Soon it will be time to get your filmi on–Third I, the Yay Area’s own promoter of South Asian independant film–has put 
out the schedule for it’s third film festival, bringing desi masala, fine art, and social commentary to The Roxie and The Castro. Here are some of the descriptions that grabbed my interest:
What does it mean to be an American Muslim? This revealing and engaging documentary follows Pakistani American Rock star Salman Ahmed of Junoon, as he explores stories from a community as diverse as the progressive “Allah made me Funny” comedy troupe, to a prominent family that founded the “Muslims for Bush” campaign. (Link)
On May 23rd, 1914, the Japanese shipping vessel Komagata Maru, chartered by Sikh businessman Gurdit Singh, arrived in Canada’s Vancouver Harbor. Aboard were 376 migrants of Indian origin, citizens of the British Empire who believed it their right to move and settle freely within its domain. Upon anchoring, however, the passengers were prevented from disembarking by local Canadian officials, whose decision reflected a growing nationwide resistance to non-white immigration. (Link.)This documentary explores the little known ethos of neighborhood photo studios in Indian cities, discovering entire imaginary worlds in the smallest of spaces. Tiny, shabby studios that appear to be stuck in a time warp turn out to be places throbbing with energy. As full of surprises as the people who frequent these studios are the backdrops they enjoy posing against and the props they choose – affording fascinating glimpses into individual fantasies and popular tastes. (Link.)
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p>And of course there will be some Bollywood—our man Shah Rukh in a really big turban:
Come celebrate BOLLYWOOD at the Castro!! Paheli is the latest Bollywood feature from India. With its star-studded cast, (irresistible Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee), fantasy sets, endearing musical scores, Paheli is a delightful folk tale, wherein a ghost falls in love with a bride. When her husband leaves immediately after the wedding ceremony for a business trip, the ghost enters her life. The twists and turns of this touching Bollywood family drama and love story will move you to laugh, cry, sing, dance. Perfect for Bollywood devotees and novices alike.
I think the crying will be because we won’t be able to take the turban home with us after the movie. I bet Shah Rukh could auction that thing off on Ebay to very good effect–maybe someone with connections can suggest he do it as a fundraiser?
Reviews of and articles about the festivals offerings: Sunset Boulevard, Meghe Dhaka Tara, It’s My Country Too, Amu, Paheli, Continuous Journey, Khamosh Pani, City of Photos, No More Tears Sister, Ganges: River to Heaven.
Sad Note: while searching for reviews of these films I discovered that Junoon musician and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Salman Ahmad has cut short his tour of the middle east to attend the funerals of his aunt and other relatives killed in the earthquake.
One thing Shah Rukh Khan has perfected to an art is crying. Check out some of his movies – half the time he is sobbing.
Actually, Kush, that’s the one thing I think he doesn’t do well, and wish he wouldn’t. He’s a fabulous comic actor–smirks, raised eye brows, incredulity, straight face, rolling of eyes: he does it all nimbly and without excess. He’s even decent angry. But I can’t stand it when they make him cry, and they always, always do. Perhaps he just needs more subtle direction.
I think it is possible for Indian film-makers to create a significant market in the US. Unfortunately, no Indian film has come even close to generating “Crouching tiger..” type of revenue.
Yes, there are cultural barriers, but they exist for Asian films as well. Strong stereotypes exist for movies from specific regions – for instance Bollywood is song and dance, China/Taiwan etc. are Kung Fu movies while Japan is Samurai films.
I am not sure but it looks like playing the stereotype even more strongly is more conducive to garner greater market share.
The so called cross-over films fail miserably. There are two categories of these films:
a) A Bollywood production which tries to capture the NRI market. This is a farely successful strategy but fails to reach the US mainstream audience. Unfortunately, often the forced attempts to throw in an “NRI element” makes these movies quite distasteful.
b) Indian-American attempts like ABCD/American Desi etc. which do not get anywhere and are pathetic in terms of quality.
I do not believe the mainstream Bollywood will ever be able to deliver a US blockbuster. I had high hopes for aspiring Indian American movie makers, but they seem to be unable to break away from the arranged marriage theme.
“I do not believe the mainstream Bollywood will ever be able to deliver a US blockbuster.”
