When I was
watching the movie BOBBY (a Hindi movie) way back in 1973, I was angry with the
antagonist Pran and his snobbish family who was deadly against the son Rishi
having a relationship with Dimple who is the daughter of a fisherman Premnath. Wealth
played a crucial role in the screenplay of most love stories in Indian cinemas
(be it Tamizh, Telugu, Marathi or others) before or even after the movie Bobby.
If not the boy, the gal hails from a wealthy family, hence the resistance, and
the entire story would revolve around the tribulations (including the trees) of
the couple in overcoming all the adversaries before eventually leading to a
happy ending. Of course I must say there were also movies that had a tragic end
too.
The theme revolving
around class conflict of rich versus poor was so camouflaged when the
underlying issue was of another social construct that mainstream cinema
skirted. Except for a few art movies, mainstream Indian movies preferred to use
“Rich Vs Poor” theme rather than addressing the topic of “caste”. It was almost as if nobody can see the
elephant or even wanted to see the elephant that was right in front of them but
preferred to paint the elephant as though it was a wall.
Hence the
notion of Rich Vs Poor struck a cord in Indian cinema. So much so the famous
Tamizh actor M.G. Ramachandran rode on this theme, won the hearts of the people
of Tamizh Nadu to eventually becoming the Chief Minister of the state.
As India
progressed economically from the 90’s onwards, the whole perspective of earning
moved from survival to the pursuit of wealth. Opportunities in the Gulf States
for semi-skilled and skilled workers drove millions of Indians to seek higher earnings.
The scare of the Y2K bug or the Millennium Bug created opportunities for young computer
techies from India to move to the US and other parts of the world to fix the
feared anomaly. This was followed by an even bigger brain drain of Indian
professionals all over the world in search of higher earnings. Interestingly
enough much of the money earned is actually plowed back home which in turn
changes their wealth standing in their hometowns, back in India. The spinoff
effect is definitely exponential not only to the immediate families but also
towards the extended ones.
Though the
issue of caste is still a contentious issue in India, but owing to better
education and economic prosperity, at least in urban India, lifestyles and
relationships have changed and are continuing to do so.
The Indian movie
makers today cannot sell the old recycled theme of Rich Vs Poor anymore. On top
of that, Indian movies do not only sell in India but it has become a global
phenomenon owing to the spread of the Indian diaspora. The recent release of
the Tamizh movie “Jailer”, as I write, is going to cross US80million mark with its
world wide release 17 days ago. The Hindi movie Pathan released a few months
ago had a worldwide collection of US130million. So Indian movies are a big deal
beyond India for movie makers.
That brings us
to my observation to the movie Greeja and I watched over the weekend, Rocky Aur
Rani Ki Prem Kahani, a Hindi romantic comedy. This is a typical Indian love
story with plenty of dance, songs and of course with Karan Johar (director of
the movie), the colour and grandiose was stupendous. Although it has the typical boy meets girl and
followed by the parental opposition, but the twist I saw in the opposition was
what made me think. It was not about Rich versus Poor, instead it was the Rich
Vs Cultured. On top of that, the hidden conflict is also not caste but
ethnicity, one being a rich (very rich) Punjabi family versus a highly
intellectual and cultured Bengali family. The dynamics here is completely dichotomous
and that makes this movie hilarious on one hand but also surfaces the changing
parameters in the sociocultural landscape of India, at least in one spectrum of
the society.
Wealth may
not justify prosperity but it has to be accompanied by a good read too. The
very existence of humanity does not merely lie on seeking wealth but the
pursuit of knowledge for knowledge sake, and appreciating the finer values that
are around us, culture, art, literature and other aspects of humanities that
completes us as social beings.
Though it is
premature to think that this phenomenon has mass reflection but the very effort
taken by the movie team would definitely sow the seeds for society to evolve in
that direction.
WE have
become slaves to our own inventions, life goes on every single day in a mechanistic
manner. People are more familiar with the smell of a burger than the fragrance
of a rose, or the sound of the traffic than the sound of a Myna bird. We are
trapped in our own vicious circle, and not willing to steer away from the herd,
we simply don’t want to be different because the consumerist ideology conditioned
in our mind prevents us from “thinking”.
So it is refreshing
once in a while to see mainstream entertainment reneged from the norm and
address an alternative view on life.
Go watch Rocky
Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, to cogitate over one’s own perspective, or otherwise
just enjoy a simple old fashion colourful Hindi movie.
Cheers.
ravivarmman@15152708233.0567° N, 101.5851° E
.jpg)