The facile view that foreigners have of Indian Culture

[maggot_brain]

I am mainly referring to Bollywood. Does anyone else think these films are appalling on the whole? Melodramatic formulaic nonsense. The great Satyajit Ray once wrote a piece quite a few years ago on 'What's wrong with Indian Films'. Those criticisms would seem to hold true today as well.

[Predator_05]

I am mainly referring to Bollywood. Does anyone else think these films are appalling on the whole? Melodramatic formulaic nonsense. .

YES ! The # of Follywood films i have watched in my life amounts to less than 10 - half of them when i must have been in my early teens, and even then i thought they were crap. They are all horse-sh it, if you ask me. Same old mind-numbingly dull love-triangle stories recycled over and over again, men acting (and dancing around) like epileptic p ussies, average looking Indian women speaking with cute little voices and crying all the time, and of course...the cringeworthy music. To top it all off, they are all 3 and a half hours long...ZZZZZZZ. Buck Follywood !

[maggot_brain]

YES ! The # of Follywood films i have watched in my life amounts to less than 10 - half of them when i must have been in my early teens, and even then i thought they were crap. They are all horse-sh it, if you ask me. Same old mind-numbingly dull love-triangle stories recycled over and over again, men acting (and dancing around) like epileptic p ussies, average looking Indian women speaking with cute little voices and crying all the time, and of course...the cringeworthy music. To top it all off, they are all 3 and a half hours long...ZZZZZZZ. Buck Follywood !

Can you recommend any good Indian films then? I've seen a couple by Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray, but that's about it.

[suma25]

dude could you get anymore stereotypical (is that a word?) :haha: 1. Sholay 2. Anand 3. Deewar 4. Sagar 5. Munnabhai 6. Pushpak 7. SilSila 8. Nayagan 9. Sadma 10. Prahar .

:two_thumbs_up: good reccommendations bb of the classics i would recommend hrishikesh mukherjee films the guy was a genius..... of the recent ones 1971 black friday no smoking ek chalis ki last local bheja fry khosla ka ghosla hazaron kwahishein aisi yuva all are hindi movies

[coffee_rules]

Fuk Hollywood or westerners. We should be making movies that we enjoy to see. Why should we change, just so it makes it appealing for a westerner? Agreed that till 90s, our movies didn't evolve. But later 90s to now, our movies and the plots are looking good. Go watch movies like Johnny Gaddar or Ek Chalis ki last local to see how our movies have evolved. OMFG, Ganguly gets Moyo.....

[beetle]

Fuk Hollywood or westerners. We should be making movies that we enjoy to see. Why should we change, just so it makes it appealing for a westerner? Agreed that till 90s, our movies didn't evolve. But later 90s to now, our movies and the plots are looking good. Go watch movies like Johnny Gaddar or Ek Chalis ki last local to see how our movies have evolved. OMFG, Ganguly gets Moyo.....

ditto... Why do you expect Indians to make films to appeal to foreigners ?Do they make movies for us?

[Rajiv]

Some folks undermine our culture and movies to get one-up in the Hollywood tango, it makes them cool etc. I don't blame them as it requires a different psyche and mood to grasp some our our melodramatic gems Bollywood is a business, t pleases the public, its made for them and the circle has been running smooth imagine an Indian movie made with kisses and a 1 hour drama..you know what the same WEST will criticize it saying it that bollywood shifted it's look. I say hell with these phoreigners, as if everything isn't catered already for them on this planet

[Zap_Brannigan]

1. Sholay - Crap western rip off. Still dont know why half of India loves this movie 2. Anand - Melodramatic 3. Deewar 4. Sagar - Is that the one with Rishi and Kamal and dimple? Much better than the ones today. 5. Munnabhai - Good comedy but overrated 6. Pushpak - Very good but not bollywood. 7. SilSila 8. Nayagan - Really good (but god father rip off) . Not bollywood. 9. Sadma - Gets very touchy in the end but again not necessarily bollywood 10. Prahar Good bollywood originals (as far as i know)- Gol maal, DCH,Lagaan,Droh kaal

[Zap_Brannigan]