If it will ever happens, it will be through mainstream Bollywood. Also, without NRI theme (again sobbing, bhajans in NYC etc.), Bharat Mata, Gurinder Chada, yada, yada angle.
It just has to be a compelling story. Crouching Tiger was one. A few days ago, I saw another beautiful Chinese movie, “In the mood of love” – just an excellent movie, nothing more.
Saheli, I agree they should limit SRK’s sobbing.
Bollywood is so deeply entrenched in formulas and also so deeply tied to the largely illiterate mafia types for financing, that there is little hope at least for now. The biggest and little acknowledged trouble in Bollywood is the way the industry is structured. Writers, screenplay writers etc are paid very little. We have all heard of Christopher Doyle, how many Bollywood Cinematographers can we name? I think Bollywood has little incentive to produce high quality intelligent movies until such time when there is a sizable upper-middle class population.
The success of Shah Rukh Khan is an indictment to the intelligence of the Indian movie audience.
oai!! you still here?
Well I was gonna say pretty much what argus said but he got there before I could. I’ve seen more than enough Indian-American films to know that it will be a long long time before any Indian film breaks through in the american mainstream market. Bend it like Beckham only succeeded because of great marketing and because of Keira Knightley’s pairing with the lead female character. If i remember correctly, it was originally to be a lesbian story, but the director toned it down. Most of the films made about indians abroad are the same PSA, “isn’t my immigrant dad’s accent funny, i need to discover myself for i am from a spiritual and mystic land” drivel. We’re no different from our Bollywood bretheren, and the less said about them the better. Their pipe dream of breaking through in the american market is as hopeless as the movie-star-placard-holding wannabees on sunset boulevard.
“A few days ago, I saw another beautiful Chinese movie, “In the mood of love”“
Correction: It was Kar Wai Wong’s “In the mood for love”. Highly recommended.
They could have chosen a better Bollywood flick than Paheli, it was just horrendous in my opinion.
Back to the ThirdI festival, I volunteered last year and thought it was a really awesome experience. Aside from getting to meet really cool and artsy progressive South Asians 😉 (as well as Parminder Nagra!), the festival is really unique in the types of films it brings to light. There is a lot beyond Bollywood out there and this is definitely a great chance to experience some of that. I’d highly recommend going if you are in the area.
While I agree with most comments on the technical quality of Bollywood films, I think to evaluate film as a medium, its cultural history and the place of art in Indian society cannot be ruled out. Melodrama is part of popular folk culture like “nautanki” “jatra” etc. That audience is being weaned to films and hence this emotional drama element is part of popular film structure.(much as we dislike it)
I don’t think the audience being catered to through film is the kind of people on this site.We have been raised on western notions of emotion and anything based on excessive expression of any sentiment is “melodrama” in our eyes. We should stick to watching western filmmakers who will cater to these “sophisticated” emotional sensibilities.
On a serious note, how many here have seen Hazaaron Khwahishein aisi? Or for that matter Bunty aur Babli.Both films were well recieved and were (semi)realistic in 1. A serious way(HKA) and 2.In a frivolous campy Bollywood style( Bunty and Babli)?
Its a little hard for top quality art to arise out of a society that is still racked by bread butter issues……
And here is Sony pictures first global Hindi film project
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story3%2Etxt&counter_img=3?headline=Bhansali~is~Hollywood's~new~saanwariya
S.
I’ve only got a sec. Kush, Wong Kar Wai is one of my favourite directors. In the Mood for Love is a beautiful film, as are many of his others – do check them out. I watch a lot of Chinese movies spend a lot of time comparing the film industries of China and India, leave aside their economies! I’ll write something on me blog soon and let you know.
I’m gonna be attending a few events at the London Film Festival, there are loads of films that sound interesting showing. Amongst the South Asian fare: Rituparno Ghosh’s Antarmahal, Sandip Ray’s After the Night…Dawn and Aparna Sen’s 15 Park Avenue. Cue my usual mantra: Bengalis rule!
There are also some Keralite and Tamil films…and no Bollywood in sight.
Sumita brought up…
To me… that they used a Ghalib couplet in a movie is reason enough to see it… Here’s a non-literal translation of the piece.
