Bollywood has arrived in hollywood… except that it hasnt. the critical and commercial success of slumdog millionaire in the west is sparking off all sorts of india fetishist trends in n america and it reduces an entire film industry to an orientalized bauble of its vibrant self. this is bollywood on hollywood’s terms, not bwood speaking for itself.
Amitah Bachan, the biggest baddest actor in bollywood, commented that gora log don’t care about India until we show them our poverty in reference to the content of the movie. In examining the film and film alone I couldn’t disagree with him more- the movie is about so much more than just poverty. Its about hope, humanity in the slums, about people and their lives that the everyday richer Indian ignores. How many films has bollywood made about the slums? But embedding that comment into larger social/politlcal/economic contexts of hollywood’s interest in bollywood, in being complicit in the greater project of constructing Indians (and all other members of the “third world”) in certain stereotypes so it can know itself as relationally higher at the top of socially constructed hierarchy, I can make sense of that comment.
Its much easier to see India as full of slums then a rising economic superpower that threatens America. Its much easier to see Indian men as violent and backward then educated and rich (not that I’m trying to create binaries with these examples). the way the movie has been taken up here and showered with awards has much more to do with the politics of creating firmer ties with India than fostering brotherhood and sisterhood across artistic communities. It is very jarbeled how the west is understanding India, I can see it and feel it. I know how differently India sees itself, and I think to an extent bollywood thinks it’s being understood in the west a certain way when it really isn’t. there is no empowerment in being the underdog because you are still the UNDER DOG which means there is a bigger dog somewhere bestowing that “honor” on you, constructing you as lesser then, and making space/allowance for you. But the power is still in their hands as they construct you.
I was sickened by the way the Indian cast was handled on the red carpet (ohh you’re wearing burberry? wow… really? Don’t you uh, love H&m?), how the little kids and larger bollywood cast members were basically ignored, and the shining jewel of the film (colonial reference intended), frieda pinto, is being constructed as this exotic other. What tired stereotypes. Suddenly no one is making fun of her south asian accent, its being constructed as a lilting british drawl, and shes a pretty young thing that can just be plugged into the hollywood economy that sells more pretty young things.
I also have very mixed feelings about how this film is directed by a white man. I don’t think we could have asked for a more sensitive pair of eyes to film this movie, it is apparent that danny boyle really cares for his subject and subjects in this film. This rant is not about him or his intentions. But it is about his position and place. He is a white man from the uk. These awards went to him. His place can’t be ignored, this is more than just a coincidence… that a movie about India made by a white man is much more palatable to the west than if this was a movie made by an Indian. the awards that went to a r rahman are as much a part of the ploy of getting a piece of the bollywood pie. rahman has made far better music for countless bollywood scores (rangeela, mangal pandey, dil se to name a few favs). But hollywood or the west never noticed until it was presented to them via the movie of a white man.
while it is true that bollywood does not concentrate its energies on such subject matter, there ARE indian films on such critical social topics- but apprently in an indian voice it simply does not resonate. regardless, everytime a bollywood film has western recognition at an award show, everytime the west throws it a bone, the indian film industry acts as though they have finally been valorized…. mental colonialism goes deep
.
1 Comment so far
Leave a comment
Well i am just wondering does people forgot raj kapoor, guru dutt,bimal roy,hrishikesh mukherjee. In most of his movies big b played the poor indian underdog. Most of the movies of 50s,60s,70s,80s were abt the poor.even today all the gangster flicks are based in slums .but americans can see them, neither the guardian newspaper.
Comment by Tapan May 14, 2009 @ 10:37 am