Some kids wanted to be Bollywood stars. I on the other hand wanted to be the location scout and production assistant. Even though “exotic” locations and sets are de rigueur in most Bollywood films today, the location scout and PA positions still look appealing to me.
I can picture it now; some fat cat producer and a sweatshop of screenwriters churn out the same old pap then decide to inject some excitement into the plot when the hero/heroine/villain decides to train/prance/meet somewhere other than India.
“I want skyscrapers! Lots of them, and maybe some bridges, they have railings that come in handy for the dance sequence. Get me some damn railings!” says the director.
“And cars, sleek fast sports cars – convertibles, they have to have the top down for the song sequence!” Get me some fast convertible cars dammit.” (IÂ’m picturing the Indian version of the 1940s Hollywood executive here barking these in Hindi)
This is when a producer usually chimes in since he has a good chunk of change invested.
“Can we get some gardens or amusement parks in the sequence?”
“Yeah, get me some g**damn amusement parks!! If we need to reserve Six Flags in New Jersey for a whole week, just do it!”Now I haven’t watched too many recent Bollywood films in its entirety. But from what I have seen, they seem to be rehashes of B grade Hollywood films. While production values have increased, the quality of the actual content has gone down the tubes. We are subjected to actresses who spend more time in the makeup chair than learning how to emote. (Yes, yes we get it, you are wearing, lipstick, lip gloss and lip liner. You have lips, and they are very prominent.). The men don’t fare any better, they are cookie-cutter Euro-trash wannabes (with extra product for the hair). Don’t even get me started on the dance sequences. Every new choreography sequence today takes one part Janet Jackson (circa Rhythm Nation 1814) robotic moves with two parts of Christina Aguilera skank moves and a dash of Beyonce sashay and booty shake.
Which brings me back to being a location scout/PA for these films. If a decision is made to shoot in an American or European city, it looks like the only thing you have to do is get a permit, set up equipment, and get the actors on mark and start shooting. DonÂ’t worry about the street traffic or pedestrians. You wonÂ’t have to walk around with a bullhorn asking people to keep moving or not look into the camera. Having a bunch of westerners in the background while they point to the leading lady as she sings and dance is not only required but probably strongly encouraged. This seems to be the only tradition in the Bollywood film that has survived.
With that, may I direct your attention (bittorrent file)to the stylings of Rishi Kapoor (slightly beyond his prime and packing a few pounds) and Sridevi (who looks like she raided Vanessa HuxtableÂ’s wardrobe) in Gurudev (1993). HeÂ’s dressed as a male nurse, she looks like she just escaped an episode of FoxÂ’s The Swan gone horribly wrong and theyÂ’re both frolicking in what looks like a scale model European city. Check out the people in the background.
Note: For the torrent challenged, you can always get a zipped version here.
gotta agree with you on the comments about the non acting abilities and the ‘actors’ ability to gyrate like it was 1989 or so… 🙂
Stan,
You should consider watching some of the new breed of ‘multiplex’ films, i.e., in the R.G. Varma vein.
Some are adaptations of hollywood, but others come across as pretty original (or perhaps: orginal mashings of different inspirations). Most are low on the kitsch factor. And while few are truly great, there are some that show actors and directors taking interesting risks.
The film Bhoot, from three years ago, might be an interesting place to start. Also on the R.G. Varma tip is Mein Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, a self-reflexive film that didn’t get the attention it deserved.
I also think Nazar, which is new, is kind of interesting. The heroine has visions of the murders of dance-bar girls by a serial killer, and teams up with a hunky policeman to solve the crime. Many elements resemble American serial killer flicks, but the particular deployment of them here somehow felt ‘Indian’.
I don’t know if you’ll like those films (except maybe Mein Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon).