A thousand goals have I to achieve, And each is worth dying for. Have achieved much But there is still much I long for.
ade
oai… and what do you think we are… kothu roti?
Kush: In the Mood for Love was an incredible movie and Wong Kar Wai is a phenemonal director. There are directors of that quality in India (Shekar Kapur) and there have been films of that quality (Mandi, etc.) but the settings are so undeniably Indian that they don’t work as well here. In the Mood for Love could have just as easily been set in San Fransisco or Paris.
Dhaavak
That was a wonderful translation. The film (HKA)reminded me of Ghalib’s shayari and I got the dvd of the TV show as well as the cd..
Am enjoying it..Wish there were translations more can enjoy
Sumita
Sumita
Films like Dil Chahta Hai demonstrate that melodrama can be toned down and packaged into something acceptable, without affecting its commercial success and that is what gives me hope.
If I am not mistaken that’s a bandhini style cloth – tie dyed – local to Rajasthan – so kudos to the paheli team for the attention to detail. yea – minor detail – but i appreciate seeing another take pride in one’s work.
i think that part of the reason why the drama and emotions are so highly exaggerated in indian cinema is because they need to cater to the average desi. the average desi at the movies sits in the 20 rupee seat, and takes 3 hours of his/her day to escape from reality. for 3 hours, he/she can forget that rotis need to be put on the table, and that their 4 year old needs admission in a good school etc etc.
i don’t know how many of y’all (yes, i’m a texan) have been to a theater in india….it is an experience in itself. to begin with, the actual room holds 5x as many people as a tinseltown theater, and the screen is naturally much larger. thus, salman khan’s muscles look like the Rock’s. i went to the “first day, first show” of lagaan….boy was that a mistake. my hindi isn’t great to begin with, but it didn’t help that 8 college dumbasses were sitting behind me whistling and screaming the entire time. i had my 6ft tall uncle turn around and hush them…that worked for 15 minutes. i got so fed up that i stood up (in the middle of the movie….i was a hot-tempered 18 y.o. at the time) and yelled “shut the hell up! all of you!” at the top of my lungs. worked for 45 minutes. anyway, point being is that the general public goes to the movies to have a good time. they want to laugh, sing, shout, and cry….they don’t want to be disturbed enough to prevent them from sleeping at night. cinematography to them is seeing the Alps, not the juxtaposition of a burning lamp and a dying plant in the background.
i’m kinda talking out of my ass, sorry. my uncle would have a better opinion on this. he lectures on indian cinema at UPenn, and is starting a film institute in Chennai….i’ll see if i can get ahold of him.
Amu was shown last week to a sold out crowd at in Toronto at the Spinning Wheel Sikh Film Festival and recieved a standing ovation. First time I’ve seen a narrative story on the screen about the 84 pogroms in Delhi. It is a must see. Ali Kazimi’s Continuous Journey is also a great historical piece on the first Sikh migration to Canada. It was shown at last year’s Spinning Wheel. This year I saw his latest film, Runaway Grooms…whoa. Brilliant documentary on the problem of abadoned wives in Punjab. I spoke with him after the film and he says that in Canada the phenomena of going back to the motherland, marrying, extorting money and then abandoning your wife is mostly seen in the Punjabi community, however in America, the trend runs mostly in the Gujrati community. There are something like 30,000 abadoned women back in India… Go see the films and support the artists.
“i don’t know how many of y’all (yes, i’m a texan) have been to a theater in india….”
Many, many, many times, even recently. Somebody, once pointed me out that during depression period, even hollywood movies were escapist, song-dance (somewhat bollywood) like sequences . There is nothing wrong with that…….only some quality story, elegant story telling, and acting is being demanded. Simple example is Charlie Chaplin moives, they are timeless.
They always been beacons of hope even in Bollywood: Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt. I am not counting Satyajit Ray in Bollywood.
I bet if the masses are given more intelligent fare, they will eat it up.
Get your uncle to comment too.
And you thus imply that you are so much above the masses.
… thus implying you go there for education and learning about other cultures or possibly learning about your roots or maybe to make fun of those people.
… and you’re the game trooper who will solve world hunger by dropping fertilizer on every barren piece of land between here and ladakh.
Hi! how’s it going?
