The Indian Speaks (4)

“Do you like Bollywood films?”

I do get asked this a lot, the moment someone discovers I am Indian! And I don’t always get asked this in an endearing tone. It’s almost like they mock Indian film and music. The only thing I wished they mocked was the name ‘Bollywood’!

Indian films have a language of their own. The film fraternity in Mumbai is probably the biggest of all the film fraternities that exist around the world. Linguistically, films in Mumbai are mostly made in Hindi, which is the national language (oops! I was corrected some days ago saying this isn’t true. It is only the official working language in the country) and therefore their audience is much larger than that of regional cinema. However, just so you know – Indian cinema is made in various different regional languages too. And the kind of films I watch are films you’ve never heard of…simply because they don’t reach out to international audience (blame linguistic barrier and small budget). But as films, they are as good or better than a lot of films released in the theatres here (in the west I mean).

Do I like Bollywood films? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! I enjoy the music too. And I have no qualms in accepting that I enjoy the dance routines too. The only thing I may not enjoy is if the song and dance routine breaks the narrative. And as a cine goer I am very pleased that film makers today understand this sentiment and are changing their ways of incorporating song and dance into films. I don’t think Indian films should do away with their music and dance, as it is a culture of its own.

However…there are plenty of films that have no music during the narrative at all! And if you might have an open mind to those kind of films, drop a comment and I would be more than happy to recommend such movies!!! 🙂

 

Advertisement