Bollywood or Hollywood

      11 Comments on Bollywood or Hollywood

We watched this movie Dil Kabaddi, it being Rahul Bose and all. But this is not a review what this movie was or was not about, but one thing that stuck to me was the Anerican lifestyle they were portraying in the movies.
Konkana Sen makes sure Rahul Khanna’s refrigerator is stocked up with necessities when he was undergoing a tough time and what were those things-broccoli, soy milk and and I forget the other things.But these were all firangi food items, not the common Indian khana. And soon as they visit Rahul-Konkana’s place,on asked what would they like, Irfan-Soha demand for wine to drink.
And in any movies that I see these days, there’s not even once that the leading ladies wear Indian clothes, only their moms do. And they can’t even speak a sentence in hindi.If it begins in hindi,it has to end with isn’t it?,don’t you think? , you know….
Or it has to begin with I’m gonna…,I wanna..not to forget all the hindi songs which revolve around a sentence in english..where’s the party tonight,shake your body now , et all!!And recently watched this movie Kidnap which has this song –mausam ye awesome bada..I mean since when did awesome become the most common word in our vocabulary,ever since Americans started calling everything they find slightly okay,awesome.
So all these movies portray is that it’s a country full of wannabes.
Maybe I am too middle class, but day by day what we are trying to achieve is to become more Americanized, lose our culture and embrace the foreign. And more and more movies are promoting extra-marital affairs and divorces for just trivial reasons, as if it were the most in thing because Americans do that. Come on, we Indians marry for life, in most cases!!There is always room for exception, but let not exception become the norm.
And I am not from the conservative-no-western club, but each time I land in Delhi, I realize its more westernized than last time. I mean, nobody attends you in the malls if you speak in hindi, its like you are ganwaar and not worth a dime.So, its just not the movies, that’s the turn the lifestyle is taking at a very fast pace.
But I really wonder if the social studies books and atlases should change-like I remember we had a sardarji and a salwar-clad lady depicting North Indian dress, they should change it to show jeans-T-shirt etc. And only yesterday Ishaan was reading the atlas where the Indian thali was shown as the Indian food, that should change to broccoli,cheese and soy milk.
And the national language should be changed to english with accent.
And all that Bollywood has done already, it’s a step ahead.

11 thoughts on “Bollywood or Hollywood

  1. Dewdrop

    Hey, interesting post… I have a few ideas contrary to your opinion –

    I don’t think Indian culture is so weak that it will be eroded away so easily and so quickly. And with globalization, internet and tech advancements, the world has become a smaller place and cultural influences are inevitable.

    What we need to do is pick out the positives in Western culture and imbibe in ours – their professionalism in work, their work ethics of work life balances etc.

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  2. ranjit nair

    Agree with you Sara. We have somehow managed to imbibe most of the negative aspects of America.

    Take the IT Industry for example, we adopted their process orientation & to a lot extent their dress codes and slang. But we conveniently made sure we don't get the good things like the non-hierarchical set up or the strict 8 hour work culture. We have mastered the art of adopting things that have the least entry barrier.

    As for bollywood, yes of course time to shift it's HQ to LA.

    Reply
  3. varunavi

    Interesting post.Angraze is not only must in our movies but also in our daily life.General public also give importance to the people who talks english.Even kids are forced to talk in english before they enter the school, so that they are on par with the other kids in the school.

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  4. Ibanov, Sir Rekaf

    Awesome. 😛

    Americanization, by the way, isn’t limited to Bollywood, you know. Neither is it restricted to the entertainment domain, or even the media, who keep reiterating that “the Obama generation (implying youth of India) wants change.”

    Soon, we shall be voting for either the Democrats and Republicans, and holding candlelight vigils requesting the US President to bail out Reliance and Infosys from the next global slowdown.

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  5. Dileep

    Nice blog!

    what they show in films esp hindi ones.. is most recent adoptions of culture in India and finally we find “less of diversity” in adopting anything good or bad!

    We are less accomodative now a-days. i am a malayali with well workable knowledge of hindi, kannada, tamil and bengali..i feel learning them have helped me understand culture a lot!.. but we are loosing the sweetness of our culture now – a-days!

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  6. Renu

    very nice and true post but very sad to see all this. We alwys confuse intelligence with the knowledge of english and we neer take pride in our languages, i feel very sad when is ee some people embracing english but deriding Hindi, where hindi may not be their language, but it is a language of their fellow countrymen, on the other hand Enlish is foreign language toatally.

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  7. Child Of Adam

    @ Sara
    Its an interesting post, and I must admit that I agree with you on all fronts. Our country is full of wannabes… and bollywood hasn't impacted our society in a positive way. I remember Shahrukh khan handing out some award at the some international function, and I quote him "IF i have the time, i would done a pelvic dance for you.. but .."!! I mean.. wht the hell was that?? Back in the 90's when all stupid movies of govinda did the rounds, i actually thought that if I had to patao a girl in college, all I need to do is to pass obscene remarks, and then the girl would resist for a while and suddenly fall in love with me!! (yeah I was an impressionable kid back then.. 😛 )
    Anyway, Bollywood never projects reality. But nor to most of television serials.. its all fantasy man,.. and I think most of us are smartenough to watch it and get on with our lives.

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  8. Chrysalis

    Good Post Sara. Yeh mausam , awesome bada…is way too deadly LOL. But seriously gives me panic attacks to think of what might happen if we continue like this. I say Hail to Sooraj Barjatya for dialogues like "aap jal lijiyega". I am going to root for him form now on. I cant stand the wannabe crowd, the thinking, dressing,talking,behaving. All people with self esteem issues.

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