Some folks undermine our culture and movies to get one-up in the Hollywood tango, it makes them cool etc. I don't blame them as it requires a different psyche and mood to grasp some our our melodramatic gems Bollywood is a business, t pleases the public, its made for them and the circle has been running smooth imagine an Indian movie made with kisses and a 1 hour drama..you know what the same WEST will criticize it saying it that bollywood shifted it's look. I say hell with these phoreigners, as if everything isn't catered already for them on this planet

There are good movies from other part of the world which does not follow Hollywood per se. Bollywood movies are bad cos of the unrealism esp with the actors. Ofcourse its a business , so they tend to give what the people want but why stoop so low to give a crap about logic or completely rip off other country movies.

[Dhoni's English]

Fuk Hollywood or westerners. We should be making movies that we enjoy to see. Why should we change, just so it makes it appealing for a westerner? Agreed that till 90s, our movies didn't evolve. But later 90s to now, our movies and the plots are looking good. Go watch movies like Johnny Gaddar or Ek Chalis ki last local to see how our movies have evolved. OMFG, Ganguly gets Moyo.....

Cheers fella.:confused_smile:

[Rajiv]

There are good movies from other part of the world which does not follow Hollywood per se. Bollywood movies are bad cos of the unrealism esp with the actors. Ofcourse its a business ' date=' so they tend to give what the people want but why stoop so low to give a crap about logic or completely rip off other country movies.[/quote'] Well, can't see a generalized view on it. It depends on our mass public

[suma25]

1. Sholay - Crap western rip off. Still dont know why half of India loves this movie 8. Nayagan - Really good (but god father rip off) . Not bollywood. Good bollywood originals (as far as i know)- Gol maal, DCH,Lagaan,Droh kaal

half of india likes sholay becaus of the characters even if its a rip off its a fairly decent rip off.so i dont mind it and nayakan isnt god father rip off its loosely based on life of a mumbai don. and drohkaal and golmaal are not bollywood ...

[Rajiv]

What is Nayagan? if its a south film, then..it remains there..Bollywood (however shitty is ) is what represents Indian movies Its easy to pick on India due to the sheer volume of movies made here. We have our bollywood and tollywood, which our made for the masses and its obvious, outsiders will find it funny or stupid, coz they have no clue about it So, why the fuss?

[suma25]

What is Nayagan? if its a south film, then..it remains there..Bollywood (however shitty is ) is what represents Indian movies

nayakan was the original south version of vinod khanna's dayavan .

[Gambit]

:two_thumbs_up: good reccommendations bb of the classics i would recommend hrishikesh mukherjee films the guy was a genius..... of the recent ones 1971 black friday no smoking ek chalis ki last local bheja fry khosla ka ghosla hazaron kwahishein aisi yuva all are hindi movies

Good list there suma. 1971 is an awesome movie. Very underrated. Some more recent ones to add to your list: Johnny Gaddar Omkara Maqbool

[beetle]

Cheers fella.:confused_smile:

I am sure his comments were not meant for feni drinking Goa lovers!:D And my support to his post was because I was a little cheesed off.His first thread was about how we shouldn't use hindi words ...and now this....that's all...don't mind ...ok?

[Guest dada_rocks]

Fuk Hollywood or westerners. We should be making movies that we enjoy to see. Why should we change, just so it makes it appealing for a westerner? Agreed that till 90s, our movies didn't evolve. But later 90s to now, our movies and the plots are looking good. Go watch movies like Johnny Gaddar or Ek Chalis ki last local to see how our movies have evolved. OMFG, Ganguly gets Moyo.....

:two_thumbs_up: that's the way to go

[Guest Hiten.]

How can you guys not recommend Rang De Basanti, Swades ? These films have their own class.

[Ram]

YES ! The # of Follywood films i have watched in my life amounts to less than 10 - half of them when i must have been in my early teens, and even then i thought they were crap. They are all horse-sh it, if you ask me. Same old mind-numbingly dull love-triangle stories recycled over and over again, men acting (and dancing around) like epileptic p ussies, average looking Indian women speaking with cute little voices and crying all the time, and of course...the cringeworthy music. To top it all off, they are all 3 and a half hours long...ZZZZZZZ. Buck Follywood !