I do think you’d like Parineeta, at least the sequence that involves Rekha’s item number. It’s definitely a throw-back to the 1970s…
And maybe also Paheli, which is admittedly cheesy in many respects. But I don’t think I’d ever seen quite that plot before: a spirit falls in love with Rani Mukherjee, who has been recently married off to an unlikeable wealthy man (grumpy Shah Rukh Khan). The spirit (played by the happy SRK) takes the form of the husband while the real husband is away, and seduces Rani M. only after telling her that he’s not in fact human. Besides the interesting hint at an embrace of adultery, I can’t think of any Bollywood or Hollywood film with a remotely similar storyline.
In short, I love the retro-kitsch, but I wanted to put in a good word for the industry as it’s beginning to evolve. There’s still a pretty astonishing amount of trash, but there’s some signs of life too. If you don’t watch the new films, you won’t see it.
Well said, Amardeep! I second most of your nominees– especially MMDBCH, which got no love– and would like to throw in the additional unique films of:
Ek Haseena Thi, which is a creepy tale of a doormat girlfriend getting fleeced by her gangster boyfriend, only to turn the tables on him.
Masti– I don’t know what to say about this one. I laughed thoroughly, and you’ve never ever seen a desi movie like this. The story is not so brilliant but the dialogues make up for it.
Zubeidaa is a beautiful story and Manoj Bajpai is amazing.
And I’m a sucker for Dil Chahta Hai.
Turbanhead, as for the Rhythm Nation rip-off choreography… UGH! It’s so vomitous that some choreographer takes one pop-n-lock class in US or UK and tries to incorporate the same steps into every movie they do for the next 10 years. Prabhudeva is a genius, highly underappreciated at that, and his choreography is truly visionary. (best example: Main Aisa Kyon Hoon from the movie Lakshya)
RGV SUCKS! Many hindi movies are trash but it’s really annoying that formulaic Bollywood movies are automatically labeled as kitsch or cheese, while anything that resembles Hollywood’s “realistic” conceit is held up as the standard for film the world over…I personally feel a loss witnessing this Indian stampede towards Westernized, multiplex movies though I’m well aware that it’s unstoppable (thank you, globalization!). Not because one way is necessarily better or worse (I LOVE Hollywood movies too), but because I find the thoughtless homogenization of film, especially the spineless acquiescence in such homogenization by the only popular, distinctive alternative to the Hollywood juggernaut, absolutely no cause for celebration!
IMHO the best of Bollywood today is NOT the knee-jerk, no-song-or-dance-basically-Western-film-in-Hindi (I mean, if you want Hollywood, why bother with RGV’s inferior version of it?), but those movies that retain their Bollywood roots and update them for the times…off the top of my head: Lagaan, Hey Ram, Yuva, Khakee (LOVED it; rare current movie that actually puts to use the full Bachchan myth), Bunty aur Babli (a must-see for fans of 70s masala flicks), Paheli, Dil Chahta Hai, Mission Kashmir…even Lakhshya and Devdas.
P.S. The westernization of Indian cinema has meant the disappearance of the myth-in-cinema-feel of old Bollywood. Hindi movies today simply dont have the classic dialogues of old Bollywood such as in Ghulami when the boy (who grows to be Dharmendra) says to the evil thakur: “Dekh rahan hoon Jagat ki maa ke pairon par phool hain, aur meri maa ke sar par jooti”…Instead we have RGV’s pathetic homage to Godfather…I cant remember a single line from Sarkar.
Ah Prabhu deva, legend. I cut my performance teeth doing Muqabala, we had a UV light and everything. I didn’t realise he was in Lakshya! Actually, let me pick your brains DD – what Hindi/Indian movies do you rate dance-wise? I’m fairly clued up about Bollywood, although I tend to watch more indie movies (basically that translates as ones without songs). I watch the Bollywood fare on others’ recommendations – but I’d happily watch some tripe just for a topnotch dance sequence, which is something people don’t always remember when they’re reviewing films to me!
(as a footnote, I’ve seen most of your recommendations and when it comes to BOLLYWOOD movies, for me it’s Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai and Sholay. Bas.)
