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Brown in America

Bollywood’s enemy No. 1.

By: Karthik :+: Under: Brown in America, Desi Ishtyle, Entertainment
On: ⋅ October 9, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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Amitabh Bachchan has signed up to star in a Bhojpuri movie.

Image from Meanest Indian.

Bollywood might be India’s most well known film industry, but it is hardly the talk of the town. The Washington Post starts out by describing a recent Bollywood party (You have to log in) and details the growing trend of the regional film industries.

What seems to have made people take notice, at least in part is Rajnikanth’s movie, Shivaji- The Boss.

Instead, the chatter seemed to be mostly about “Sivaji: The Boss,” which was produced by the Tamil-language film industry, Kollywood, one of India’s half-dozen regional “ollywoods.” The star of “Sivaji,” a beer-bellied, double-chinned everyman, goes by the name Rajinikanth.

With Bollywood accounting for 1/4th the movies produced in the country, language and themes have created a disconnect that the regional film industries have capitalized on.

Film critics say Bollywood plots have become too focused on Indians living abroad — so-called Non-Resident Indians, known in slang as NRIs — with characters who jet between New Delhi and New York, living glamorous lives that don’t resonate in small-town India.

Regional films can be accused of the same. The last two movies I saw, Shivaji- The Boss and Vettaiyaddu Vilaiyaddu involved story lines dabbling with locations outside India. They did manage to preserve the ‘Indian’ theme.

Other critics say Bollywood films involve too much sex and have been Westernized, with some actresses dressing in hot pants and tight shirts rather than saris.

This I have to agree with. Bollywood is Disneyland, but sometimes they take it too far. In a country like India where the weather is hot or hotter, most clothes you see on screen never make it to the real world. They just are not practical.

And just like cricketers, Bollywood stars have become demi-gods and the run has taken a toll.

There’s also a sense that Bollywood stars have grown distant from their fans and are more likely to be seen on corporate billboards than during visits to mid-size towns and cities. Regional stars, on the other hand, are still accessible.

In India’s southwestern state of Kerala, the biggest star of Malayalam-language films, Mohanlal, still meets with fans at Hindu temples. Some Keralite households keep autographed photos from his visit to a local cafe.

What the article seems to have missed is that stars from the south, at some point or another have involved themselves in politics. This projects them as leaders. (There are a few stars from the Bollywood film industry who have made a foray into politics, but without much luck). A friend once said that Bush won because he looked like the regular guy, someone you could grab a beer with and that is the exact image that is keeping the regional film industry on top.

Do you watch regional films? How do you think it stacks up against Bollywood?

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