On the subject of the arts...
There's some "Bollywood Star" show on SBS today that looks terrible, and I just came across the most condescending review of a film I really like in the NY Times. My love for Indian films borders on reverence so in the face of a pile of uni work that needs to be done, I'm going to write this post. For that reason it's not going to be very exhaustive. Just going to clear up a few of the skewed perceptions many people have...
Firstly, don't call it Bollywood. The term was coined by some British journalist who meant it as a term of derision.
Putting Indian and American films on the same platform is like comparing apples and (no not even oranges,) nail polish. The fools that call it "kitsch"or "hammy" do so, from a vantage point that gives them no real perspective and all they can see is an exoticised caricature. They misrepresent the most fundamental aspects of what constitutes an Indian film, of what an audience expects when they enter the movie theatre. We are perfectly aware of the fact that they do not actually mirror real life, thank you very much. And why should they? Many of the differences are a projection of the fact that Indians are a different, probably more emotionally unrestrained people. An outsider cannot see beyond the singing, glitter and louder acting, but there are subtleties that underlie all of this. Someone who has seen enough of the glitter and colour is kind of numbed to it and can appreciate what is worthy of apreciation. And they are amazing!
In short: just because you don't get it, doesn't mean it's no good. If that were the case, Indian films would not have the highest viewership in the world. The Western-centricity of the Western world is unsurprising but soooo irritating. Then again to be fair, I have to admit that most white people in Indian movies are cast as sluts/stupid/cunning... which is not nice.
Another important fact that needs to be acknowledged is that Indian films are not monolithic. There are several industries within the country, each producing movies in different languages. The kinds of films mentioned above only form one of many genres. Here are some trailers (with subs) to some awesome and diverse Hindi films from the last year. Not really the best ones but I couldn't find subtitles on my favourites.
edit: so I watched 2 minutes of that SBS show just then. vomit. VILE!
There's some "Bollywood Star" show on SBS today that looks terrible, and I just came across the most condescending review of a film I really like in the NY Times. My love for Indian films borders on reverence so in the face of a pile of uni work that needs to be done, I'm going to write this post. For that reason it's not going to be very exhaustive. Just going to clear up a few of the skewed perceptions many people have...
Firstly, don't call it Bollywood. The term was coined by some British journalist who meant it as a term of derision.
Putting Indian and American films on the same platform is like comparing apples and (no not even oranges,) nail polish. The fools that call it "kitsch"or "hammy" do so, from a vantage point that gives them no real perspective and all they can see is an exoticised caricature. They misrepresent the most fundamental aspects of what constitutes an Indian film, of what an audience expects when they enter the movie theatre. We are perfectly aware of the fact that they do not actually mirror real life, thank you very much. And why should they? Many of the differences are a projection of the fact that Indians are a different, probably more emotionally unrestrained people. An outsider cannot see beyond the singing, glitter and louder acting, but there are subtleties that underlie all of this. Someone who has seen enough of the glitter and colour is kind of numbed to it and can appreciate what is worthy of apreciation. And they are amazing!
In short: just because you don't get it, doesn't mean it's no good. If that were the case, Indian films would not have the highest viewership in the world. The Western-centricity of the Western world is unsurprising but soooo irritating. Then again to be fair, I have to admit that most white people in Indian movies are cast as sluts/stupid/cunning... which is not nice.
Another important fact that needs to be acknowledged is that Indian films are not monolithic. There are several industries within the country, each producing movies in different languages. The kinds of films mentioned above only form one of many genres. Here are some trailers (with subs) to some awesome and diverse Hindi films from the last year. Not really the best ones but I couldn't find subtitles on my favourites.
Kahaani: my favourite this year. Surprising, because I don't usually like thrillers but I loved its feminisim and Vidya Balan is awesome. No subs, but it's basically about a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband
Dhobi Ghat: all arthouse-ish and all
7 Khoon Maaf: a really, really dark film about Susanna and how/why she kills her 7 husbands
Priyanka Chopra: I dislike, but she's amazing in this!
No One Killed Jessica. More Vidya Balan! :) but honestly I didn't like it much
Based on a true story
P.S. Slumdog sucked.
edit: so I watched 2 minutes of that SBS show just then. vomit. VILE!