Jeez, I must have had a real lapse in brain: I totally forgot the Mani Ratnam movies! (thanks for jarring me, SMR)
Dil Se Bombay Yuva
Double-endorsement for Bunty Aur Babli. If I go to a movie, laugh out loud, and I’m by myself- you KNOW that movie was funny.
BB- Prabhudeva’s Main Aisa Kyon Hoon is reason enough to watch Lakshya. The movie was decent too, but far and away that song proved without a doubt that Hrithik is the best dancer in Bollywood. I mean, my jaw dropped when I saw the movie.
Unfortunately most of the good dances come in movies that you might not want to suffer through, sometimes. For example, I could do without the movie Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa, but the dance for Nikamma is hot! Or Ishq Kamina in that crappy movie, Shakti.
Lagaan is outstanding, Devdas has beautiful dances, and I thought they did a great job with Bunty Aur Babli (though I’m tired of Shiamak. He’s got no new tricks)
Did you see the Hrithik Heartthrobs tour a couple years ago, that Ganesh Hedge choreographed? It was Soo-Weet, especially what he set to Michael Jackson’s 2000 Watts…
-if we get too geeky and hijack the thread, we can take this offline 🙂
Smr,
Couple of quick questions, followed by some more thoughts: 1– How is Dil Chahta Hai faithful to Bollywood roots? Or Yuva? Both represent signicant departures from the standard format.
2–So you can’t remember any lines from Sarkar (admittedly, I can’t either, except for the taglines for the film). Can you remember any dialogue from Khakee or Mission Kashmir?
More generally, I wanted to point out that globalization is not really that new a thing. Nor is the Indian imitation of Hollywood. Even “Sholay” — from back in the day — was itself a kind of adaptation of spaghetti westerns like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
What you call homogenization, I think of as the opposite — diversification, via the growth of niche markets. The biggest upshot of this is the advent of more intelligent, realistic movies than the films of the 70s and 80s. There is more politics being discussed in recent Hindi films; it’s great that directors can now do interesting things with current events issues like the Kargil war (Lakshya), AIDS (My Brother Nikhil), homosexuality, etc.
The traditional films are still there (and still doing pretty well, in some instances), but Indian audiences are moving past the old model of the masala super-hit, with a little bit of everything and a lot of fast-forwardable, timepass dialogue. What we’re seeing now are ironic/self-reflexive super-hit formula films like Bunty aur Babli (this year) and Main Hoon Na (last year), which seem to be winking at an increasingly self-aware audience.
It’s also worth mentioning that many of the ‘traditional’ films of the mid/late 90s and early 00s were obsessively NRI-oriented, both in terms of theme and audience. Movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham weren’t copying hollywood, to be sure, but they were pretty cynical nonetheless with their weepy nostalgia for a traditional India that has in fact evaporated.
Imitation of hollywood is admittedly still a factor in the smaller multiplex movies (and sometimes a problem, I would agree), but directors like RGV always find ways to make sure films register with Indian audiences. In every adaptation of a western movie there are notable changes made. It’s rarely ‘slavish’ imitation.
Hmm, I may have to do my own post on this — guaranteed to raise some hackles!
Bong Breaker,
For a movie with interesting stuff on dance, try Naach. It’s a flawed movie in many respects, but what they’re trying to do with Antara Mali is interesting.
I also like Farah Khan’s choreography. I haven’t seen all the films she’s choreographed, but of the ones I’ve seen I liked what she did with Main Hoon Na, Armaan, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge, and the Mira Nair (hollywood!) flick Vanity Fair. Lots of original dance ideas in those films.
DD, Have you seen this? It’s completely juvenile, but it made me laugh.
Funny, my girlfriend showed me Naach the other day – in particular that second song on the beach, it’s soft core porn! Abhishek Bachan, what a waste of space. Haven’t watched the whole thing yet. Antara Mali’s had a boob job fo’ sho’. Ooh look at me getting all bitchy. She’s kind of RGV’s new Urmila, what say?
