INDIA: Theatre of Dreams

Written by Tehmina Qureshi • November 2011

For years Bollywood has provided its followers a way to escape the harsh realities of their existence and dream a little. Here is a look at the industry and how it continues to affect Indian society so deeply. For billions of people, Bollywood is not an industry but a phenomenon. It is an integral part of the lives of Indians. It makes its audience swoon, sigh, cry and shout - and they keep coming for more.

Unlike Hollywood, Bollywood is a mirror rather than a search light for its society. Marilyn Monroe’s appearance on the silver screen as the first woman to be photographed naked was a turning point in America. Out of this era the American woman emerged strong and independent leading to the feminist movement of the 70s.

On the other hand, Bollywood makes movies that reflect the society and provide the audience with a mixture of catharsis and fantasy. Reality is exaggerated to melodrama and glamorized for the audience to achieve this very purpose.

For instance, Mother India, released in 1957, featured Nargis Dutt, who played Radha, killing her son for moral good. This dramatic end depicts the aftermath of the bloody partition of 1947 when people’s wounds were still raw.

During the 70s and 80s, Amitabh Bachan shot to fame as the angry young man of the working class. In his first hit, Deewar, released in 1975, Big B’s character Vijay is the son of a trade unionist who is killed by angry laborers. The ‘angry young man’ is actually the Marxists nightmare of the clash of classes in society. In India at this time, Indira Gandhi’s tough socialist democracy was taking its toll on the masses. The movies that were made with Amitabh were themed on class divide and the clash between the evil rich and the oppressed proletariat. “Meray pas bank balance hay, property hay, gari hay, bangla hay, teray paas kia hay?” asks Vijay (Bachan), the brother who has gone astray for money. His brother Ravi, played by Shashi Kapoor, replies, “Meray paas maan hay.” The dialogue, remembered by three generations of cinema goers of the sub-continent, marked the sentiments and insecurity of the working classes of India.

Following the late 80s, the hero was toned down to the gentle and friendly Anil Kapoor. His role as Arun Varma in Mr. India, released in 1987, was an honest but socially and politically active young man. Arun is a struggling musician who can hardly pay his bills but he looks after foster children whom he has adopted. This hero was not angry and had integrity. The rich man was not a villain, but a rich gangster who was out to get the world.

As metropolitan cities emerged and Mumbai expanded, movies based on the underworld became prominent. Vaastav starring Sanjay Dutt, released in 1999, told the story of a common man becoming an underworld figure because of financial problems. Munna Bhai made in 2001 was a comedy but it humanized ‘dada giri.’

After the Indian economy opened up in the early nineties, love stories thronged the movie scene. Govinda and his comic tearjerkers, and the advent of the Khans of Bollywood opened another era. Even though most of the movies made during this time were pot boilers, they were nonetheless a means to compete with the western media. The younger generation would have been fully hooked to the 70s show, Friends and Frasier, if not given anything to satisfy their needs for slightly westernized and light love flicks.

The progression of love stories in Bollywood is an extremely interesting one. In the 70s, a rich girl would fall in love with the passionate hero and both would fight the ‘inappropriateness’ of their romance. In Anil Kapoor’s time the class struggle would subside to chivalry and entail saving the damsel in distress from the evil gangster. The mid-nineties introduced the era of Dil Walay Dulhania Lay Jayengay (1995), Dil to Pagal Hay (1997) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hay (1998); modern kids and conservative parents - reflecting the liberal shift in Indian society.

Then the love part got a little complicated with movies like Dil Se (1998), in which the girl belonged to a terrorist group or Veer Zara (2004) and Fanaa, featuring cross-border lovers. Hum Tum made waves in the Indian cinema and was a box office hit because of its comicry. It gently touched on premarital sex and the long-term effects of divorce on kids. The latest twist on the love story was Dostana in 2008, which addressed homosexuality, but comically so as not to offend the public sentiment.

As the audience gradually matured over time, feminist movies also came to the forefront in the late 80s. But the subjects in these movies were introduced gradually. Mirtydund, released in 1991, starring Madhuri and Shabana Azmi, showed the struggle of Ketki to survive oppression and male dominance. In 2000, Phir Bhi Dil hay Hindustani was a romantic comedy where Juhi Chawla played an independent and serious journalist. Lajja in 2001, featured Manisha Koirala leaving her home because of abuse and Chandni Bar in 2001, focused on prostitution.

The glamorous pot boilers have probably made greater waves at the box office. That is understandable, considering that Bollywood is the second largest film industry in the world. The secret of its success lies in the fact that it makes glamorous movies with catchy music, with just a hint of the Indian society. If the plot does not make the movie go far, the music certainly will. If that doesn’t happen then it might make revenue from a famous cast or the melodrama. The success of a Bollywood movie depends on various factors and any one component of the movie could be its selling point.

Today, movie themes vary from mental disorders to issues of the youth or their relationship with the state. The dynamics of the industry have changed dramatically. The rich man is now benevolent, as in Paa, and he also has a story. Guru was loosely based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani and how he became the capitalist giant that he was. This reflects the economic boom that the country has gone through in the last decade. Recent movies like Teray Bin Ladin, My Name is Khan, and Wednesday depict the effects of terrorism and religious intolerance on the Indian society.

The audience in Bollywood keeps coming back because of the escapism it provides from their daily lives. India may be the tenth largest economy but it also has the world’s second largest population and a milieu of cultures, religions and traditions. The prime function of its film industry has been to provide quality entertainment and it has never let its viewers down.