I was a little peeved by some of your comments and of other bloggers above lamenting the quality of hindi cinema. Hey man… if you really can not relate to them , why do you mock their choices. Leave them be and we wont bug you. The fact is, the melodrama is not fiction – and it just shows how detached the readers are from day to day life – ok – i’m not grinding my face in delhi grime every day – but this was thrust onto me through some people near and dear to me – i used to shrug and roll my eyes at scenes of extortion, bullying, fall from grace, cuckolding etc. – no more – packaging it in a 3 hr movie is a bit heavy – but this is the reason these movies succeed – if faced with these situations and seeing the righteous emerge victorious at the end – isnt that worth spending like 20 rs on this.
Let me put this question to all mutineers:
*If somebody in India made films like Crouching Tiger, Ran, Hero, Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Dagger in terms of craftsmanship (the whole package – acting, direction, cinematography), you think the Indian masses will not love it. They will absolutely………their expectation will be raised a couple feet. Let us not blame the masses for the mundane fare dished out by bollywood.
Kush’s comment
I don’t do movies – but am somewhat familiar with business. if movies are like any other business – some general principles – the cost of production depends on business practices – if a certain business practice has been commoditized, using it as such is cheap – if the producer plays around with the commodity, not only does (s)he incur additional cost, but there is the risk that the changed commodity will not sit flush with the other business processes.
Therein lies the challenge of balancing risk versus expected reward.
The one example I am aware of – when presumably a shrewd business person got the financial engineering right – was the T-Series case – apparently this guy Gulshan Kumar used hindi movies as a vehicle for the songs he would sell on his audio cassettes – he basically blew the market open and effectively started the industry in a whole new direction – the quality of movies remained as good/bad as ever – but I believe we did see some excellent melodies ocme out of that era.
dhavak,
I love melodrama……I will always enjoy and revere Amitabh Bachchan’s early movies, like Guddi, Dewar, Sholay, Zanjheer, etc. Or Dev Anand early movies or Raj Kapoor’s Bobby, Mera Nam Joker, etc.
The Bollywood doesn’t do that anymore……it is always the same Nani Ma doing bhajans in NYC or SRK sobbing in Wall Street/ NASA when he remembers Bharat Ma or Hirtik dancing in a Swiss disco”.
*Again, Mithun wasn’t doing that in Disco Dancer.
What I want to know is, why is it that the Bollywood fare of today is so markedly inferior to the movies of yesteryear? The argument that Indian audiences simply want escapism is condescending and simply doesn’t wash for me: movies like Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, Shree 420 and Sholay were made in an India where living conditions were more wretched than they are now, and they’re light-years ahead of anything the popular cinema produces in India today. I don’t mind escapism, melodrama and less naturalistic acting styles at all: early Bollywood (and Hollywood for that matter), show that those techniques can be used to sophisticated ends, so my dislike for the current Indian cinema isn’t based on simple snobbery.
Dhaavak,
sorry, for the wrong spelling of your name.
Kush
Array yaar… you kid me now.
survival of the best amba – makes business sense to stock the dvd’s of what will sell.
my hypothesis is that the businesses cater to the market needs – if you’re seeing crap churning out – that’s not really a good judgement on you and i 🙂 and the market IS really driven by nri’s who hanker for the streets paved gold and rivers of honey in bonnie old pind – who cant bear to see pain and suffering.
I have to agree with dhaavak – a lot of new trend in bolloywood movies are due to revenue from DVD sales, targetted toward NRIs. Then, like others said before (Amitabh Bachchan himself on NPR too), the financing system of bollywood is rotten to the core.
It is market economics. As bong breaker as promised that he will write about Chinese-Indian film industry more.
However, I want to point out Chinese film industry (including Hong Kong) gets a tremendous help/ push/ funding from larger Chinese diaspora in real terms and Hollywood too (again, once you make products that sells – financiers come out of wood work).
Ok, here’s another question: why are NRIs so astonishingly unsophisticated in their moviegoing tastes? Surely they must know that little gora kids on the streets of London don’t know the words to Vande Mataram. Why exactly do NRIs find the peurile jingoism of contemporary Bollywood so appealing? I can only conclude that there’s some sort of guilt thing going on.
And why might you expect specifically NRIs to be sophisticated in their moviegoing taste?