Hey Amardeep you pre-empted me with Farah Khan – I was going to ask who rates her. I’m not so sure. Ek Pal Ka Jeena remains an all time classic, but since then she’s a bit of a one-trick pony. And yeah – make a post on the point you were making, I have plenty to say on film!
DD I shall investigate Lakshya. Lagaan really was superb – dancing and everything else. And I love me cricket. That had another song I’ve performed, Radha Kaise Na Jale, lovely song – very refreshing to see in a big budget movie (Saroj Khan). But from a dance PoV, Gracy Singh really can dance well and I was so pleased to see a Bollywood actress executing some sharp kathak and villagey-traditional moves in a time when most starlets attend one bharatnatyam class and think they can dance classically. It bugs me a lot, the oldest dances in the world have become little flares to chuck in to any old dance, even Raghav videos! OK it’s not the actress’ fault, it’s the choreographer’s.
For example: Gowariker’s second movie, Swades, was also set in a village (for the most part), but that actress was from a modelling background was and hopeless at dancing. It was painful to watch (Bosco-Caesar I think).
No matter what one says about her vulgarity, Saroj Khan is still one of the best around.
No I have never seen any of the live shows (don’t think I want to!) but I keep an eye out for Ganesh Hegde, aka the baby elephant.
Lastly, Devdas. If ONLY one could just pick out the dances. Nice music and the two best dancers of recent years, Ash and Madhuri. Shame the rest of the film was SO GOD AWFUL. Saurav will understand, all Bengalis should hate Devdas (2002). A horrific car crash of a movie and sacrilege of a literary classic.
Be proud of your geekiness DD! But you’re more than welcome to continue the discussion elsewhere 🙂
Amardeep- Much to comment say here but I’ll try to be brief.
It’s simply not true that today’s Bollywood films are more political than traditonal Bollywood. You can’t get more political than Ghulami, Deewar, Lawaris (opens on India’s Republic Day; on that day Amjad Khan tells Raakhee he’s not going to be responsible for their child: Amitabh is literally the bastard child of this Republic Day conversation, a stinging rebuke to the system), Amar Akbar Anthony (witness the “good” Muslim Akbar singing “shirde wale sai baba” in light of the reducing patronage of Sai Baba by Muslims in India. To Manmohan Desai, a good muslim IS a syncretic Muslim…I could go on and on about this film), Vaastav, Parinda, LoC, Gadar, Kaalia, Arth, Ardh Satya, Refugee, Pukar, Gangajal, etc…Also, those films were actually viewed by large sections of the Indian-movie-watching public, unlike the My Brother Nikhils of today (that one was seen by oh 3 people, despite the breathless write up in the NYT).
Sholay: Yes, it’s inspired by Leone, but also by kurosawa…the difference between Sholay and RGV Rubbish is PRECISELY the difference between a creative interpretation of and inspiration from world cinema, and mindless globalization. Sholay borrows heavily from once upon a time in the west and seven samurai, but in the process also becomes something else…Sarkar is merely hollywood-in-hindi…Also on RGV, if all his films manage to “register” with Indian audiences then why do they flop so miserably? (Sarkar was the exception and it probably did well only because of the Bachchans.)
Yuva: Other than the narrative techniques, I didn’t see any wholesale replacement of Bollywood with Hollywood techniques. A fresh-faced Vivek Oberoi ending up in the Bengal assembly at the end of the movie is classic Bollywood. The fact that each character is a stand-in for something larger than himself is classic Bollywood. Lallan’s character is directly descended from Bachchan’s mythic characters in Deewar, Agneepath, etc. Where is the stark departure? The movie itself is more sophisticated than standard Bollywood fare but that’s because Mani Ratnam is Mani Ratnam, not because of any blind ape-ing of Hollywood.
DCH: Again, other than the narrative techniques, this is hardly in the same vein as RGV’s Wholesale Replication of Western Classics. I mean, hello? Male friendships? 100% bollywood. Standard college-coming-of-age song a la papa kehte hain from QSQT? Check. Standard songs about the travails of love? Check.
