by Abby W. Schachter
There are a lot of characteristics that make Bollywood movies so different from standard Hollywood fare. Since I’m a just a fan rather than an expert, let’s focus on just a few of these films to get a sense for what makes them so special.
If we look at three film starring two Indian superstars, Sharukh Khan and Kajol, we can get a taste for what makes this style of film so unique and enjoyable.
Khan and Kajol fell in love on screen in 1998’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, when they played two young Britons of Indian decent who end up traveling together through Europe. At first it seems like nothing serious until the two realize they have fallen in love. Once back home, the girl’s traditional father refuses the match and takes her back to India to fulfill an arranged marriage promise. The boy follows his love and fights to win her back and to win her father over.
In 1998, Khan and Kajol starred in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, as best friends from college who drift apart when Rahul (Khan) falls in love with another girl (Tina) and Anjali (Kajol), unwilling to face her love for her male best friend, leaves school to take care of her family. Rahul and Tina have a daughter but Tina doesn’t survive. Before her death, she writes the newborn girl, named Anjali, eight letters each of which are to be read to the girl on her birthdays. Rahul is a good father but lonely. In the last letter, for the girl’s eighth birthday, her mother explains how Rahul was actually in love with another woman before Tina only he didn’t understand his feelings. Tina tells her daughter to find that woman and get her and her father to realize their true feelings and marry.
Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001) is a romantic family saga of the Raichan family, which includes father Yashvardhan, mother Nandini, first son Rahul and younger brother Rohan. Rahul (Khan) refuses his father’s choice of bride and insists on marrying his true love Anjali Sharma (Kajol). Yashvardhan is furious, rejects his son’s choice, and throws his out of the house and out of the family. Nandini is crushed but abides her husband’s will. It is little brother Rohan who travels to London to find his brother, reunite his family, and discover his own true love.
So what makes these films so different than ones you find in Hollywood?
First, these movies are long. More than two hours in fact.
Then there’s the singing and dancing. There is a lot of both and much of the time it is apropos of nothing and at the drop of a hat. The dance scenes can feature all of the films’ characters, including parents and grandparents. Check out this big number featuring Amitabh Bachchan playing the Raichan patriarch, from Khabi Kushi Kabhie Gham. Or this one featuring all three of the lead characters from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. There is no attempt at explaining how and why these characters are able to perform so flawlessly or impromptu, in this way they are just like other musicals. What makes them unusual is that they are a feature of almost every Bollywood movie whether the plot is romantic, dramatic, action, or sci-fi.
Finally, what distinguishes these movies is something they lack, which is irony. All of these examples, which I believe are exemplary of the genre as a whole, are filled with joy and love–they reinforce the importance of romantic love as well as family ties and fidelity. There are some religious and class overtones but there is never a wink toward the audience that the story is meant to be taken with a grain of salt. The directors and actors are putting on a show that can be campy and entertaining but they are serious too. Serious about the emotions they are putting up on the screen. Love of family and respect for elders is a must, even as the elders can be taught a lesson about trusting their children’s choices. Children are not smarter than their parents in these films, and men and women are not trying to outdo each other or compete with one another. It is refreshing to watch movies that take a broad approach to love and respect and do it with such exuberance and color.
Author’s note: I’m grateful for the recommendations and the friendship of Maud Kozodoy without whom this post would never have been written.
