It won’t be long before Indian films ‘bare it all’ with what they define as modernly Western. Tracing back 40 years, the influence of North American culture injected into Indian cinema has evolved from something contemporarily rich, into something distastefully provocative. Visual media, through recording sounds, images and stories, has the power to encapsulate the memory of a nation and its culture. Ironically, however, ‘Bollywood’ has diverted its commercial film industry in a desperate attempt to adopt western cinematic values, streamlining traditional Indian film to ‘special’ status.
A Cultural Injection
The Indian film industry is considered ‘third world’ cinema, not only in India, but also in the first world, as a minoritarian cinema. The notion that Hollywood is the only ‘real’ cinema obscures the fact that people of color and ethnic background form a global majority in film and art. This Hollywoodcentricism sets a cinematic standard for everyone to follow. Because of the world-wide imitation of Hollywood’s dominant mode of production, no other alternatives to success seem to exist. Blockbuster titles like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Khabi Kushi Khabi Ghum, or Khal Ho Na Ho coexist with current North American culture by extracting the ‘sex sells’ strategy. Outfits – even traditional costumes – are revealing and rather risqué. Flashy cars, jewelry, and music often support weak and overly dramatic interpretations of a western way of living. Exaggerated club scenes, partying, and consumption of alcohol are the only representations of western leisure. In the past, however, Bollywood extracted the ‘finer’ qualities of North American culture such as its technology, art, dialogue, and rich fashion trends. Producers chose to mimic ‘tasteful’ components of a commodified popular culture as a means to strengthen Indian cinema, as opposed to weakening it with a trashy misrepresentation, as we see now. Then again, Hollywood misrepresents eastern cultures, just the same…
A Leading Role… Misled
Ironically, India’s giant film industry is responsible for producing more films than even Hollywood! Despite its hegemonic position, Hollywood contributes to only a fraction of the annual world-wide production of feature films. Although it is arguably the majority cinema, third world cinema produced in the East is rarely featured in American cinemas, video stores, or even in academic film courses. When it is exposed, it is usually ghettoized, displaying the eastern culture as primitive. Instead of being frowned upon, the film industry commends Hollywood’s efforts to ‘introduce’ a third world culture into mainstream viewing. Movies like Mississippi Masala, with Denzel Washington and City of Joy, with Patrick Swayze went deep into what they thought represented India and its people. Scenes took place in the most volatile scenery of Indian lifestyle, ignoring developed communities in areas like Goa or Bombay.
A New Standard
Long overdue, in 2003, Los Angeles hosted the very first major Indian Film Festival in the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood in hopes of unveiling a “healthy representation” of Indian film. Here, movies like Mani Ratman’s A Peck on the Cheek, Dasgupta’s A Tale of a Naughty Girl, Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Shadow Kill and Aparna Sen’s Mr and Mrs Iyer created a new wave of popularity in international cinema. The festival also commemorated commercial hits like Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, Oscar nominee, Lagaan and the recent art-house hit, Bend It Like Beckham. Furthermore, the Indian government’s support on joint ventures allows more productions of an international standard, paving the way to an international standard that strays away from a typically American one. However, despite this imbrication of ‘first’ and ‘third’ worlds, the global distribution of power and industry still tends to make the first world countries cultural ‘transmitters’ and reduce most third world countries to the status of receivers.
Bollywood is continually scalping its movies to fit western ideals in order to get the commercial exposure the industry is not otherwise given. Ironically, as the west becomes more sensitized to third world culture and film, Indian cinema is constantly abandoning its traditional values. Although international film festivals that do incorporate Indian films are underexposed and lack a commercial market, they are highly regarded for appreciating original film and production. Therefore, it is a shame Bollywood fails to realize that the success to Indian cinema is defined by its roots – not by an American depiction.