Finally, I hardly think (nor did I imply in my comment) that the Karan Johar/Shah Rukh/Raj/Rahul movies of the 90s are “traditional” Bollywood. Those films epitomize everything I despise about new Bollywood. They are better described as “Bollywood lite” a product of 90’s style westernization – an utterly politics-free, conflict-free, sanitized version of hindi movies; simulcra that are palatable to NRI audiences and Indian multiplexers desperate to see themselves as “cool” and “modern”, despite the fact that those movies are anything but cool and are retrograde in ways that 70s movies never were…(Hey, your dad kicked you out for dating a girl who wasnt too rich? No problem. He’s still a saint and we’ll just move to London and be rich there and continue to love and respect him from afar…contrast this with, for instance, the big f#$% you that heroes and heroines gave to their parents in the 70s and 80s when parents dared to stand in the way of true love).
To summarize: inspiration and adaptation = good, copying = bad, Karan Johar = evil.
Very interesting stuff SMR. Let me begin by giving a resounding endorsement of your Karan Joar = evil equation. Selfridges did ’23Å“ Days of Bollywood’, where the centrepiece was Dimple’s Abu-Sandeep house re-created inside the store. Karan Johar bowled up and I made sure to tell him how much I hated his movies and how he is a pox on Indian cinema. No actually I didn’t, I said “You shouldn’t wear a fur coat” and he said “it’s fake”, but that story doesn’t have the same pathos I feel.
A key point you made is how whilst Sholay, the curry western, was obviously inspired by Kurosawa and Leone, it mutated into something else along the way – which is what is missing from the current direct-by-numbers Hollywood re-hashes.
On a slightly different tangent, as a budding filmmaker there is a lot I would like to see lifted from Hollywood – production values. We’ve been talking about plots, but I’m such a pedant that I can’t watch a Hindi movie with a wonderfully admirable or original story if the editing is lazy, the focus puller is sloppy or the sound isn’t mastered. I don’t know why this is the case, I don’t know enough about the different production companies that exist in Mumbai to comment on why some films, like Lagaan (sorry to bang on about it) are perfectly technically sound, whereas others are an embarrassment, which often undermines a concerted attempt to produce something different. Lagaan was an example of a film that ticked all my boxes as an NRI – it didn’t sacrifice on its Bollywood roots, it was long, it had over-acting, it had melodrama and it had dances – but it was good enough to a Westerner to be nominated for an Oscar.
I too am very hopeful about the future of Indian cinema as a whole, but I am also very mindful of our shortcomings.
Cool, you’re a budding filmmaker? I’m a budding scriptwriter…I just haven’t gotten ’round to writing my masterpiece yet ha
I agree about the lack of production values though I think that’s one thing that HAS vastly improved in the last decade thanks to westernization. Especially the editing. I thank the Lord every day that that I no longer have to suffer through films with continuity problems…
P.S. I’ve never been able to figure out why they cant move their camera across a landscape without losing focus, know what I mean? (is that what you mean by focus puller?) Is that really difficult to fix for some reason?
Yeah, I’ve done the smalltime London festival circuit with my first few shorts but then this bloody degree got in the way. I’m planning to make a feature once I graduate (fingers crossed next year), realise I’m rubbish and go back to my day job. I love coming up with stories, but I’ve realised my forte is not scriptwriting – so I’m looking to hook up with a hotshot scriptwriter at some point! What kind of stuff do you write? Don’t say rom-com.
Focus puller is a role that doesn’t exist in smaller productions (it’s done by the Cam2 or assistant cameraman) but Bollywood flicks have crews the size of armies (always without surnames). Basically they make sure things are in focus, that’s all! It’s such a bugbear of mine. You all have friends like me, annoying gits who sit there and say “oh the f number’s wrong” “the shutter speed is WAY off!” “that cigarette just got longer” and so forth. I’m so obsessive-compulsive I can’t enjoy a movie with flaws like that. Mission Impossible 2 left me rocking back and forth in a cold sweat. For days.