You’ve really never fully appreciated an SRK film, complete with unfettered sobbing, until you’ve seen him at The Castro. Having seen Main Hoon Na, and KKKG there the previous two years, I can attest to this fact!
I don’t actually expect NRIs to have better taste than the general Indian population: it just surprises me that, if anything, they seem to have worse taste. If Dhaavak and Kush are right, the marketing of movies to NRIs has a lot to do with the crappy nature of the fare that Bollywood churns out these days.
amba says
my loins burn… not what you think … i was just doing squats. 🙂
OK… I raise my hand. I have indulged Bollywood with $8 of my hard earned money now and then… Why? … because often there is something that I dont see in hollywood – too much fantasy, action crap… a little diversion… I was listening to Writers and Company today and the author being interviewed, Francine Prose, made an interesting observation that there is very little adult literature out there today. Most of the writing out there is too simplistic – adulthood is so much more complicated – i agree – most of the recent releases have been really simplistic and not much nuance to it – even when i’ve ventured off shore – the results have been not pleasant – a korean movie i saw had rabid incest – geez man… the one i did like was with daniel day lewis… does anyone remember that… movie by arthur miller’s daughter… now that was a good movie – and… melodramatic – but then i get loads of melodrama in hindi movies …
ok back to the topic
At least there is a human element to most hindi movies – need to scrape a little – but it gets to you – i was this close to bawling my eyes out … in kabhie khushi kabhi ghum… same thing with veer zaara.. and those are pretty much the only two movies i’ve seen in the last two years… why do i like it … well … the human element … it isnt the hindi factor — really (someone remind me of that daniel day lewis movie pliss) — it’s just they talk people – and warm people – not pretty people who move smoothly and at the drop of a pin jump into a pose – where fathers are fathers – mothers are mothers – and at least there’s some sanity in the relationships – and when they emote – it is with an intensity that (at least on the screen) is unadulterated. what’s not to like ?
ok… my loins ache for more.
“movie by arthur miller’s daughter.”
arthur miller’s daughter, rebecca miller is daniel day lewis’s wife. are you talking about “the ballad of jack and rose”?
why do i still see bollywood movies? ans: it is in my blood, as is the heat and dust of india. i have to get my bollywood fix, no matter what. i just wish for a “better high”.
Are you referring to Oldboy?
Almost everyone would. There is the element of belonging, almost like Mom’s homecooked dinner.
Yes, it is a lot to do with marketing but the underlying cause is economics, as Bong Breaker pointed out. Would love to read his views on his blog.
However, not all of it makes complete economic sense. I mean, the average budget of the Asian films is not that high compared to Indian films. The high budgeted Indian movies run to about $4M – 20M. That is in the same ballpark as most Asian films. The only way to explain it is the composition of domestic audience. China/Taiwan/Hong Kong/Korea/Thailand, all have a sizable affluent class, larger than India.
As of now, as an Indian filmmaker, you find yourself between a rock and a hard place. Say you down $5M for a movie. The upper middle class in India will perhaps give you $2M back. You have no choice but to strike a compromise, reach out to the larger general mainstream audience (~$5M) and the NRI community (~2M). These are all ballpark figures by the way.
there you go. I remembered that korean movie in the meantime – it’s ‘old boy’ – pretty slick actually – escapist too – and lots of twists – um, very un-bollywood
You did not just diss Oldboy… If we were face to face, it would be on…
I love asian films, especially Korean cinema. Korean cinema is full of lighthearted fare, but it has variety and there’s no BS censorship system involved because the audiences there don’t just watch one genre and tend to be more mature in their filmgoing experience. HK cinema isn’t without its financing problems, including ties to the triads, but a lot of companies and banks have come forth in the 90s to reduce that problem, whereas most of bollywood is still being controlled from Dubai, and media exposure has been little to none. Half the deals/events that go on behind the scenes are never reported for fear of being denied access. Immediately after Oldboy came out, every other korean film copied Park Chan Wook’s slick style, and now its gonna be remade in Hollywood. I’m surprised it hasn’t been discovered in Bollywood yet. Oh wait, they’re still doing remakes of fight club. I guess they’ll get to Oldboy in a few years, via the Hollywood version. I think RGV was a little bit pre-emptive in saying “fuck the villages” when referring to film revenue.
