Anupama Chopra on Bollywood Part-2
By kamla bhatt • Aug 3rd, 2007Category: Bollywood, Books and Authors, Entertainment, Featured, India, People
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In Part-2 of our conversation Anupama Chopra talks about Bollywood, and how she developed her interest in tinsel town. Anupama’s mother Kamna Chandra wrote the story for Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog and Yash Chopra’s Chandini among others. Did the fact that her mother was a writer influence her?
Anupama also talks about Aditya Chopra and others who have brought about quite a few changes to the Hindi film industry in recent years? What are the other changes in Bollywood in recent years? What does she have to say about her producer-director husband Vidhu Vinod Chopra who made 1942: A Love Story, Mission Kashmir and the Munnabhai series among others?
Tune in to find out.
In Part-I Anupama spoke about her new book on Shah Rukh Khan.
Technorati tags: anupama chopra, bollywood, hindi film, shah rukh khan, vidhu vinod chopra
Kamla Bhatt is the host and producer of an Internet Radio show where listeners can find stories about the new and emerging India and the global Indian community. As a pioneer of 'internet radio' format in India Kamla started her first show News about India, followed by TalkNewsIndia in 2005. In 2006 she premiered her new show: The Kamla Bhatt Show: Life, People and Ideas. 
[...] The second part of the podcast interview with Anupama Chopra on Bollywood or hindi films is up and running. [...]
One thing Hindi films are good at is providing a form of escapism. Most of the time there is no logic as Anupama Chopra readily admits. I am so glad you asked her how she reviews Hindi films because I would consider it quite difficult to do. Her description of Hindi cinema being “compelling” was so dead on! That seems to be all they have going for them compared to western cinema. Nonetheless, I love them!
I always wonder how a Hindi film can be critiqued or reviewed in a fair manner when the censor board will slice and dice a film and filmakers are asked to cut out or reshoot scenes deemed offensive. Surely, this influences the plot and contributes to many films being illogical. Also, it may add to the lack of ‘realism’ in a films.
Additionally, I wonder if the Hindi film industry and Indian cinema in general will ever depict ‘real Indians’ in their films and not just ‘fair’ film stars. Many who are not even talented.
When will audiences see darker skinned actors in lead roles as heroes or heroines? Not, as comic relief or some dumb sidekick! Do these films exist and I do not know of them? I wish you would have asked Anupama Chopra about this issue.
As you pointed out in your interview Bollywood has gone global. There are some educated and sophisticated movie viewers of these films and many of us want to see more positive depictions of dark skinned people. Since Bollywood is in transition I hope this issue will be addressed.
Love your radio shows!
On a mission,
Kali Billi
Thanks Kallibilli for your extensive comment(s) and your lovely feedback about the show.
You hit the nail on the head: films are a form of escapism…and I guess in that world people are generally depicted in a very different way…removed from reality. Being fair is a peculiarly Indian obsession and you raise some telling questions.
If I recollect…there were a some films in the 1970s or 80s were the leading actors were portrayed as “dark-skinned” people. The art films of Benegal et al portrayed “real Indians”…?
What I have observed is that in South Indians, especially Tamil films…the obsession with fair-skinned actors seems to be skewed towards the female leads, and not the male actors? Did you ever wonder about that?
To be fair, I think in the last couple of years there have been some realistic films or edgy films that have come out of Bollywood…like Omkara, Maqbool, Page 3 etc.
And, yes I also wonder how folks review Hindi films. I find myself at a loss and resort to this rule of the thumb: did I have fun watching the film? That is it. The consistency and the internatl logic of the storyline is something that falls apart under close examination…:-)
Thanks for listening to the show.
Kamla
Kamla,
I agree with you that in Tamil films the dark skinned hero is well tolerated.
Rajnikant, Vijaykant, Vijay, Pandyan etc are examples.
I suppose that since most movie goers in Tamil Nadu are dark skinned, they can readily empathize with a dark skinned hero.
Why is it that this empathy does not extend to heroines?
They borrow fair skinned heroines from the North.
Nothing pleases the average movie goer in the south more than a dark skinned local hero successfully wooing a fair and beautiful North Indian girl.
The world of Malayalam films is one place where talent counts and not pigmentation.
This is one industry where a plane Jane with a dark skin can get good roles.
I suppose Bengali films of Satyajit Ray too can be cited as examples.
Bollywood will not tolerate a dark skinned hero. They may compromise on looks but not on complexion. For a short time, in the seventies, ordinary looking men were successful as heroes. Amol Palekar is a classic example. Later Shatrughan Sinha tasted moderate success. Nana Patekar has also found some acceptability but has not been welcomed as heartily as Amol.
The prejudice is not just based on colour. Height is another. Can you name even one hero who is short ? You will not be able to. Yes, short people are welcome as comedians but never as heroes.
Regards
G Vishwanath