Here in India, there are two Bombays. There's the Bombay of the disenfranchised, of the countless street urchins, starving children and severely, intentionally handicapped people who live on less than a dollar a day. Then, there is another Bombay--the Bombay of the decadently beautiful and exotic in everything from cocktail bars to movie stars.
So far, we've had a taste of both worlds. Films give the best example of glamorous India, and we've taken in a couple Bollywood blockbusters the last couple of days. Tonight we trekked across the street to opening night of "Singh is King" and got the kind of colorful, music-filled epic we've come to expect from Indian entertainment.
The plot of the film was fairly easy to follow, even if none of us speak Hindi. It was action packed and visually stunning, with music videos, dance sequences and even an intermission.
Bollywood movies are at a minimum three hours long--if they were any shorter, the audience would feel slighted at the cost. Movies are a big deal here. Also, we're learning that while an "R" rating in the States guarantees an adult audience and will usually generate a profit, here in India, an "R" rating could mean empty seats and a bust at the box office. A movie is a family outing--if the parents can't take the kids, then the content is too inappropriate anyway. All Indian movies must pass a regulation inspection from a sector of the government of India, and a copy of its approval is shown before every film. A film that doesn't get that stamp of approval for whatever reason (in some cases, it's very ambiguous), then it can't be shown in a movie theater.
Just imagine if the U.S. government had to approve every movie made in country--I wonder what would have been left on the cutting board.
The portrayals of wealth and power in "Singh is King" are interesting. When Happy Singh (the lead character) hits the jackpot and becomes king of an ailing drug lord's empire, he shows off his power with a very catchy song surrounded by women dressed in Vegas-style, peacock-feathered getups.
While the song was entertaining and visually very fun, I think about the impact these kinds of stereotypes and female portrayals have on the millions of adults and children who pay to see them. We've been learning so much in the last few days about the suffocating roles women play within Indian society, about the double standards of sexuality and power. Plus, the film frames were filled with white, European actresses-all thin and beautiful, most often blonde. I wonder which India they went to in order to shoot this film, because I haven't seen a bleached blonde woman hanging out around here since we've arrived.
Bollywood films are over-the-top, exciting escapes from the realities outside the movie theater. You can buy delicious gourmet food and the best brownies in the world at these movie complexes. It actually feels good to escape the poverty and drudgery of the world outside for three hours, to hike up the AC and turn the mind off for a while.
After the movie, I floated out of the theater actually believing for a minute that India is the latest Cancun--a vacation hot spot for the wealthy and beautiful.
I mean, even Snoop Dogg made an appearance. That was enough to convince me.
Yes, Snoop is cashing in on the Bollywood cash cow. His remix of "Singh is King" at the end of the film shows globalization at its finest, setting what I believe will soon be a precedent for American cameos in Indian films. This film will rake in millions. Snoop will get his blingin' paycheck.
It seems the future of Hollywood lies in Bollywood. Or is the future of Bollywood in Hollywood? I guess we'll soon see.
About the Summer in India blog: All of 19 Seattle University students are right now roaming the streets of Mumbai, India, watching and telling the story of globalisation and mass media in this country with multiple realities.
This is a Study Abroad program titled "Mass Media in Modern India," directed by Prof. Sonora Jha from The Department of Communication. Students are visiting sites that powerfully show a media and a country in transition. They are meeting top journalists from The Times of India and The Hindu, watching TV show shootings by MTV India and NDTV, Bollywood, documentary and independent filmmakers. They are attending classes with Indian students of mass media, through the Jesuit school, Xavier's Institute of Communication and through Sophia Polytechnic's program titled Social Communications Media. And, more than anything else, as one of them says, they are arriving into the world, growing up in every single moment. They welcome your comments on their blog posts.
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