Bollywood or Bengaliwood ???

[theguyinallblue]

i was just thinking about the influence people of Bengal had on indian cinema... i think Bengalis are one of the most creative and artistically inclined people in india.. just to throw some current Actresses in Bollywood of bengali origin.. 1. Kajol 2. Rani Mukherjee 3.Sushmita Sen 4. Bipasha Basu 5. Rimmi Sen 6. Raima Sen 7. Konkona Sen 8. Tanisha ( Kajol's sis) 9. Koina Mitra 10. Tanushree Dutta 11. Riya Sen 12. Rimmi Sen ( different from Earlier Rimmi sen..more famous in South) 13. RituPorno Sen Gupta ( Mai Meri Biwi aur woh) And Not to forget that Bengal has given the finest director and Male singer to Bollywood..

[Cricketics]

well usually i have noticed even in singing comps, i have seen ppl from non hindi speaking regions being more passionate about bollywood then the regular Mumbai and Delhi Folkz.. specially ppl from Gujarat and Bengal.. in every singing comp from Indian idol to sa re ga ma n stuff.. u would notice lot of bengalis being selected.. they are very passionate about Hindi cinema and perhapz are good at it too talent wise..

[theguyinallblue]

'Tics..they are not passionate about "Hindi Cinema"..actually they are passionate about the Art and culture... Music and Culture is in their blood.... its not considered a bad thing in Bangali culture to participate in Dance and music shows in schools and other stage shows.. parents encourage their children to learn music and musical instruments... Tabla and Harmonium are two things which can be found in a Bengali family very easily... Just Like People of south are very inclined towards education and literature... and on the contrary...go to any Bihari family.. if some one is more fond of music and dance...he'she is labelled as "Nachne Gaane wale"..:haha: it is not considered as a good profession...similarly...girls doing Jobs in Hotels or as cabin crews...will find it hard to get a suitable boy form bihar..in general...as these two professions are not considered "good" for Girls... Bengali Kids have no such social constraints.... so they flourish in arts and cultural activities....

[CC1981]

