Isn't it shocking to see poorly edited sequences in some Indian films cut by veteran editors? Looking at the experience of these editors, some of them have been in the industry since the 1980s, apprenticing under some top men in the business then. But why the irony?
What I feel: During their days as 'assistants', they were possibly assigned clerical stuff, rather manual jobs such as negative cutting and splicing. While the main editor (In most cases, someone with sufficient knowledge on the grammar of cutting) was working with the director deciding the cuts (in a very grammatical way), the assistants were busy doing their bit of negative cutting and splicing; too busy to analyze the grammar and aesthetics that influence cutting decisions. By the time they started out as independent editors, they had become experts with the LABOUR (negative cutting and splicing) and thus were working at lightning speeds; but the grammar and art weren't quite there. Despite this, these expert 'labourers' were very much in demand during the days of linear editing, mainly because of their speed. But with the advent of non-linear editing systems, the importance of 'labourers' reduced. NLE systems enabled aspiring young editors to focus more on the film grammar instead of 'negative cutting' and 'splicing'. But the 'labourers' are still in business being hailed and respected as 'veterans', thanks to the reputation they had built in the 'pre-NLE' era. Since many in the industry believe that these editors have several decades of 'experience', they remain the 'go-to' editors for many senior filmmakers even today, and get all the respect a veteran ought to.
NOTE: I am just talking about a couple of veteran editors here, NOT ALL! I don't want to name them here. Just wanted to write my feelings on WHY there are poorly cut sequences in films edited by them, despite being 'experienced veterans'. They aren't much to blame. It is probably because of what they were exposed to, during their stint as assistants. I do respect their experience and expertise acquired in 'negative cutting' and 'splicing', manual jobs that had to be done very cautiously and punctiliously, since they were performed on original negatives.
