5 badmaksh movies, it is clear to us that there are different kinds of movies.

1) A Genuinely Good Movie (GGM) - intended to be good, and ends up being good. Example would be braveheart, gladiator, shawshank redemption.

2) Badmaksh A Domain (BAD) - a movie that has a big budget, intends to be serious, but for a variety of reasons ends up being a farce and is thoroughly enjoyable for that reason. Rudraksh is the most striking example of this genre, and Chor Machaye Shor is also up there in the BAD hall of fame.

3) Badmaksh B Cinema (BBC) - don't let the "B" fool you. This genre is in no way inferior to genre A. This is a movie made for degenerates, by degenerates. It includes typical B-grade movie actors or failed TV stars and wannabe actresses with hot bodies and not much else. Badmaash no. 1 and Dhamkee: The Extortion are classic examples. These movies are hilarious beyond belief, what with ridiculuous plots, superb hamming and incredibly desperado scenes.

4) Pathetic Excuse For A Movie (PEFAM) - This movie is made with undoubtedly good intentions, but it is neither good nor laughable. Identifiers of such movies include constant headaches, inability to understand what the director/producer was thinking, and a major hangover after watching the movie (that results from the realization that one has wasted 2 hours of one's life on such crap). Another frequent sign is trying your hardest to laugh at the stupid scenes, but not being able to elicit anything more than a "HA", followed by the afore-mentioned hangover. There are too many movies in this genre, but Love in Nepal (from what I've heard) is undoubtedly the foremost PEFAM movie that comes to mind.

5) Purely Badmaksh (PB) - And last but not the least, the King of all Badmaksh movies. This movie could be similar to a BBC or a BAD, with one important qualifier - every moment of this movie is Badmaksh. There are too many scenes that leave you cringing your stomach, or holding your head in amazement. A good way to tell if a movie is PB is through the "Sandwich test". When beginning to view the movie, make yourself a sandwich. If you are unable to finish eating the sandwich by the time the movie is over (because your mouth is constantly open with amazement or laughter), then the movie is certainly PB. The most glittering example of this genre is Khanjar - The Knife. However, the movie that made us aware of this genre also deserves notice - Bombay Girls.

In subsequent posts, we shall document how to recognize a BAD or a BBC or a PB at the video rental, so as to avoid as much contact with PEFAMs as possible.