Bollywood Grew up

In the eighties and nineties, Hindi movies became three hours long. One hour was dedicated to the dhishum-dhishum, another to song and dance that included running around trees and getting soaked in the rain which magically appeared on a cloudless day. And one hour was for cliché dialogue and dramatic long pauses. But we still managed to leave the theatre feeling happier and lighter. We’d escaped the real world for three hours and entered a world built on fantasy, humour and too much make up.

But in the last decade, the typical Bollywood masala Philum has had a complete Michael Jackson-ish make over. Now the song and dance routine actually fits into the story. The bad guys have become more Hollywood-ish. They perform cool I –can’t-watch stunts, don’t repeat phrases like “Mogambo Khush hua’ and have scars that look real and don’t change place during every shot.

Today our Heroes no longer needs to beat the cr*p out of a villain to prove that they are indeed hero worthy nor do they do have to be an angry young men with a miserable pasts. Nope. It doesn’t matter if they have to cry with snort oozing out of one nostril or both. They don’t mind sharing equal space with a heroin, going bald or trading in their six pack for a jiggling, protruding belly button. As long as they can do “good cinema” or bag a role like a Saif in Omkara or an Abhishekh in Guru, our heroes will surrender their title for a more prestigious one. They want to be actors, who can act.

Our leading ladies are not far behind for they too, have metamorphosed into better actors. They can carry complete movies on their pretty little shoulders and don’t need a muscular hero or a stammering buffoon to make their movie a ‘super hit.’ In the past, actresses like Nargis, Nutan, Madhuballa, Rekha and even a Sridevi and a Madhuri were talented enough to captivate audiences with or without their thumkas and beautifully kohled almond shaped eyes, but they could never be bigger than their male co-stars. But today they have finally come into their own. Soon actresses like Kalki and the girl from Ishaqzaade are going to give Katrina’s overly plumped lips a run for her money.  

It’s amazing how the Bollywood formula just stopped working and experimental cinema and brilliant films Dev D, LSD and Gangs of Wasseypur  have started to truly resonate with every movie watching, pop corn eating aunty, uncle, teenager, BTM, ishtud, and even rickshaw vaala.. We no longer care much for Salamn’s biceps and perfectly waxed chest. We want to discuss very scene and analyse every emotion. The movie doesn’t end when the lights come back on, we take it wit us for coffee, dinner or on a long drive home.

To sum it up plain and simple, we just want good and gratifying cinema. Even if it means that we don’t leave the theatre feeling happier and lighter. Our movies are now telling our stories. So I guess somewhere along the way, we grew up and Bollywood just had to follow.