Last night, I felt this sudden urge to remove the sleeves of my DVDs. With nothin’ much to do these past few days and my gnawing need to take a long vacation away from everything is starting to get into me, what else would make me more productive than this. I think it’s kinda practical solution to save space and fill the gap in between those boring minutes. Have to put all of them in one box instead of plunking them all together with their sleeves on the shelf which by the way were all a part of already watched collection.
Then I noticed some of these round shiny 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. I find it generally a cliché but am not actually watching … like watching… just to have something moving on the screen of the TV….well.. I look at it every now and then, but am busy writing this.
One thing nicee 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! … for the local viewers at least…. and some western eastern-fanatics too.
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 a single bullet of a machine gun, an armour tank, or even a nuclear bomb. Things that don’t normally happen in real life. Well, that’s why it’s called a 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, just having a glimpse of the tv every now and then. 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? At least one or more MTVs done by MJ or Janet J. 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.
I am not really a big fan of non-Hollywood movies, but hey, feed something new into your brain, I would always say. Friends who come to visit usually find me somewhat peculiar watching Bollywood movies until they got used to seeing me watch other movies in various languages that I may or may not even understand, even eastern european films, turkish and arabic films, and listening to music foreign to their ears. I dunno, but I don’t find it bizarre. 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.
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