Bollywood Beyond a Mere Source of Entertainment

Today, the purpose of Bollywood is not just to entertain the population of India; it is much bigger than that. I believe that Bollywood serves as a medium to unite the people of India in facing critical issues of the society. Indian cinema, despite all its peculiarities, has been a reflection of the socio-economic, political and cultural changes that have taken place in the country.

Unlike the popular cinema, the parallel cinema is almost always concerned with the common man of India. The heroes are not supermen with extraordinary ambition, who have to rise from poverty, tame the rich girl and fight the evil landlord, but ordinary men and women acting under the pressures of ordinary living. The movies made in this genre are generally neo-realistic, where the characters are not the stereotypical evil mother-in-law nor the suffering wife.

Increasingly, the media has scrutinized Bollywood for how it portrays significant social issues of the society.  Some of these issues are contemporary politics and corruption, Hindu - Muslim debate and the position of women in Indian society.

Case: Portrayal of Women in India

An article in the acclaimed Indian newspaper, The Indian Express elaborates on the debate over the depiction of women in Indian cinema. In the article filmamker Ramesh Sippy reasons, "As times changed, so did cinema. Unfortunately, people confuse demanding a fair portrayal of women with moral policing. They thereby question the presence of the modern woman — in terms of her attire, manner of speech and freedom — in Bollywood when they should be addressing the inequality of the character." Often times Indians blame Bollywood for classifying women as objects, as what they see in movies becomes a trend. However, what people fail to realize that the popular cinema is a product of fiction and not reality.

The debate about whether Indian cinema is responsible for objectifying women continues, as there is a rise in the crime against women. Many believe that the problem lies in the subliminal message packed in the suggestive songs and saucy dialogues. A highly respected writer/poet/director, Javed Akhtar, in an interview with The Tribune newspaper stated that “It makes the act seem innocent when it is not. They show the hero singing and following the woman to woo her even when she says no and that gives credibility and sanction to the act of eve-teasing; [showing] that this is a part of love.” While a certain part of the population might consider this to be true, there is a school of thought that believes otherwise.

Filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan argues that, “Cinema has only been around for a 100 years; men have been treating women badly for much longer than that.” Hence, it will be unfair to blame Indian cinema for an issue that goes far beyond cinema. However, I believe that Indian audiences are ready for films that portray women in their true and positive light. This argument can be backed up by the success of female-oriented movies such as Kahaani (2010), No One Killed Jessica (2011) and the recent English Vinglish (2012).

English Vinglish movie trailer

Other than the issue of the representation of women in India, Bollywood movies have also influenced and impacted other social issues prevalent in the Indian society. One of these movies is My Name is Khan (2010), which deals with the subject of how the Muslims living in America were scrutinized after the terrorist attacks September 2001. According to a Bloomberg article My Name is Khan set the new box office record for the largest opening weekend for a Hindi movie in North America earning an estimated $1.86 million, grossing $18 million overall.

Another issue that has been brought to the attention of the Indians is the issue of corruption by the 2013 movie Satyagraha. According to a New York Times article, this is a movie that tale that pits “Gandhian righteousness against greed.” The movie leaves its viewers with an echoing question: “What kind of nation have we made?”

Satyagraha movie review

Bollywood is much more complex and a far greater agent for positive social change than is commonly acknowledged by those who claim to represent the high culture of India. Moreover, I believe that commercial or mainstream cinema is often what makes money for the industry, which is needed to produce any kind of future movies, even the realistic ones. Therefore, making multi-starrer ‘masala’ films should not be criticized, as the money made from them can be ploughed back into making socially impactful cinema.