Beyond Bollywood

A 'Bollywood' Exhibition, and of all places in Melbourne! It might surpriseus in India to hear of such an exhibition—maybe because 'Bollywood' is alreadyall over the place and, for many of us, saturation TV coverage and promos,posters, and music on FM from Mumbai films make it almost a part of the everydayexperience. Its ubiquitous presence is perhaps what makes it difficult back hometo sometimes fully comprehend the brand value of 'Bollywood'. But once you stepout and into a place like Melbourne, where 'Bollywood' seems to be the flavourof the month, it hits home that this is perhaps India’s best knowninternational brand.

Photocourtesy: Jonathan Torgovnik/ Immigration Museum; Melbourne

Even the Indian curry, which used to be the most famous export, is now almostas British or Australian—but 'Bollywood' cinema is quite inimitable and itsshowcasing is now flowing out of mainstream cinema theatres, where Hindi filmsdid not show even a few years back. Yet, this brand 'Bollywood' syndrome alsothrows up a question : Is there an increasing tendency to subsume Indian popularcinema as a whole under the 'Bollywood' umbrella? How does that auger forregional cinemas with their specific history and aesthetics?

Last year, when I was in Melbourne for the first time, I was surprised to seeHindi films regularly showing in mainstream theatres, which had simultaneousreleases with India, and I saw Mangal Pandey: the Rising and SalaamNamaste even before some of my friends in India had. This was quitedifferent from my experience in the US, where I am used to waiting for the DVDsto arrive.

I was informed at that point that Bollywood cinema was now big in Australianot simply because of the very large Indian population but also becauseAustralia is now a major destination for Bollywood shoots which are believed tohave the potential to open up India-Australia tourism in a big way. The Indianand Australian governments have been very active in recent years about exchangeprograms and the like, and top Australian universities like La Trobe University,Melbourne, have a rising South Asian/Indian concentration so far as foreignstudents are concerned. There is naturally a new interest in India and Indianculture, and 'Bollywood' has naturally acquired prominence. La Trobe evenallowed Salaam Namaste to be shot at its Bundoora campus, with ArshadWarsi graduating out of the La Trobe law school.

Salaam Namaste

This year, back in Melbourne again for a short stay, I’ve already seen Omkaraand Lage Raho Munna Bhai in the Greater Union Cinema, which happens to bein the very heart of Melbourne’s central business district. In the openingweek of Lage Raho, theater six—the biggest of the multiplexes—wasoverflowing with Indian expatriates almost every evening. On one of the days, athalf time, the queue for popcorn was so long that the person manning the counterclosed it temporarily and set off to get two of his co-workers. Finally, onlywhen three popcorn counters opened could the desi crowd be satisfied. Gettinginto the theater was even more amusing. Seeing the huge sea of people, the twomen at the gate, perhaps unused to such huge crowds, finally gave up and justwaved at everyone queuing up to enter.

The DVD market for Bollywood films in Melbourne is also thriving. Almostevery Indian grocery store will have a DVD section and one can get Omkara,KANK or Munna Bhai for no more than four Australian dollars in downtown Melbourne. New Bollywood DVDs in the US generally come for no less than USD20, well into some weeks of the film’s release. In Australia, the film isavailable on DVD within the first week of its release and most come with asecond movie as bonus—buy one get one free. For example Munna Bhai ispackaged with Naksha and KANK with Fanaa. And what's more,Indians here often get to meet and talk with directors and actors who traveldown under to promote their films.

I had thought the huge desi crowds on Bourke Street on the opening night of LageRaho Munna Bhai was as good as it could get, when an Australian friend toldme about a 'Bollywood' Exhibition at the Immigration Museum here. The exhibitionhas been put together from the shooting stills, documentary footage andphotographs by photo-journalist Jonathan Torgovnik, and has some rare photossuch as those of the few remaining touring cinemas and their operators.

Photocourtesy: Jonathan Torgovnik/ www. digitaljournalist. org

It also included nine five minute documentaries titled "How to Make it Bigin Bollywood", showcasing the star, music director, lyricist, director andother important makers of a 'Bollywood' film. What struck me about thisexhibition was the very mixed crowd, unlike the film shows which are overwhelmedby Indians. It seems that while a 'Bollywood' film show might still be a largelydesi affair, the concept of 'Bollywood' has made a dent in the mainstream. Itwas quite revealing that the five minute docus at the exhibition actually workedlike a manual, informing and instructing about the various aspects of 'Bollywood'cinema and its unique features, such as dance and fight sequences—clearlymeant for those still not well initiated, but definitely eager to know more. Theexhibition is funded among others by the local federation of Victoria, anindication of the cultural capital of 'Bollywood'. Even as I write this piece,Priyanka Chopra is shooting in Melbourne for a new film at the Luna Park on St.Kilda Beach. Maybe when I come back next year this film will be showing in thetheatres here, and by that time maybe more Aussies will be watching it.

Although it is called Bollywood Dreams, yet the exhibition providessome amazing glimpses of the film culture of the South. A particularly poignantimage is that of devotees at the memorial stone of MGR in Chennai. For want ofbetter reference material, it had me scurrying to to Wikipedia,which says: "Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-basedHindi language film industry in India. The term is sometimes used incorrectly torefer to the whole of Indian cinema.".

Shatranj Ke Khiladi

And it is this incorrect usage—subsuming all Indian cinema as a whole underthe 'Bollywood' rubric—which is problematic. For unlike the term'Hollywood'—which stands for a specific set of codes, a specific history,ideology and a specific set of industrial preactices—the regional cinemas ofIndia—even the world of "Hindi" cinema—are too diverse and complexto be subsumed under the "Bollywood" paradigm. The term Bollywood may haveacquired a cache for itself, and therefore might be more recognisable than "Mumbaifilm industry" or "Hindi cinema"—and perhaps it does carry theconnotations of a "post-national" globalizing brand of Hindi popular cinema,unlike earlier, when it was more of a derivative usage, often pejorative—butthose promoting Indian cinema certainly need to be better aware of this.