Couldn't agree with you more- Bengal as a region is surprisingly rich culturally, given how congested it is and how low the standard of living is( with Bangladesh included, this is an area of unparallelled population density in the world at its given scale and even without it, WB remains one of the most congested, overpopulated and ill-supplied place on this planet). Truth is, Bengal has always been a cultural powerhouse, or atleast, since Bengali language itself emerged from the middle Indic languages. I think a lot of this has to do with the Gupta Dynasty time-frame and subsequently, the Pal dynasty- both of which arose in Bengal and were largely pacifistic and cultural powerhouses intent on defensive warfare but extreme cultural and economic growth. Before the Islamic invasions, it was the seat of higher education in India- the model of Nalanda,started by the Guptas as a recreation of the hallowed Takshashila university, was copied extensively throughout Bengal- there were SEVERAL universities and institutes of higher learning, such as Vikramshil, Paharpur, Chandraketugarh,etc. which saw continued patronage under the Gupta and Pal emperors and later the Sen Kings, for a period practically unbroken for over a thousand years. Not to mention, with the British essentially setting their administrative bases up in Bengal meant that Bengal got industrial revolution earlier than anywhere else in India(one key component of industrial revolution is also the proliferation of culture- the ability to mass-produce musical and theatrical instruments,printing press and thus books & literature,props,etc. along with mass production of audio and later, visual technology). Not to mention, the British significantly added to the culture-base, given that the British of the Elizabethan-era onwards were quite preoccupied with cultural activities, especially the landed gentry & nobility class which exercised almost all the power. This, together with the relatively modern 'Bengali golden age' of the mid-1800s to mid 1900s (where Bengal produced luminaries in almost every field unparalleled in India - from literature, politics,science,mathematics to even the radical elements of Marxism ) has essentially ingrained itself in the Bengali psyche. As a Bengali, i can tell you one thing categorically true for most Bengali's worldview on society- it is not uncommon to hear desis from the rest of India, when remeniscing about India's 'glory', bring up emperors of 'uncommon ethical virtue' or exemplary conquest and governance or how India is diminished by the brakes put on due to Paksitan and China related issues. When most non-Bengali desis talk about 'the bygone era of shaan/glory', its about military, ethical or political issues. When Bengalis reminiscse about 'bygone days of glory', they are almost exculsively talking about the extremely fertile history of its literature,science,drama and arts that are,by comparison today, relatively bare. Cultural aspects- such as music, dance, literature,etc. are all fairly high in the Bengali list of priorities and what i find refreshingly different about Bengali culture (compared to most other desi subcultures) is a remarkable openness and welcomming of culture, regardless of history,religion,ethnicity or nationality. Its quite common for Bengalis to be interested in Kathak or Bharatnatyam- atleast, from my observation, far more than non-southies interest in Bharatnatyam for eg. The book fair sees names like Jules Verne, RL Stevenson,etc. dominating the landscape and it matters not a jot that Nazrul was a muslim and later a honorary Bangladeshi citizen. Even on a world scale, such open embrace of diversity in culture and background is perhaps only evident amongst the yuppie circles of west-coast USA/Montreal/London etc. and the French. The kind of socio-political idiocies, such as Bal Thackarey's 'bhumiputra' or similar nascent developments in Kannada or TN culture for example, is almost non-existant in Bengal/would crash before taking off, for the simple reason that Bengalis by and large appreciate culture for what it is- if its good food, beverage, music,literature or tv, if its good, where it came from or which ethnicreligious groups dominates it becomes little or no relevance. Nor are Bengalis shy about highlighting their own cultures' or Indian culture's shortcommings without much ado- the kind of insane stupidity we saw in Bhiar/UP when Deepa Mehta wanted to shoot a movie with lesbian theme or widows remarrying is unheard of in Bengal- there are examples of Bengali cinema dealing with innuendos about love-triangle in the family ( brother doing his brother's wife) or illicit love between an older widow and a young man of different religion, has already been made, without so much as a single bandh/march or vandalism, way back in the 60s and 70s, nevermind today. And the voluminous list you produced of Bengali actors/actresses in Bollywood is also matched by the voluminous list of musicians,music directors & writers, etc. Not bad for a culture that essentially treats Bollywood as an underappreciated 'stepchild' to its own Tollywood industry. Lastly, i must add that there is a remarkable difference between Bengali social landscape compared to that of the western Indias or the South- while Tamil Nadu is in contact through the most circuitous routes with the Tamils in Sri Lanka ( through NRI/non-resident SLankans in India/overseas, with little actual inter-population contact) and the contact between Punjabis on both side of the Indo-Pak border is non-existant, Bengali culture to this day remains a strong bridge that trumps nationalism. While there is little or no contact between Gujjus and Sindhis today or Rajasthanis and Bhawalpur, to go along with the above examples, there is a remarkable presence of Bangladeshis in West-Bengali cultural scene and vice-versa. Perhaps this level of inter-cultural connectivity is seen only amongst certain areas of Nepal and Bihar or Garhwal and Nepal and Sikkim-Bhutan but nowhere close to the sheer volume in the Bengali case.Forget just 'superstars' from either side of the Bengal borders, even honest-joe middle-rung musicians, dramatists and literary person gets published and occasions to perform live on both sides of the border. If you ever wondered, why Kolkata hasn't had even half the # of terrorism related cases/blasts as Mumbai or Delhi, both of which are FAR more secure i might add ( police there is less corrupt, military/security presence far more organized and in larger numbers), it has gotto be the interconnectivity of the Bengali culture keeping the various aspects of Bengali culture ( West Bengal, Bangladesh,Tripura and to a small extent, Assam) in touch with each other, with the common populace not losing the pulse on whats happening across the border. This IMO, is a critical eliment in maintaining stability, since if the population is seggregated, it becomes far easier for the respective populations to become desensetised from each other and do insane things. If you think about it,it makes sense- for Bangladesh still has elements of radical Islam present in it ( where hindus have been force-evicted from their villages) and it is no secret that Pakistani Army ruled Bangladesh like a modern-day Jihad, not just head-hunting hindus but even Bangladeshi 'liberal muslims'. Despite this and facing problems far more serious than Pakistan or India, Bangladesh has managed to stay just short of boiling over. Especially when you consider that less than 250kms from Bangaldesh border lies Kolkata, a key city for India's military,social and political might and the prime example of 'Indian liberalism' with a populist policy that is perhaps exact opposite of radical Islam ( communism), it is pretty remarkable that Kolkata has never been a 'Kashmir'. Some of these points may seem outlandish or perhaps even offensive to some, but this is just a Bengali's take on his culture.

[CC1981]

its not considered a bad thing in Bangali culture to participate in Dance and music shows in schools and other stage shows..

