non-entity wrote:Jazzamataz wrote:Don't talk to me about bollywood remakes....
Wait, do they do Bollywood remakes? I know India churns out more movies than any other country (I think I read ~800 per year), and they all seem pretty much identical to me. They're all 3+ hour love stories that feature a lot of colorful costumes and musical numbers.
Just a BIT of a crass over-generalisation...
The majority of the mainstream films are like this yes, but there are a good few without the dancing and singing.
There's been a general shift from the younger film-makers to do more contravercial films in recent years too.
There's a good series by the film-maker Deepa Mehta, with the films
Fire, Water and Earth, and a lot of directors are starting to take notice of the "Generation X," Indians.
The reason why those lavish dancing/singing films are so popular is because they offer an escape. Now there's about 15% of India (Goa, Mumbai, New Dhelhi and Chandighar) that is like the UK - with roads and pavements and infrastructure, all the things we take for granted. The rest of the place is a fucking dump (i don't mince my words when i say that, i actually mean it,) So the movie going public want to escape their lives when they go - three hours of unrealistic lavish exuberance is their way to escape their grind.
You have to take into account the cultural climate of the country when I say this - because what you and I may find tame, a whole nation may find offensive - they had a ban on the film "Kama Sutra," because it was deemed inappropriate, and this was the country that spawned the original lifestyle guide.
EDIT: The singing/dancing is usually a metaphoric show of sex. Like i said, they find a lot of things offensive in India. If you watch some of the sing-songs, they're usually highly sexualised, and slightly graphic.
One film that got banned in the 60's was a film called "Bobby." Where a 20 year old guy and a 16 year old girl are infatuated with eachother.
The title song "Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho," literally means "You and me locked in a room together," and the song suggests that they're straight fucking like bunnies.