Masala Dreams | Weronika Peek

Hollywood built its legend on a simple premise: it is undefeated. For years it has maintained its popularity and unprecedented significance within the film industry – and it’s all about to change. This title is currently challenged by cinematic colossuses all around the globe. Asian cinema comes forth, with China being the second biggest market, followed by the Japanese and the Indian. The 2020 Oscar for Parasite was a solid proof of this shift.

Way before that, though, foreign cultures functioned in American cinema more in the form of symbols. American filmmakers have long been known to be fascinated by “exotic” cinematography, which often caused periods of growing interest in certain cultures. One of such fads was a renewed interest in Chinese wuxia – fiction connected to martial arts – at the beginning of the 21st century. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was an overnight sensation which inspired the Americans to recreate that style themselves. This peculiar mix of Chinese (more generally, Asian) and American elements gave birth to such classics as Kill Bill or Kung Fu Panda. However, the brief enchantment faded away, and American cinema went back to business as usual.

Meanwhile, far from the flying daggers and hidden dragons, another industry was slowly raising its head. It coined its name in the 70s from the cinematic centre of the country – Bombay – and Hollywood itself. It, too, would soon become an object of American curiosity. Even so, at its very beginning, Bollywood was not the vivid spectacle we may see nowadays – its history is mostly hardship, struggle, and escapism.

The first cheap-thrill Indian films started in small, independent studios. Their initial success was inhibited in the 1930s by the Great Depression, the fight for independence, and, later, World War II. On top of that, in 1947 British India was divided into India and Pakistan. It came out that the longcherished independence carried a huge refugee crisis and an escalation of violence. Several films tackled social issues that arose from the Partition. However, the most prominent genre became melodramas and musicals, which allowed the viewers to escape the horrid reality.

In the 1950s and 60s, Bollywood reached its Golden Age, producing mostly epic films. Indian producers most probably borrowed the format from classic Hollywood musicals: the films were over three hours long, had an intermission in the middle, and usually consisted of several songs. Of course, each of them was star-studded. Nowadays, Madhubala, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar are just a few of the names in India that hold as much prestige as Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, or James Dean. It was also escape the time Indian cinematography started gaining recognition overseas. Mother India, released in 1957, was its first nomination to the Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film – and it lost by only one vote!

After another decade screens hosted a variety of genres. Though musical romance was still holding the crown, the screenwriter duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar introduced crime films to the scene, with Deewar being the pioneer in the genre. The abundance of themes and tropes resulted in what we call today a masala film, which intertwines romance, action, melodrama, and comedy. The name comes from masala, a combination of spices, and masala films are just as rich in their plot and content. They often mix different landscapes, especially in musical numbers, as well as costumes, music, and general design.

The delightful chaos of the 70s and 80s resulted in the outburst of creative energy in the 1990s. The filmmakers found masala films to be the perfect recipe for blockbusters. Films as Main Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai were watched all around the world and the pretty decent earnings of the Bollywood industry quickly surpassed every expectation. One of the reasons for that was the strong diaspora. The NRIs (NonResident Indians) and Desi subcultures in the US or the UK now had the possibility to see their native culture and traditions in the films easily available in video rental shops.

Many of the films from the era capture the conflict NRIs experienced themselves: the clash of cultures. One of the examples is the smash hit Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham. Rahoul, a son of a business magnate, decides to marry Anjali, a girl from a poorer background. Disowned by his father, he moves to London, suffering the consequences of his decision. We can see a clear territorial distinction between the modern and the traditional. London is a safe space for Rahoul and Anjali, but they constantly highlight it is not their home – Delhi is – a home that banished them for not sticking to tradition. In the end, these two worlds are connected when the whole family reunites in London. Perhaps tradition and modernity are not so irreconcilable.

This international context turned out to be attractive for many viewers outside India. True, not all cultures experience such an extent of expatriation, but most of them can relate to motives as simple as the choice between “then” and “now” or the need to break away from tradition. Except that, foreign audiences were crazy about ten-minute-long musical numbers, saris, vermillion, and the camp style Bollywood could offer. Because of that, the 21st century saw a great spike in the foreign interest in Indian productions. It inspired Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, episodes of several TV shows, including The Simpsons or The Office, as well as a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber called Bombay Dreams. And even though the audiences loved finding exotic themes in the media they knew, the curious marriage of the two cultures quickly transpired to be a bad idea.

Bollywood has long been known to borrow themes from the American cinema... and sometimes whole pictures. What started as an innocent restaging of some motifs or scenes (like the famous Matrix scene recreated in Main Hoon Na), developed into copying entire films. Kadhalar Dinam is, in fact, You’ve Got Mail, Baazigar is no different than A Kiss Before Dying, and The Truth About Cats & Dogs found its equivalent in Mujhse Dosti Karoge!. Several complaints have been filed and sometimes the American side would win (as happened with Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai/My Cousin Vinny). Even so, it is important to note most of the American films copied by Bollywood are themselves remakes, just like You’ve Got Mail is a reworked version of The Shop Around the Corner, and The Truth About Cats and Dogs was based on the classic story of Cyrano de Bergerac. In that case, Indian films do not copy exact shots, movements, or dialogues, but the plot itself. And if it is okay to provide a modern American reinterpretation of the text, why be so bitter about its cultural reinterpretation?

The answer is quite simple: Americans cannot copy Bollywood as well as Indians copy Hollywood. Bollywood screenwriters usually take time to make the story sensible on their own cultural ground. The characters’ own desires are not enough for them to take action, as they are always bound by a greater necessity, usually an oath or maintaining peace in the family. An unsolvable problem may be resolved with the help of deities, who never appear in person, but often pull the strings.

In American cinema, such understanding of duty and religion is almost obsolete. If there is anything sacred, it is staying true to oneself and one’s own needs. Deities exist occasionally, as beings that can be called upon, but rarely interfere. Consequently, Indian culture in American films may be strongly misunderstood. It could be best depicted with Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Academy Award Best Picture in 2009. The film was released at the peak of Bollywood’s popularity in the United States. It tells the story of Jamal, an Indian boy coming from the slums, who goes on to win the grand prize on the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Slumdog was received very warmly in the US and the UK, but India did not share their sentiment. The film was a topic of much discussion. The critics pointed out that the main character speaks British English despite growing up in slums and that the Indian landscapes are chosen from a set of very safe, stereotypical scenes, already known to foreign audiences. In other words, it was a typical American feel-good story wrapped in the idea of Indian culture.

Surely, Bollywood films themselves often create an equally fake reality. The characters live in lavish mansions and their main concerns entail love and status. It may be justifiable as escapism is still the very heart of that cinema. It doesn’t change the fact that the Bollywood we know now is far removed from the Bollywood that stemmed from the hardship of the Partition. Over the years the industry started to brim with nepotism, sexism, and privilege – or perhaps these phenomena became more apparent. Some films, like Om Shanti Om or Salaam Bombay, tackle the topic of such inequalities. Unfortunately, they often address those issues in a quite shallow way, not presenting the full picture.

The pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the world. It feels so easy to barricade yourself at home with Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, or Sridevi. Maybe in those dark, uncertain times Bollywood brings back hope. There is song, dance, passionate love and violent revenge, and a whole other world. A world we’ll never understand.

Weronika Peek