Bollywood

Once upon a time, I got really mad at how clueless certain people I knew were about movies from India. They knew the 'industry' was called Bollywood, but almost none had seen an entire movie. So, I wrote a little note on my Facebook page and shared it. It was a list of movies I would want my friends to watch, if they wanted to get up to speed with how Bollywood is. And the kind of movies I like to watch.

My point being, there are millions of bad movies made by Hollywood each year, but everyone talks just about the cool, slick, big-budget ones. On the other hand, everyone just gets stuck at the idea of songs in a movie, and people refuse to process anything else when they hear of Indian cinema. I mean, why are giant metallic robots that turn into cars okay, but 2 people singing not so? (http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2165) Yea, most movies are bad, but there are millions of other things wrong with them, which probably have nothing to do with them having song and dance routines.

#rant over, phew.

So if I had to begin showing movies to my friends, which ones would I start with? In no particular order, I drew up a list.

1) Lagaan: Once upon a time in India :- A typical Bollywood movie about how a village must form a cricket team and beat the British administrators at their game in order to be exempt from taxes. This was nominated for the "Best Foreign Movie" at the Oscars in 2002, and is complete with "oh i feel happy, lets sing; oh i need to convince him to help me, lets sing; oh I'm jealous, lets sing and dance".

2) Dil Chahta Hai : A story of 3 friends; about how they grow up after they graduate and how their life takes them apart, but still keeps them close. (Does that even make sense to you ? should improve my description skills)

3) Lakshya (Goal / Aim ): An aimless high schooler finds direction in life after he signs up for the Indian Army. Set amidst the Kargil War, 1998, a story of growing up.

4) Rang De Basanti (Paint it saffron - saffron symbolizes sacrifice) : A story of a group of 20-somethings who are disenchanted and disillusioned by the government and "the system". Inspired by the lives of the revolutionaries on whom they are filming a documentary, they decide to take matters into their hands.

5 & 6) Sarkar (Government) and Sarkar Raj: These two movies are a brilliant example of how you can take a story and adapt it to the Indian setting. These are based on the Godfather series. These movie are Bollywood, but have no song and dance sequences. Surprising, right?

7) Omkara: Adapted from Shakespeare's Othello. Probably non-Indians might not appreciate it so much, since the language and setting is typical rustic Indian. I like it for how well it has been adapted to make the story seem Indian.

8) Sholay: A remake of the movies "The Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven". Made in 1974, this movie is again a brilliant adaptation of the story. A classic which almost any Indian guy will have in his top 5 or top 10 list. I saw the Japanese movie before the Hollywood remake and was quite disheartened by how close it stuck to the Japanese version. Sholay is whole loads more fun, and extremely well made. Any "true Indian" will become your best friend if you can quote the water tank scene. (Don't test this if your life is at stake though.)

9) Swades (Motherland): The story of an Indian guy who's settled in the US, but remembers why he loves home and India. A really simple story, which probably speaks to me more since I find myself asking the same questions. About home, India, US, life and so on. Some day, a blog post on all that too. Though I do have major gripes with the narratives, the story is all about why the guy wants to come back to India... I would have loved it if the story talked about life abroad without resorting to stereotypes.

10) Sarfarosh: An action/ romantic movie, typically bollywood with songs, dance, action, comedy and so on. The story of a cop who decides to tackle rising terrorism in Mumbai and surrounding areas. A well made film that, if my memory serves right, has fewer jarring segues than most films.

All these still count as typical 'mainstream' Hindi cinema (we have 22 official languages, according to Wikipedia anyway, and an independent film industry in almost each language). I haven't listed the newer new-age/artsy/multiplex-fare movies which would appeal to foreign audiences easier precisely because they seem to be heavily influenced by foreign cinema. (But "Dev D", Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local", "Johnny Gaddar", "Khoya Khoya Chand", "Peepli Live" are delicious bits of movies that need more watching.)

Typical Bollywood fare, which I dislike but is somehow popular among non resident Indians and non Indians, include "Om Shanti Om"(A tale of re-incarnation + Ultra bollywood mish-mash), "Devdas" (how falling in love makes you a stupid idiotic drunk wasted guy) , "Kal Ho Na Ho"(ok, this one is probably good, but I still don't like it as much), "Koi Mil Gaya" (A rip-off of E.T, fused with the character Forrest Gump?), "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun" (A glorified wedding video).

There are other movies that are over-the-top but self aware movies which are quite fun (Main Hoon Na, Tashan, Andaz Apna Apna - I've lost count how many times I've seen it) but they rely heavily on pop-culture references (hasn't anyone wondered how pop-culture always tends to refer to stuff that happens in the US/UK?), puns and play on words. Things quite hard to translate to foreign audiences.

 But this is a list of movies that are pretty much "Bollywood". If you know any more, add to the list :)

Let's Stereotype

When people find out I'm from India, one of the topics of conversation is about how different the place is from Europe/US or South America. Most people I have met have been very open-minded and ready to accept that their notion of India is probably very wrong. Generally, it is... and they have been great enough to hear me ranting about my own little version of how or what I think India is like. (Staying outside & meeting other Indians has made me realise that my knowledge and experiences in & about India are quite limited).

The thing that has begun bothering me is how this image of India (or any place) has propagated. See the photo albums of any person (read as non-Indian) who has visited India. There will be very few pictures of any monuments or historic/heritage sites. A lot of pictures of people in colorful clothing, pictures of busy markets and such. And then, pictures of "cute kids", mostly from the slums, or pictures of cows or animals on the road, or trash littered around.

Are we (= people of India) a museum? OK, I get it that you have never seen half the stuff happening here. But then if I come to the US and take a picture of a Steak n' Shake because there are none in India, why would I be looked at as an idiot? Why do so many people who visit India never find out about historical structures or the nature spots we have. Since I'm from Maharashtra, my examples are going to be - the forts built by Shivaji and the Marathas; the Ajanta - Ellora caves; the hikes in the Sahyadri mountains; the national forests/parks; the palaces built by different Mughal emperors and so on.

How many people who visit Mumbai take pictures of the CST train station? Or go to Elephanta caves and the Sanjay Gandhi National park? The Marine Drive is not as long or clean as the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, but trust me, it is a view you shouldn't miss.

Maybe when we visit some "western" country, we should try to capture the negative stereotypes. Like highlight how firefighters let a house burn in Tennessee, US. Or take pictures of dog shit over the streets in France. Or talk about how dirty the metro in Paris can be at some places. Or take pictures of the dirty subway in Rome. And talk about you can smell urine when you go down the stairs to the subway. Let us take pictures of the dirty, oily canals in Venice. When you go to Miami, ignore the great city-scape and focus on how easy it is to get drugs and talk about the crime.

I've heard that places in New York are dirty and littered too. Mention always how marriages don't last in the US even if it may not be true. Take pictures of drunken college parties and how you see people puking on the streets. Or marvel at how widespread smoking (tobacco and weed) is in France and how easy it is to get it. Marvel at how in a "modern" country like France, you will routinely see men peeing on the streets. Let's mock them because you cannot get anything on a Sunday and you are basically crippled. 

Just a bit of advice before you actually go do these things. I wouldn't recommend taking pictures of kids on streets because you might just be labeled a pedophile. And stay away from the homeless people you see in the US, and don't try to take their pictures, because they might knife or shoot you. It is better to try to approach the homeless and street kids in India.