M : Minorities Representation in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Have you heard of Bechdel test? Wikipedia defines it like this -  "It is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added. Passing or failing the test is not necessarily indicative of how well women are represented in any specific work. Rather, the test is used as an indicator for the active presence of women in the entire field of film and other fiction, and to call attention to gender inequality in fiction." 

For the purpose of this post when I was trying to find an equivalent test for minorities, this is what I came across - A simplified version by the writer Nikesh Shukla, proposed in 2013, asks if "two ethnic minorities talk to each other for more than five minutes about something other than race."

If I apply it to representation of minorities in Hindi Films or in Bollywood, I think one must add two more conditions. 

Are minorities shown only to generate few laughs at their cost? Example : Gays shown in movies only to create humor.

Are minorities shown in stereotypical roles to further the story of the film? Example: A Sikh taxi driver as the helpful guy who gives leading lady a ride in the time of trouble. He is shown as this good Samaritan always, never a hero though. 

I believe Hindi Films have largely been dishonest in representation of minorities of any kind. Whether it is religious minorities or sexual minorities. Reprehensibly they have even represented people with disabilities with the sole purpose of making fun of them or on other extreme make us pity them. 

Though film-makers in last decade have become more sensitive and are more careful about this issue, the deeply rooted biases still come out. I would be very happy if the cliches related to minorities in Hindi films are done away with for good. I have Gujarati friends, and they are not all misers. I know few Parsee people and they speak normally. I am a Sikh myself and I don't break into a Bhangra and hug people just like that. I had a gay colleague and didn't come to know about it from his body language or dressing sense. He simply told me. 

So here are scenes from two of my favorite films which represented minorities normally. These films don't try to spoof them. They don't play on the dominant stereotypes of these minorities. First is from the movie Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year. The protagonist here is a Sikh. But his religious identity had nothing to do with the plot of the film. (Watch from 1:10 to 1:54) The second is from the movie Kapoor & Sons. One of the leading protagonists is a gay and that representation is done in a matter of fact way through the film. The story won't change even if he was not a gay. 

I just hope next time when I write about this subject, more such films come to my mind. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter M: MUMBHAI 4 - A post about key life events in city of Mumbai. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter M: My Son Meharaj - A post about things my son taught me. Click here to read.

L : Lost & Found Formula in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Hindi films first perfected this formula and then took it to such absurd levels of stupidity, that the formula became cliched. And then the Hindi films abandoned it. I miss the formula at times. Lost & Found formula is a great literary device that creates potential for drama. 

Imagine two people sitting in a restaurant on different tables. This is a normal scene. They are doing normal things. But as an audience you are aware that these two people are brothers who got separated in childhood and they now don't recognize each other. If you notice, the scene lacks any thrill or drama, but in your mind a lot is happening. No wonder, almost every second film from 50s to 80s used this device to further the screenplay.

Lost & Found formula had a standard arc. A happy family was shown. A disaster (natural / man-made) would strike. Somehow all family members would end up at different places, with no way to reach the others. They would then grow up oblivious to others' conditions. They would grow up in different socio-economic situations leading to a natural conflict between them when their paths cross. Their paths would cross. They wouldn't recognize each other. By the time third act starts, there would be something which would make them realize that they are family. They would fight the main evil together. Happy Ending!

The two films that did it so well were Yash Chopra's Waqt and Nasir Hussain's Yaadon Ki Baaraat. These two films were really well made, because the lost & found formula was not used here for just cheap thrills. The formula was important to make the point of the story. The separation was inevitable and not forced. In Waqt an earthquake strikes and in Yaadon ki Baraat, the three brothers get separated while fleeing away from the killer of their parents. The reunion at the end was also not based on some flimsy logic. In Waqt, the elder son, recognizes a childhood picture and in Yaadon Ki Baraat, the youngest brother sings in a club daily, a song which the three brothers knew by heart, in hope that one of the club patrons, someday might turn out to be his brother. Here are the reunion scenes from both the films. 

But  then as it happens with most formulas, this formula was rendered useless by its overuse. Also in some films the recognition of each other happened in strange ways. Like a birthmark on the arm, which is common to both brothers. Look at the absurdity here. What are the odds that in a highly populated country like India, two brothers who got separated in childhood, would cross each others paths, in sleeve-less shirts and notice a birth mark?

Then there was another cliche - a childhood locket. Before separation the father would buy identical lockets for both his sons. As they grow up, does this locket keeps growing too? Or did father bought over-sized lockets? Why do the sons keep wearing this locket even when they grow up? What are the odds here, that the shop from which the father bought lockets didn't sell it to any one else?

In Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, a miserable flop and the last film in which I remember this formula being used, took this absurdity to next level. One of the brothers had a lock and the other key to it. And they both carry it with them always. As if separated people don't move on in lives. 

I would love it if a modern film-maker makes a movie on this formula but root it in reality. It would be a super-hit!

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter L: Lucknow - A post about my time in the city of Lucknow. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter L: Left Behind - A post which tries to provide solutions to some of the pressing problems in your life. Click here to read.