The Toxicity of Bollywood
By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee
In the late 1960s when I was studying in Kolkata, I went along with another Mauritian student and an Indian friend of his to see an Indian film. After we had the tickets in hand, the Indian guy said: ‘When you buy the ticket to see an Indian film, leave your brains at the counter.’ By which I suspect he meant that the film(s) had low content value and that one should just enjoy the – love-triangle or often convoluted – story line, and songs and dances that were invariably a feature of these films. As he was much older to us (in his 30s) and definitely more knowledgeable about his country and its institutions, we took his words for granted. Not that I was a great fan of the films from Bombay.
According to Wikipedia, the term Bollywood was coined afterwards, in the 1970s, ‘when the conventions of commercial Hindi films were defined. Key to this was the masala film, which combines a number of genres (action, comedy, romance, drama, melodrama, and musical).’ And so indeed most of them were, the core objective being commercial, that is, to make money, which remains so to this day.
It goes without saying that all the players in the industry – from the script-writer to the producer and director and the actors and other minions – were driven by this mindset. Nothing wrong with that because everyone has to make a living, and in a system of cut-throat competition ethics gets short-shrifted.
During what was deemed to be the ‘golden period’ of the industry, the 1940s and 50s, and probably until the early 1980s, never mind the ethics but at least there was some regard for decency in the depiction of courtship or love scenes. Facial expressions and eye-play along with suggestive bodily gestures were enough to symbolize, depict or arouse the more sublime emotions, so that families with young children could watch a movie together. Read More… Become a Subscriber
Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 19 August 2022
An Appeal
Dear Reader
65 years ago Mauritius Times was founded with a resolve to fight for justice and fairness and the advancement of the public good. It has never deviated from this principle no matter how daunting the challenges and how costly the price it has had to pay at different times of our history.
With print journalism struggling to keep afloat due to falling advertising revenues and the wide availability of free sources of information, it is crucially important for the Mauritius Times to survive and prosper. We can only continue doing it with the support of our readers.
The best way you can support our efforts is to take a subscription or by making a recurring donation through a Standing Order to our non-profit Foundation.
Thank you.
