It is clear to me now, in the middle years of my life, that I’ve been missing something. I’m not a big fan of musicals — no, let me just say I simply don’t like them, even when they’re disguised as popular entertainment — but there is this giant film factory out there, producing an amazing amount of work on a very low budget, and some of it is quite possibly good. Statistically, by now they must have produced a few I’d enjoy.
So how do I get to know Bollywood? Anyone know?
I was introduced by an Indian colleague. He would rent them from netflix (it’s just possible that netflix was built on the backs of homesick Indians renting bollywood flix, but I’ll leave that to social anthropolgists), and his impossibly cute 3 yr old daughter would dance and dance and dance. It was the perfect babysitter for her. I am not a connassouer (yeah, I’m not spell checkin that) of bollywood flics…. They tend to be like our golden age westerns – very black and white message: good guys, bad guys, defined and obvious ethics, and always a love story. The morals are super prim — no kissing EVER. Lots of boy meets girls stuff, but when the going gets hot, they break into dance and song. This is why it was such a big deal and a terrible faux paux (yeah, I’m not spell checkin that) when Richard Gere smooched one of the Bollywood super-celebs at an Indian Awards Banquet.
It is fun to watch just one, in the same manner it is fun to go to just one Kiss or Madonna concert. Just to say you’ve done it.
An interesting introduction may be to watch a movie not made in Bollywood, but made in Britain by a Bitish-Indian fan. It is called Bride and Prejudice and is a play off of Jane Austen. Dir: Gurinder Chadha, who also made avery heartwarming and recommendable movie called Bend it Like Beckham (It’s about soccer, but it’s okay, and is an early vehicle for Keira Knightly (of Pirates of the Caribean fame)).
Thanks for the tips! I’ve heard of the two Chadha films but I’ve not seen them. As for actual bollywood titles to watch, perhaps it makes no difference at all which I pick.