Sound is another thing that still bothers me in a lot of Hindi movies, high end or not. When I was a kid, I put it down to the crappy pirate copies I’d watch. Now they’re shown in plenty of London cinemas and DVD is here, I find the sound is still not too hot.
Hmm…
Between SMR and Bongbreaker, I have only this to say: Amorres Perros -> Yuva
There may have been a change of style in Bollywood, but its still the same monkey piss in a champagne bottle.
I do like their cinematographers, especially the one from Black, Ravi K. Chandran. I hear he’s going to be working on Bajirao Mastani as well. I don’t think Indian cinema (let alone Bollywood) has grown significantly in the last 10 years. Everyone was stuck in Sholay mode until the 80s, and everyone was stuck in Maine Pyaar Kiya mode in the 90s, and by the 00s it seems they’re all stuck in Dil Chahta Hai mode. I’m not looking to watch a music video, and I don’t care if you got Juggy D and Rishi Rich on your soundtrack. I thought Lagaan and company were a step in the right direction, but other than that… We really need a Rashomon or Pather Panchali to make the world take notice of Indian cinema, and not just know us through the medium of Bollywood? Anyone get whatimsayin? Oh YEAH? Well….I’m a scriptwriter AND a filmmaker! Beat that. Plus I’m the next Kurosawa!
Anyone hear about this? Apparently Army-tabh is playing Gabbar singh in RGV’s remake of Sholay.
ads, that’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all month! Thanks for sharing!
Ironically enough, I’m working on staging that piece right now, so I’m sending it to all the dancers. Now we’ll be snorting and cracking up the whole time we dance…
I really wanted to like Naach, I really did… but it just sucked. First of all Abhishek Bachchan couldn’t have been a worse call in casting– I like him otherwise, mind you– but the man can’t dance. It was painful to watch. Antara Mali was so great in MMDBCH but, yeah, she’s the new RGV It-girl so I guess we’ll have to suffer a few crappy movies as they mold her into the next star.
I think films like Yuva, DCH, Lakshya or My Brother Nikhil are not untrue to Bollywood/Indian cinema. They are simply testing the boundaries and exploring things that are certainly in the consciousness of society. (Plus the finale fight-scene in Yuva is done SO well! ouch)
Production value has got to improve, heartily agreed. But I will give credit that it already has made giant steps in that direction. If you look at the difference in production from DDLJ, which was only made in ’95, or Taal from ’99, and compare them to the production quality and value of Main Hoon Na, Dhoom, Dus, or Black, you’ll see that already major progress has been made. I’d still like to introduce the concept of Continuity to the Indian film world.
There are some new choreographers who seem to be returning to a more fusion style, and less of the MTV video dancing. Choreographers like Vaibhavi Merchant, Raju Khan, and Ganesh Hedge are doing great work, honoring the inroads made by such visionaries as Saroj Khan and Farah Khan. There is still a tone of classical Indian dance, but mixed with some of the high energy western styles. I think I’d shit if I saw the day any bollywood movie had someone dancing en pointe.
Farah Khan– dont’ get me started, I’ll gush all day. That woman has such versatility and a wealth of creativity! It was actually painful to see Bombay Dreams in NYC because it was so blatantly obvious which choreography was FarahJi’s and which crap the other guy had stuffed in there, thinking it might be passable.
I’ll forgive a complete bakwaas movie if there are some killer dances.
oh and BB- if you haven’t seen Umrao Jaan, you must! The story is wonderful anyway, but Rekha’s dancing is SO good.
I shall save more grandiloquent filmic discourse for Amardeep’s dedicated thread. Plus I should be revising.
