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Ft.Wayne News Sentinel
Aug. 25, 2005
In the 2005 movie “WAQT, The Race Against Time,” Ishwar, a gregarious man who made his riches as a toy manufacturer, showers his only child Aditya with lavish gifts and affection, much to the chagrin of Ishwar’s wife, Sumi. Ultimately, Aditya becomes a spoiled adult whose only desire in life is to relax. Aditya also thinks a movie deal will land in his lap simply because he’s good-looking. Sumi tries to instill a sense of responsibility in her son, but Ishwar always defends him. She also urges Ishwar to tell their son he is dying from lung cancer. So how do father and son show their love for each other in the midst of illness? By dancing and lip-syncing to a song backed by a techno beat at a nightclub, of course. Welcome to Bollywood cinema, a hybrid term alluding to where most of these films are made (the Indian city of Bombay, now called Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the U.S. film industry. At least once a month, Jefferson Pointe 18 shows a Bollywood film. Tickets can be purchased at the window and at local Indian cuisine restaurants or grocery stores such as Caribbean and Indian Grocery, 6021 N. Clinton St. “Every movie has at least six or seven songs,” said Pulluru Jotheendra “P.J.” Hamachand, owner of the Chef’s Hut, 5462 Coldwater Road, a restaurant specializing in Indian and Indo-Chinese food. Musical departures in the midst of a scene are commonplace in Bollywood films, a genre that has been around for years and generates billions of dollars. It’s hugely popular in Britain and the Middle East, and seems to be gaining a foothold in the West, though Hamachand, who moved here in January from Detroit, thinks Bollywood is more popular in the Motor City and Chicago than it is in Fort Wayne.Most of the films are 2 1/2 to three hours long and are in the Hindi language with English subtitles. The music varies from somber to upbeat, depending on what’s happening
in the movie. “Bride & Prejudice,” a Bollywood take on the Jane Austen classic, was a cross-over commercial success. According to the New York Daily News, “Bride” star Aishwarya Rai can’t walk down the streets of Mumbai without attracting a mob, and is now courting several Hollywood movie deals. She stars as an abused prostitute in the upcoming American film “Chaos” with Meryl Streep. The history of Bollywood is rooted in an anti-British, nationalist tradition, said Tithi Bhattacharya, an assistant professor of South Asian history at Purdue University. She said the first Bollywood film was made in 1913, which pre-dates India’s independence from British rule by 34 years. But don’t look to Bollywood for a true picture of Indian culture, Bhattacharya warns. Like many American-made films, Bollywood encourages movie-goers to escape into the lives of beautiful people who are larger than life, and plot lines that generally end happily despite the cinematic twists and turns that occur in between. “As an historian, I am tempted to say you won’t learn anything about India by watching Bollywood,” she joked. “What you’ll learn is what India likes to fantasize about. This is not an India that exists in any real sense.” Bhattacharya, who grew up in India and London, said 70 percent of India’s population still lives in villages and not in the lavish cities depicted in traditional Bollywood films. Recently, there has been an evolution from a primary musical presentation into various categories of romance, comedy, drama and action. Bhattacharya said the construction of theater multiplexes in Calcutta and Bangalore has given producers of nontraditional Bollywood cinema a place to show their creations. Music doesn’t drive these “indie” films, and they’re not money-making blockbusters, she said, but they seem to appeal to the cerebral sensibilities of young urban professionals. Raj Kanwar, store manager at Caribbean and Indian Grocers, said in addition to his Indian customers, those of African and Caribbean descent are also regular consumers of Bollywood films. Many of the films shown on the big screen in Fort Wayne eventually find their way to his store. “They’re good stories,” he said.
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