Bollywood is much an icon of India as the London Bridge is to the United Kingdom. But unlike the Bridge that caters to only a handful of world tourists per year, Bollywood or the Indian Film Industry caters to more people across the world than even Cannes Film Festival can fathom.
The entertainment industry in India is a multi billion dollar industry doling out approximately a hundred movies a year at a cost lower than most Hollywood Productions and has become the land of many-a-wannabe who live across a subcontinent, if not beyond.
Since its inception on the Bombay Peninsula in the 1930's, Bollywood has captured the imagination of many a dreamer who dared to go against societal norms or simply wanted to fall in love. From elegant dances to memorable dialogues to unrealistic fight scenes to non existent bedroom scenes!, Bollywood really captivated the imagination of the people and was often seen as the best way, second only to God, to create a large and long lasting impact in to socio-political scene of India. Each man and woman emulated bollywood in their daily styles; from hair to accessories, lets not forget cars and bell bottom pants each attributed to their silent devotion of their esteemed actors whose movie halls would almost always go house full.
But as the Indian psyche began to grown with the changing tides of time, the people became more western oriented resulting in such traits being featured in Bollywood films from copy cat songs of American artists to hideous Afros and indescribable hairstyles that flooded the markets of the 70's and 80's. India was soon getting engulfed by the marketing of the American dream, even if with an Indian twist. This, however, started to go a little too far, past the millennium, when skin replaced dialogues and where people remembered everything but the story line.
But what really drew the crowds, and still continue to do so, was the dancing and singing for every mood imaginable that went through the hero's heart. Whether it be him in love, anger, revenge, marriage or even death, if not an excuse, its hard to imagine a Bollywood film without this musical drama where the hero and the heroine will break away from their heated drama and spring into a dance with a multitude of strangers who seem to have envisioned the steps like an epiphany. This often acts as an unexpected stress buster much to the delight of the audience.
But who could blame them for when Bollywood was christened in 1930's they had to compete with already existing and far more entertaining musical dramas called "Sangeet Natya" where the acting cast would move from village to village and perform by singing out their dialogues much to the amusement of the audience who would specially come to hear their favourite actors. Bollywood had the task and challenge of wooing them off the fields and into the cinema halls. Thus Bollywood dancing has become such an integral part of the Indian Film Industry that not only are many aspiring actors like Shahid Kapoor try their shot at it in the hope they be noticed but also many schools and private classrooms have sprung up worldwide to indoctrinate this valued knowledge of dancing the modernized desi way.
This has become a market in its own right today and coupled with destination shooting by many a casting crew, its no wonder that fans have grown across a continent. Many countries are even trying to woo Bollywood to shoot a movie in their country as they know that most Indians will then make it a pilgrimage destination and thus a revenue generator.
But then, in a nation that feeds most of the world's population, there has been a sudden blatant rise of using foreigners as extras in scenes shot in India. From "Dil e Disco" of Om Shanti Om to the "Hookah Bar" song of Khiladi and lets not forget "Shava Shava" from K3G and am sure there are many more examples as more films are being doled out as we speak. Once can notice that there is a startling imbalance in the use of extras on the sets for bollywood dancing with more whites than Indians.
People argue the case of plurality and globalization as a justification for the existence of exotic blonde babes in the middle of a high drama Indian series especially when an Indian boy is showing his love for an Indian girl in India. Its weird enough that in the middle of a drama in a village of India the couple flee home on a Euro Rail and land in the meadows of France just for a dance as was witnessed in Hero No 1 staring Karishma Kapoor and Govinda. But now to have increasing presence of white girls and am stressing on the term white with blonde hair as we have rarely seen Orientals, Arabs or even Africans dancing to choreographed glee much to the delight of a salivating audience. But what strikes me the most is the inability to find adequate talent in the second most populated country in the world with a 3.6% unemployment rate in 2014. Its already embarrassing that India cannot even find eleven members for an effective football team and now we cant find talented dancers!! My fat aunties can dance better than some of those cloth deficient models, in many a household parties. All she needs is a patiala peg and she is set for the night!
So if Globalization and Pluralism is an excuse, as remember its not the occurrence that is the problem but rather its frequency and blatancy, what may be the reasons for its growing demand?
The entertainment industry in India is a multi billion dollar industry doling out approximately a hundred movies a year at a cost lower than most Hollywood Productions and has become the land of many-a-wannabe who live across a subcontinent, if not beyond.
