[icernet] Bollywood banter

[Arul Selvan MIC]

For the uninitiated/lucky, the following is the ubiquitous plot of a
Bollywood film: Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Problem:
parents or evil figure (or better, both) object to the union. Two sides
clash. Bad guys lose. Boy and girl either get together or one dies
tragically. End. Oh, and there's a bit of singing and dancing.

Brought up in a Pakistani family, as a child I was forced to watch a lot
of Bollywood films. As my grandmother wept my reaction then, aged 9, was
the same as it is now: utter stupefied boredom. What on earth was it
about these (painfully) irony-free colour-drenched song-and-dance fests
that inspired such enthusiasm among cinemagoers in the Indian subcontinent?

British critics have trodden carefully when answering this question. One
prominent reviewer asked 'what right do I have to question the taste of
ordinary cinema-going Asians.' Bizarrely, the same reviewer has no
problem slating mindless Western blockbusters week in, week out. A
stance perversely so careful to avoid any allegations of racism, that it
has inadvertently set a distinct double standard. A blatant prejudice if
ever I saw one.

The more interesting issue is the message of the films in the context of
the culture in which they are produced and viewed. Bollywood films
propagate an ideal of romantic love in which the two (bland as fuck)
protagonists fight through all the obstacles in the way and rebel
against society to end up (deservedly) in each other's arms, in stark
contrast to a region in which stark caste boundaries and arranged
marriages still predominantly rule the roost.

Maybe it is this spirit of perfection, of brilliance, of the
unattainable which ultimately marks out a blockbuster, be it Western or
Asian. Most of us want to be better people, and as an alternative to
slog and reality of, well, reality, it's much easier to sit down and
watch someone else (probably in a position we could never entertain
hopes of being in) to carry out acts of unbelievable heroism and
tremendous courage and, consciously or unconsciously, self-project and
feel a warm, vicarious glow.

The Bollywood film Devdas is being tipped for an Academy Award
nomination this year. A sure sign that the people in power recognise a
mediocre, money-spinning monster when they see it.

Source:
http://www.oxfordstudent.com/2002-11-14/ox2/5