Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Why Bollywood is so successful

As a die-hard devotee to Bollywood, I have carefully constructed my arguments as to why the movies are filmed the way they are. They are superficial, they are full of cheap humour, they have singing and dancing and impossibly beautiful people.


- From Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

They aren't "real" is the criticism I receive. But what is forgotten is the whole point of cinema and entertainment is to forget. To enjoy life for at least three hours before stepping out into the real world. In a country like India, where the extreme rich and the extreme poor live side by side, i believe movies act as a form of letting go. They also have to appeal to a broad cross-section, and be family friendly at the same time, thus the g-rated themes (although if you see some of the newer movies, they are not always g-rated ;-) )

Anyway, nothing more summed up my theory than this article about the new Indian movie Slumdog Millionaire:

LIFE in the alleyways of Mumbai's sprawling Juhu slum is revealed in the Golden Globe-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. But when Juhu locals were asked if they would like to watch the film, they were not very interested.

"We don't want to watch the film, we live the life it shows," 19-year-old Surajit Pal told The Times of India. He would prefer to see the Bollywood action blockbuster Ghajini, based on the western thriller Memento and doing big business in India.

Another Juhu resident, 21-year-old Vikas Mishra, said he could not understand why people would find a film of their slum interesting. "I don't like it here. It's not a nice place to stay," he said.

The hit movie about an impoverished orphan who wins the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? has not even been released here yet.

1 Stars Have Something To Say!:

Finbarpurpleton said...

Hi Amy,

I think its ironic the first thing we ever talked about was Bollywood and we ended up being really good friends soon after. I consider it special to me in those respects.

I agree with you you are saying because it makes sense. Movies whether they are Hollywood or Bollywood are a form of escapism and with good reason as there are a lot of things that happen in the world which people may feel the need to forget for 2 -3 hours.

I remember watching Dhoom with Elise and she commented on how she didn't like it, among other things and kept suggesting I find something else to watch. She couldn't understand why I liked the movie or Bollywood it's self.

Miss you lots.

Melissa :)

P.S. How did Jo's wedding go?