Bollywood film: 5 – 20 mil NRI film: anywhere from 5K to 100K often with better production.
Man, I should just go back to india and get some venture capitalists interested. Its a dry market out here for us NRI filmmakers.
Unless you’re making american desi 2 which (through the grapevine) has a locked down script and will be shooting by the end of the year.
Well, “Il Mare” is being remade with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. “My Sassy Girl”, starring the cute Jyun Ji-Hyun is being remade by Gurindhar Chadhdha.
Remakes are the norm rather than the exception for hollywood.
I know that there is a lot of excitement surrounding Asian films nowadays. I believe that they are somewhat overrated. Yes, they are very slick, the technical work is perhaps the best in the world, but the French still remain the pioneers. The Asian films have come of age because they have stopped copying Hollywood and instead gone back to the source, Godard, Ozone, Haneke etc.
Could you give an example? The ones I saw (ABCD, American Desi etc.) were quite dull and lacking in technical expertise.
anangbhai,
I have seen half a dozen (maybe, around 4-5) Indian American films. Their grade: D to F in every category. I liked Guru a little bit then that is mainstream hollywood. I haven’t seen Harold and Kumar yet.
Venture capital, you’ll have to deal with Mumbai mafia.
Well I can’t make it over to the west coast, but there’s something just as awesome if not more so, over in NYC from Nov. 3-6. The Indo-American Arts Council is having a film festival and it’s going to be off the heezy, I believe. http://www.iaac.us/fifthannual_film_festival2005/Schedule.htm
Anyone want to come with??
Kush, watch Harold and Kumar! I don’t think anyone will ever like it as much as me, seeing as it’s basically about my life. No, EXACTLY my life. Although I don’t put it in the Indian American bracket, seeing as it’s not Indian American in the slightest, apart from Kal Penn obviously. It’s more in line with American Pie, seeing as a lot of the same people were involved. And the director is the Dude Where’s My Car? chap. I don’t particularly like either of those, but H&K had me in stitches.
Amba. I love you. From the bottom of my heart. For this para:
Spot on. I have to run, but I could whinge all day about NRI and their bakwaas ways when it comes to movies.
Anang, I replied to your comment on my blog by talking all about Oldboy and here you are talking about it! Great minds…(and fools)
I once had the misfortune of seeing this on a long long trip to India.
I am a HUGE fan of H&K. Being from NJ, I truly understand exactly how satisfying a White Castle burger is at 3 in the morning.
I find the view that dismisses Bollywood as simply unsophisticated somewhat tiresome. At their best Bollywood movies are akin to operas in my view: I don’t see anyone suggesting that Aida or Troilus & Cressida are puerile or unsophisticated on the grounds that the characters behave in ways that are unfamiliar to us from “real” life. [Aside: Farhan Akhtar “got” this in “Dil Chahta Hai,” working in an excellent sequence when Aamir Khan and Preity Zinta are at the opera.] To dismiss Bollywood films on the grounds that they are not psychologically realistic is to assume that is the only way in which to make cinema– it’s akin to what Orientalists in the 19th century used to believe about ancient Persian sculpture, that it was unsophisticated because its representations of monarchs were “flat” and lacked three-dimensionality. More recent research has indicated that this mode of sculpture was borne of an ideology that considered it somewhat inappropriate to represent monarchs in anything other than profile. I think Bollywood’s cultural specificity makes it very difficult for it to gain many adherents in the West– much of the mythological motifs and the political undercurrents are lost in the transposition. I do detest the wave of “NRI” Bollywood movies though, typified by the sort of garbage Shah Rukh Khan usually appears in (e.g. “Kal Ho Na Ho”). This sort of thing has killed Bollywood– i.e. it strips it of any mythic ground, leaving merely an empty kind of celebration of some vague Indianness that one carries with one to foreign lands (typically while simultaneously indulging a kind of xenophobia– witness the mean-spirited homophobic humor and anti-Chinese jokes in “Kal Ho Na Ho”). Unfortunately, to most of my ABCD friends and acquaintances this post-1995 trend of cloying love stories is “traditional Bollywood”. As for me, I can barely recognize the industry I grew up with: http://qalandari.blogspot.com/2005/08/two-strangers-and-oracle.html