Dancing in the Streets, Mumbai Eshtyle

What would happen if a Bollywood Desi boy fell for a Brooklyn Gori girl, all on the streets of Mumbai? (h/t Girish)

Bachna Ae Haseeno (BollyBrook Remix) from Anne Marsen on Vimeo.

Va, va, va….How charming. Reminds me of the story where that white girl in India got married to the rickshaw driver. Remember that story? Not so far from the real life, na?

BollyBrook is short for Bollywood Meets Brooklyn. This unofficial guerrilla music video for Bachna Ae Haseeno (Hindi: बचना ऐ हसीनो) was shot through the streets of Mumbai, India in four days during mid-March 2011. In English, “Bachna Ae Haseeno” means something like “Save yourself, pretty girls.”[bollybrook]

And some words from th actress playing the hipster…

Being white in India, even Mumbai, invites a lot of stares in itself, so for a white person to walk around with an obnoxious attitude and an accessory as impractical as empty frame ray bands was just a hilarious image for me…I also wanted to compare and contrast this with the character of Bollywood Boy. Both characters are obnoxious in their own ways and they find that after they get over themselves that they can develop a genuine connection and friendship with one another. [bollybrook]

Do you like? Is it fun and playful or stereotypes gone wrong?

This entry was posted in Humor, Video by Taz. Bookmark the permalink.

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

23 thoughts on “Dancing in the Streets, Mumbai Eshtyle

  1. It is fun and playful. The woman seems self aware enough. It doesn’t pander. Funny thing, I was just checking out Cake’s Let Me Go on youtube which is a fan made video just like this one(without the benefit of HDCAMs though). And then I just opened up sepiamutiny and saw the Bachna Ey Haseeno song. I always wonder what they were singing after that. “Low man aagaya?” ‘ LoMei Aagaya”?

  2. Pravin, I always translated that as “Yo, here I am dudes.” Or you could just go with, “I’m here, guys.”

  3. Mediocre song. This is a remake of a song from the ’90s. The girl is a good sport to be on this video, and she’s quite cute. I like how these videos have gotten a lot more professional, and they’re not aping the influence of the west as much. It’s as if they are forging a new production style, or that they are comfortable with their own artisitic development. Oh yes, the toothless kid is so cute at 1:53.

    • I was particularly impressed by their website’s layout and at their efforts at making this a “short film” type production instead of just a bunch of kids playing with a video camera. I think it upped the ante.

    • ” The girl is a good sport to be on this video”

      She made the video as far as I can tell. Hence, the creator, not a “good sport”.

      “Reminds me of the story where that white girl in India got married to the rickshaw driver. Remember that story? Not so far from the real life, na?”

      A white girl marrying rickshaw driver reminds you of middle or upper class american and middle or upper class Indian man dancing together?

      • Well, yeah. Cuz you see this is the story of a White American girl that eventually falls in love with a Brown Indian Man in the streets of India. And the story of the white girl marrying a rickshaw driver is ALSO the story of a White American girl that eventually falls in love with a Brown Indian Man in the streets of India.

        So you see, there’s a actual parallel there. A simile. Class no bar.

        I can see that you are offended by the allegorical simplification of a biracial romance in India, but by making a classist statement saying that this story is different because they are “middle class” and implying that they are better than that, does not make your argument at all better. It makes it worse actually. Classist.

        • I wasn’t aware that the white chick who married the rickshaw driver fell in love/dated in the literal streets.

          “I can see that you are offended by the allegorical simplification of a biracial romance in India, but by making a classist statement saying that this story is different because they are “middle class” and implying that they are better than that, does not make your argument at all better. It makes it worse actually. Classist.”

          Huh?

        • I guess. But couldn’t that parallel be likened to anyone from anywhere meeting/falling in love with anyone from anywhere in the streets of X city/town/village?

          Mentioning class does not imply better. Just different situations. One involves hipster people in white sunglasses and red converse sneakers dancing. The other involves people from quite different backgrounds meeting and going on dates and falling in love, meeting family, and getting married.

          I can think of a million more white girl meets Indian boy stories that remind me of this video a lot more than the girl who married the jaipuri rickshaw driver. i guess there is a parallel… if that is the only other story of a white girl marrying an Indian that you have heard.

  4. Outsourced did a take on this song too. The English part seems a little awkward in the middle but fits in better than other english verses I have heard in other bollywood songs.

    BTW, the original is a 70s era song, one of the first Hindi songs I ever listened to when i visited a cousin’s place .

  5. i laughed more than once thus it cannot be racist.

  6. The original song is a R.D. Burman classic, from the 1977 film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin— sung by Kishore Kumar, who’s getting plenty of press of late on SM. The original was ridiculously fantastic to begin with.

  7. I like how these videos have gotten a lot more professional, and they’re not aping the influence of the west as much. It’s as if they are forging a new production style, or that they are comfortable with their own artisitic development.

    Interesting how the video was produced by a white american girl and you believe it to be less influenced by the west (as opposed to many indian music videos, I’m assuming?)

  8. haha the dude in this danced better than ranbir kapoor did in the remake. and the dude in this was a terrible dancer until the end bit.

  9. I wasn’t offended, but slightly confused by, the girl’s “Walk Like an Egyptian” moves. And yes, the guy danced way better than Ranbir did in the not-so-original song. I still like the ’70s version best.

  10. “i guess there is a parallel… if that is the only other story of a white girl marrying an Indian that you have heard.”

    +1

    Don’t really see what this has to do with rickshaw drivers… This guy is obviously not a rickshaw driver, the context is completely different.

  11. Not offensive, just lame. Seems more like a Benny Hill knockoff in style, just w/less bewbs. But BBoy IS a cutey, so I have to appreciate that.

  12. I thought the video was cute and rather fun. It looked like a lot of to make, too. Never did like this song, though. It gets stuck in my head all day every time I hear it.