Zhang Tongdao, associate professor of Media Studies at the Beijing Normal University and a documentary filmmaker, is not so excited about Bollywood. He is more interested in films like the Apu trilogy. "It's a pity that very few Chinese people know about this genre of Indian films. And as far as filmmaking is concerned, both India and China have a long way to go before they can catch up with recent developments in the West." To this, he adds, "From whatever I know of Indian films, in order to succeed internationally, they need to find a middle ground to balance art and commerce. The same goes for Chinese films." The change is necessary because, Zhang feels, the current international craze for Chinese martial art epics and Bollywood musicals won't last long.
Amartya Sen has written at length on China in his book The Argumentative Indian. Tracing cross-cultural relations in the first millennium, he mentions Yi Jing, who introduced and advocated certain Indian eating habits among the Chinese, on his return from India. These days, Indian restaurants are proliferating all over China. There is at least one in every city. Beijing itself has half-a-dozen restaurants that specialise in Indian cuisine. An extremely popular Indian eatery at the heart of Beijing's central business district called the Taj Pavilion even won the annual Best Restaurant Award, given by one of the city's leading entertainment guides.
Bai Feng, a pioneer of the Hou Hai (a lake area in Beijing) bar and restaurant boom and a connoisseur of good food, says he doesn't like the regular Indian fare, which is on offer in Beijing. "This other day I was watching a TV programme on Indian food. And I was astounded at the myriad cuisines, especially the vegetarian stuff." He goes, "Drool! I hope someone starts catering to this soon. Otherwise, I'll have to take the initiative myself. Surely I need to make a trip to India soon."
The slogan of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai has come a long way and is certainly entering, as one journalist recently put it—a Hindi Chini Buy Buy phase. In the light of the remarkable amount of global attention focused on these two nations today, one can only hope the plot doesn't turn into Hindi Chini Bye Bye!