Wow you rate Farah Khan that highly? I shall bow to your superior judgement, I haven’t seen huge amounts of her work. Completely forgot she was a part of the Bombay Dreams crew, it had that little impact on me. What a forgettable show and what disappointing dancing. Actually West End shows in general often leave me a bit underwhelmed, but once again I don’t watch all that much. I saw Stomp! recently at that was phenomenal.
Right, Umrao Jaan, Lakshya…and I think I might dig out those weird Tamil films to watch Prabhu Deva’s finest. Talk about sitting through bakwaas movies for a few moves. Have you ever watched a Tamil film? Whoa.
PS – I saw some dude doing a 1990 on the back of his hand (a one-handed spinning handstand) and thought it doesn’t look too hard. Don’t try it, I implore you; this has taken me about half an hour to type.
on the back of his hand?? I hope I’m visualising that wrong, because it sounds painful!
I just found out about this guy, here in NY:
Uh oh. He looks like he’s going to steal my crown as the brown bboy. Who am I kidding, I never had it! DD, break his legs s’il te plait. Although…and here’s the bitchiness again, I really don’t rate his tutting and when stopped the jazz and got down to the ‘mills and swipes I suddenly felt better. Did you see the video? There’s a crazy bit with his dancing with what I can only describe as an ass on his head. And him getting off with some girl.
Yeah on the back of his hand, the whole weight was on his wrist. Koreans, I don’t know how they do it, they’re unbelievable. So are you a full-time dancer?
I’ll have to back and look for the ass on the head 🙂 No, you’re right, he’s more novelty than anything. I know a couple of Japanese girls that would totally serve munda.
Sadly, no I am not a f/t dancer. I like things like health insurance and we’re trying to buy a place, so alas I must slog it out and use the paycheck of sad day-job to subsidize getting my groove on. It makes the day pass, knowing I get to go do something I truly want to, after I endure the 9-5. Basically, I bribe myself 😉
Hey, I more than understand. In fact, it seems it’s to be expected amongst South Asians. I was directing a music video for someone recently and me and my co-director went to great lengths to conceal the fact we’re medical students as we thought we wouldn’t be taken seriously as part-timers. In the end the person who hooked us up with the job (a South Asian herself) asked what we do during the day and we confessed, expecting some funny looks, but she simply said
“Well, if you didn’t say you were a medic/lawyer/accountant, I’d be surprised. Every Asian has a job they don’t like and a hobby they would’ve preferred to follow a career in”
The younger generation of British Asians are moving into more diverse fields gradually, but there is always that underlying wish to be secure and comfortable. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know! I don’t want to get to 35 and think ‘what if?’
Hey, just noticed that Kundu fella’s half Bengali half European just like me! Something in the genes…
Hey Bong Breaker, you’ve now name-dropped Bobby and Nihal and the fact you spare-time in video, so I feel I must figure out who you are, as I freelance in Brit Asian media. 🙂 I don’t want to guess which of the med student mag team you are, so can you drop me a line at fotzepolitic at email dot com?
Hello fotzepolitic, I already know who you are! Hoho, what a small world. I’ll try to drop you a line soon, you’ll be disappointed, you already know an alias of mine!
Is he? Awesome. There seem to be more hapas coming out of the sepia woodwork in recent weeks… (self included)
I love the quote about every asian has a job they don’t like and the rest of it. It eases my guilt over selling out for 8 hours a day 🙂
what’s your email– I don’t want to bore the rest of the SM crew with a lengthy discussion over different styles of tuttin’ and freezes…
Bong Breaker — you know me? I don’t think I know any med students. Dang! Well, write me at my real e-mail, then. 😉 I may shoot at a cheesy Bolly quiz night next week with a presenter, maybe we could meet up. Heh.
For those of you still reading waayyyy high up, Naach was copied from Wong Kar Wai’s in the mood for love. Go see it. 500 times better.
DD, click me name. Anang I never knew that, really? What an awful copy (from what I’ve seen). I’ve got a lot of Won Kar Wai’s films, I’m a huge fan. Fa yeung nin wa (ITMFL) is a beautiful film.
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