But as the Indian psyche began to grown with the changing tides of time, the people became more western oriented resulting in such traits being featured in Bollywood films from copy cat songs of American artists to hideous Afros and indescribable hairstyles that flooded the markets of the 70's and 80's. India was soon getting engulfed by the marketing of the American dream, even if with an Indian twist. This, however, started to go a little too far, past the millennium, when skin replaced dialogues and where people remembered everything but the story line.But what really drew the crowds, and still continue to do so, was the dancing and singing for every mood imaginable that went through the hero's heart. Whether it be him in love, anger, revenge, marriage or even death, if not an excuse, its hard to imagine a Bollywood film without this musical drama where the hero and the heroine will break away from their heated drama and spring into a dance with a multitude of strangers who seem to have envisioned the steps like an epiphany. This often acts as an unexpected stress buster much to the delight of the audience.But who could blame them for when Bollywood was christened in 1930's they had to compete with already existing and far more entertaining musical dramas called "Sangeet Natya" where the acting cast would move from village to village and perform by singing out their dialogues much to the amusement of the audience who would specially come to hear their favourite actors. Bollywood had the task and challenge of wooing them off the fields and into the cinema halls. Thus Bollywood dancing has become such an integral part of the Indian Film Industry that not only are many aspiring actors like Shahid Kapoor try their shot at it in the hope they be noticed but also many schools and private classrooms have sprung up worldwide to indoctrinate this valued knowledge of dancing the modernized desi way.
This has become a market in its own right today and coupled with destination shooting by many a casting crew, its no wonder that fans have grown across a continent. Many countries are even trying to woo Bollywood to shoot a movie in their country as they know that most Indians will then make it a pilgrimage destination and thus a revenue generator.
But then, in a nation that feeds most of the world's population, there has been a sudden blatant rise of using foreigners as extras in scenes shot in India. From "Dil e Disco" of Om Shanti Om to the "Hookah Bar" song of Khiladi and lets not forget "Shava Shava" from K3G and am sure there are many more examples as more films are being doled out as we speak. Once can notice that there is a startling imbalance in the use of extras on the sets for bollywood dancing with more whites than Indians.
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| A still from Hero No 1 |
So if Globalization and Pluralism is an excuse, as remember its not the occurrence that is the problem but rather its frequency and blatancy, what may be the reasons for its growing demand?
- Cheap Labour
Indian Models or dancers are often too expensive as there are many middle men involved. Its easier to get a foreign boy / girl to dance as it both saves them on make up costs and the foreigners are willing to do it for an experience and thus a much lower pay.
- No Limitations
Considering the conservative rules and regulations that govern the Indian societies many a girl, in particular, are more afraid of their and their family's reputation and thus rarely go beyond the permissible amounts of modest skin viewing. This is not the case of Western Women who rarely shy from this.
- Easy to find
Rather than conducting auditions and streamlining the candidates which ends up consuming valuable time, quality is substituted by exotic beauty in many a case as girls are randomly picked up from tourist destinations like Colaba Causeway by movie pimps who claim they are offering them a break.
- Fairness Complex
Keeping in mind that the average audience in India is afraid of how they look and how they will be perceived in society, many a fairness cream in India have made a killing out of this business. This coupled with the fact that Bollywood is a reflection of the society it caters to, getting fair girls to dance and act as extras, even if a mis-fit according to the scene in question, will rake in the revenue as on one hand the girls will caress her fairness with their eyes, the boys will caress her revealing boy with theirs, but the seats will go full.
- Money MattersSince Bollywood is a money making business and not a Red Cross, its the dream of every movie maker to get his capital reimbursed and thrive on the profits that follow. Getting a full house would translate a dream into a reality and thus is often not bothered of the quality of the film but rather its exotic quotient.
- Hypocracy of the StateThe Political Parties ruling the state that gave birth to Bollywood are also directly and indirectly involved. Their hypocritical policies of banning westernized cultural norms like Valentine's Day Celebrations and even beef bans apart from moral policing seem virtually hypocritical as on one hand they are voted to power on these ideologies and on the other they and their families let alone party members have no objections to having a throng of pearly whites dancing to the tunes of vulgar songs that are soon played on public demand in community alleys of every religious function.
- Lack of InnovationBollywood seems to have run out of ideas and originality is fast becoming a part of our history text books. Revamped movies like "Bachna ae Hasseno" and "Mughal e Azam" are becoming the talk of the day. Those that dare to be original are so sub-standard that they often take the help of dis-tractors like the blond babes of a James Bond Movie. Get the attention away from the the story line.
- Its just and Entertainment IndustryOne cannot ignore the fact that in India, the entertainment industry is often viewed and given the respect on the same lines as sleezy bars and casinos where the rich take their mistresses for a treat. Complaining against job snatching here would be faced with ridicule rather than the weight it exerts in MNCs.
- Cost CuttingAccording to a recent article documented by the BBC, Directors in India traditionally sought out foreigners as dancers or as set dressing, to save the cost of shooting a scene overseas.
Though this trend is ararmingly high and is welcomed by many across race and skin colour, it is and will alter the Indian societal and socio-cultural fabric of today's India. For the good or the bad, only time will tell.
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