Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
Despite its flaws, however, Bollywood enjoys a massive international market. It's no exaggeration to say that more than a billion people worldwide would recognize Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan before Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise. High art it ain't -- within India and the Indian diaspora, Bollywood films are looked upon as lowest-common-denominator entertainment for the six-pack crowd. Here in America, oddly enough, it's your culture-vulture microbrew drinkers who are most likely to seek out "Lagaan" or the kitschy "Kaante."
What is a Bollywood movie, anyway? The term gets thrown around and is often misunderstood, so here are the basics.
The term "Bollywood" is a blend of Bombay and Hollywood. Like the suburbs of Los Angeles that house dozens of studios and locations from San Pedro to Valencia, so too modern, sprawling Bombay (or Mumbai, as it is now called) attracts millions of people from all over India looking for a chance to join the great Indian dream factory.
In studios like the ramshackle Filmistan -- where the trees are full of fruit bats and craft service is likely to consist of a chai-wallah and a big, steaming cauldron of dal -- and Film City (picture Paramount Ranch, with the occasional extra out of "The Mahabharata" zooming by on a motorcycle), musical numbers, wedding scenes, cast-of-thousands historical battles and action pieces are mounted on a staggering scale.
Labor is cheap: In 95-degree weather, armies of makeup artists are kept at the ready for every vigorous dance scene, and I've seen more than one star trailed by machine-gun-toting guards or an assistant whose only job is to carry around a 6-foot-tall electric fan with a very, very long cord.
Bollywood movies are often called "masala" films because, like the spicy curry mixture the word connotes, they are a blend of many different elements -- romance, action, fights, melodrama and, especially, music. They're typically at least three hours long, but are usually shown with an intermission. Many Indian theaters, even in the U.S., serve up hot samosas and real chai (not the soy milk aberration) at the concession stand, so you can keep up your strength.
Composer Danny Elfman (of "Spider-Man" and countless other films) and his longtime collaborator, director Tim Burton of "Batman" and "Planet of the Apes," are big fans. "The way I describe a Bollywood movie to people here is that it's a whole evening's entertainment," says Elfman by phone from his Malibu studio. "It's an event. Tim has expressed great interest in doing a movie in the Bollywood style, and if he does, I'd love to score it."
Music is the key to a Bollywood movie. Set to rhythms that range from earthy Punjabi folk to techno and even traditional ghazal and classical forms, the songs are gloriously shrill, loud and long, and don't require the listener to know a single word of Hindi to be swept up in the fun. The hero and heroine invariably lip-sync to a "playback" track and change costumes half a dozen times against a background that might be Filmistan, Trafalgar Square or the Swiss Alps.
Every Bollywood star knows how to dance, so every musical number features sexy, or at least acrobatic, displays of bulging muscles and curvaceous hips clad in yards of colorful silks -- or, if you're unlucky, hideous outfits that look like they came from a Tijuana flea market (you take your chances).
Although sex scenes are taboo in Hindi films, the dancing can be incredibly erotic nevertheless. Bollywood choreographers have become masters at suggesting sensuality with wet saris, thrusting pelvises, jutting (though well-covered) breasts and plenty of tiny kisses everywhere but the mouth -- on the throat, belly button, ankle or palm. In one of the sexiest dance sequences in recent memory, in "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham," Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol swayed in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza. He gently nudged a bangle onto Kajol's wrist and I almost fainted.
To me, the songs and dances are the best part of any Bollywood movie, but in case you're one of those old-fashioned types that needs a story to tie it all together, consider these: Stern father banishes son who refuses to give in to his plans for an arranged marriage; son and his brother (and their respective love interests) finally bring the family together for a teary musical finale (this one is from "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham," or "Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Sad"). Oh yeah, this is the one where Shah Rukh Khan makes his grand entrance in a helicopter.
Or this plot, from the 2000 hit "Kaho Na Pyar Hai" ("Tell Me You Love Me"): Girl meets sweet-natured, aspiring singer and falls in love. Goons kill singer. To get over her loss, girl takes a trip to Australia, where she meets her lover's exact double -- except that instead of being a wimp like the first guy, he's a gorgeous macho hunk who ends up going back with her to India and taking revenge for the first guy's death.
And in the 1994 smash "Hum Apke Hain Koun?" ("Who Are We to You?"), an unexpected love story takes place during an elaborate Indian wedding, with no fewer than 13 songs thrown in for good measure.
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