Yup. Except in the case of perhaps the most conservative of Bengali muslims citing hardcore islamic interpretations, a man given to dancing & music is largely seen as cultured rather than 'soft' like some of the other regions of India and a woman given to the same activities would be equated with a cultured & learned lady, never a 'kotha-naachne-waali/vaishya' like the slur liberally applied in hindi regions. Shouldn't be that suprising, if you consider the fact that Bengali women perhaps enjoy the most 'equal' of inter-sex relationships i've noticed in India,atleast amongst the more populous culture groups. Not that hard to figure- afterall, the *MAIN* cultural/religious event in the Bengali psyche happens to be a hottie with 10 arms thrusting a spear in the chest of a bada$$ dude ( durga puja), followed closely by the reverence(sometimes in awed tones) of a 'hell hath no fury like a woman p!$$ed off' model, aka, Kali. :D

[suma25]

gib maybe what you say is true abt bengali culture but most of actresses in the list are no more than bimbettes and are in the industry more for their appearance ,family connections rather than being creativley inclined .The sens in the list are the most shittiest of actors apart from konkana sen sharma Apart from bengali culture i guess marathi culture is the one i guess which is more creatively inclined.marathi theatre/dramas are one of the most popular and the best here .Most of the marathi actors who have made it to bollywood/cinemas have theatre background. down part though is most of those in marathi theatre are known to be chain drinkers or alcoholics.

[Lurker]

i was just thinking about the influence people of Bengal had on indian cinema...

You are thinking correct but expressing it wrong. Bengal's contribution towards Bollywood has more to do with creative aspects - Direction, Music and Literature - than enacting part of it. Half of the names you mentioned are in there because of their family connection. Though I am surprised you forgot to mention Tanuja, Nutan, Jaya Bhaduri etc. who all have a strong Bengali background. The reason for Bengal's strength in Bollywood is perhaps mainly due to three reasons: 1) Strong literature: Bengali literature is as good as any in the country, atleast historically. I would argue that along with Urdu Bengali forms the strongest literature what with Sharat Chandra, Bipin Chandra, Mahashweta Devi, Tagore, Satyajit Ray to name a few. This in turn created a fertile ground for the Directors to take advantage of. 2) Strong women: Bengali women were quite emancipated even in 40s, 50s as compared to the rest of the country. So it was not very hard to see them make a beeline in Bollywood when the rest of the country womenfolk were still finding their feet. 3) Strong culture/music: Most Eastern states(starting from Orissa) are pretty music and culture oriented. Unfortunately this starts right after Bihar ( :(( ) which boasts of a strong history, literature and culture but not so much music. Bengl has given pound for pound the greatest music directors from a state, and no I am not talking of Preetam. RIght from the days of Pankuj Mullick, Anil Biswas to Sali Chowdhary, SD Burman and RD Burman. And amongst small timers you have Bhappi Lahiri etc. Heck you can put an entire stream of songs - Maanjhi songs (songs sung on a boat) - at the doorstep of Bengal. No other state can boast that. xxxx PS: Kishore Kumar was a Bengali by ethnicity but actually his roots are more MP(Khandwa). Also his brother Ashok Kumar was more a guy from Bhagalpur than from Kolkatta.

[Gambit]

Bengal has always been associated with creativity be it in thinking, expression or actions. With regard to the Hindi film industry, Punjabis and Bengalis have had the biggest influences on it.

[umpire]

All of you have no clue about bollywood. Bollywood is there because of mumbaikars. and who are these mumbaikars, read below Underworld

[atul]

You are thinking correct but expressing it wrong. Though I am surprised you forgot to mention Tanuja, Nutan, Jaya Bhaduri etc. who all have a strong Bengali background.

Luker small correction Nutan/Tanuja are both Marathi married to bengali. overall Benagli has given lot of to film industries but their contribution national social reform declined after communist party took over Bengal.

[Lurker]

Luker small correction Nutan/Tanuja are both Marathi married to bengali.

How did I forget that(kicks himself in the nuts). :(( Of course you are correct Atul. Both of them were daughters of Shobhna Samarth the great heroine of yore. Her face escapes me now but I am pretty darn sure I have seen a couple of black and white movies of her with Motilal.

[umpire]

>Luker small correction Nutan/Tanuja are both Marathi married to bengali. isnt Nutan's last name Behl? so how come she is bengali even after marriage