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Last night, I felt this sudden urge to remove the sleeves of my DVDs. It’s kind of practical space saver just to put all of them in one box instead of plunking them all together with their sleeves on the shelf.
Then I noticed some of these guys without labels, I put one on the player, hey… Indian movie…hmmm… it’s the one I’ve seen in one of Mumbai’s state-of-the-art cinema complex couple of years back, titled “ Kal Ho Naa Ho “ which starred Bollywood’s mega-hearthrob Shahrukh Khan.
So I end up watching a rehash. It was entertaining with all those authentically contemporary Indian dance routine that was something different from the conventional Hollywood musicals.
The nice thing about a Bollywood movie is its diversity. Expect to have loads of all the genre thrown in one movie – action, drama, comedy and musical. So you’d be exercising all those different emotions during the entire viewing time – you’ll get excited with the action, then tearful over the drama, suddenly you’ll be laughing at the funny antics, and lastly, bopping and boogieing to the beats of Indian pop music while the people on the screen were dancing with their colourful costumes. A viewing feast!
There’s something in Bollywood movies that is so captivating, a respite from a full-week of watching Hollywood movies that typically tackles most things Americans. Sometimes it gets so lame watching movies about battles that were singularly won over by the American people. Or one person championing the cause of the destitutes, or a hero who’s fighting a whole battalion without getting hit by machine guns, an armour tank, or even a nuclear bomb. Things that don’t normally happen in real life. Well, that’s why it’s called movie – another dimension of incredibilities that may or may not really transpire in real life.
So going back to Bollywood, I finished the whole movie last night and it still charmed me. I have quite a collection of Indian movies mostly those that have English translation running below the screen. I like the comedy ones though that has romantic angles. More often than not it’s about 2 guys fighting for the love of a girl or the other way around. Bollywood movies are very popular – after all they are the largest film producers in the world. So many Hollywod and Brit films in the past have Bollywood touch – the very colourful “Guru” for one is very Bollywood with Hollywood actors (stars Jimi Misri, Marisa Tomei and Heather Graham). “Bend it Like Beckham” starred mostly British-Indians is a very entertaining one, is it Kiera Knightley’s first film? She was so slim & young in that movie. At least one or more MTVs done by MJ or Janet or J.Lo and many other artists have Indian dances. There is something in their choreography that’s appealing to international audiences. Like when you see one, you’ll instantly say it’s Indian.
I remember the first Bollywood movie I saw many years back titled Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a little corny now but used to be a big hit.
Recently, I have seen several Bollywood produced movies that have been shot in the US and UK which made it more amusing because of the concoction of both eastern and western cultures – easterners in a western setting, offering the audiences a unique viewing experience.
My flatmates usually find me somewhat peculiar watching Bollywood movies until they got used to seeing me watch movies in various languages that I may or may not even understand, even Turkish and Arabic films, and listening to music foreign to their ears. I don’t find myself bizarre, in contrast, I find them very conventional – trapped inside a box. Like I would always say, explore beyond the common, experience different tastes, sounds and sights, and if you have the time and resources immerse yourself in other cultures.
Think outside of the box, so the business cliché goes.
Good news, Dubai’s free-to-air TV channel (in English) is going to start injecting Bollywood movies in their monthly full-length films repertoire. Wise move. After all Dubai has a huge Indian population, if not the biggest number of expats in the Emirates.
I think I have to go to the downtown this weekend to check new Bollywood releases, I haven’t seen anything new for along time.
MBC2 is screening “The Grudge 2” while am writing this, a portion of the film were shot with Japanese actors. Jpop is another personal fascination. I haven’t seen this movie, so am parking for now.