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWNNNNNNNNNN !!!!

[Predator_05]

Wow. So the trashy acting and gay dancing that one often encounters in these Follywood films are representations of Indian culture ? That's news to me. I was of the opinion that there was a lot more to Indian culture than what you see in those sh*tty films. Oh well...:confused_smile: ...and LMFAO @ the "why should we pander to Western audiences" line of reasoning. I don't know why Hollywood came into this, but since it did i may as well bring this up: Follywood films do nothing but copy Hollywood's material. You want to know why ? Here's why; 1. Indian diectors can't produce any original material and 2. Indian audiences love to see Hollywood-like crap on their screens. They can't enough of it. Hell, even the Indians themselves acknowledge it. Don't believe me ?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/04/entertainment/main557012.shtml Take a Hollywood plot, sprinkle in cheesy song-and-dance numbers and pour in a gallon of melodrama. Shake well, and you've got a Bollywood movie. :hysterical: But Bollywood, which churns out some 800 movies annually, may be forced to alter its recipe after best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford persuaded India's Supreme Court last month to ban a 260-part TV series that she claimed stole heavily from her novels. Bradford's "A Woman of Substance" and two sequels deal with a woman's struggle to establish herself. In the TV series, "Karishma - The Miracles of Destiny," Bollywood actress Karishma Kapoor overcomes obstacles to become a business tycoon. A spokesman for Sahara TV, the producer of the series, declined to comment as Sahara has appealed. India's movie industry has never hidden its fascination for Hollywood. Even its name suggests it's a happy clone. :hysterical: Bollywood writers told The Associated Press how colleagues furiously scribble dialogue while watching the latest Hollywood DVD and directors study the DVD on the set before copying the movie frame by frame. :hysterical: Tarun Adarsh, editor of the Bombay-based Trade Guide magazine, said up to 60 percent of Bollywood films were remakes of old Indian films or Hollywood movies. :hysterical: "Today's writers are mere translators," Adarsh said. "People lift stories, characterizations, plots, situations, even the way a frame is taken. They may say they were inspired by Hollywood, but they know in their heart that they have copied." :hysterical: Some Indian directors deny this, saying a Hollywood movie would never sell in India unless it had been "Indianized." While conceding Bollywood does often copy Hollywood films "dialogue to dialogue," director Sanjay Gadhvi said his movie "My Friend's Wedding" - in which the male lead tries to ruin the marriage of a childhood friend - drew from earlier Hindi films and not from 1997's "My Best Friend's Wedding," which starred Julia Roberts. However, he said the Bradford court case would make filmmakers think twice before borrowing from Hollywood. "But they borrow out of necessity," Gadhvi added. "America has great writers. We don't have good writers." OUCH ! :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Komal Nata, editor of trade guide Film Information, called Gadhvi's remark a "shortcut and escapist comment." "Attention is paid to the costume designer, to the actor, but not to the writer, who is the film's backbone," Nata said. "It's a sad state. Nobody wants to devote time to the creative process." Veteran writer-director Mahesh Bhatt said the courts would find it difficult to pinpoint plagiarism. "When you take an idea and route it through the Indian heart, it changes entirely," said Bhatt. "You cannot pin a person down on an idea." Isn't his recent thriller, "Secret," similar to 2000's Harrison Ford-Michelle Pfeiffer film, "What Lies Beneath"? No, says Bhatt, insisting his source is Hindu mythology. "The only similarity is the house and the presence of a ghost that happens to be the ghost of the husband's lover," Bhatt said. "The similarity ends there." Aabad Ponda, a lawyer who represents top Bollywood stars, said the Bradford case might make producers more cautious, but filmmakers know they are protected by the lumbering Indian legal system. The outspoken Bhatt is among many in Bollywood who fall back on the argument that there is no original idea. "As far as I'm concerned the human brain is incapable of creating something original. We are a recycling bin," he said. :hysterical: Tigmanshu Dhulia, a young director, disputes this. Dhulia said he was forced to turn to friends to finance his debut film, "Acquired," when producers said they would only finance Hollywood remakes. "It's just easier to copy Hollywood," he said. "The very name Bollywood - what you are saying is that you are copycats."