(This is a real-time post. We're still catching up on our city summaries.)
Tonight was movie night. We strolled over to our local movie house and plopped down the two bucks to see one of the latest Bollywood hits, Dhoondte Reh Jaoge. First a few comments about the moviegoing experience, then about the movie.
The theater was nearly empty, there were only about 20 people in total, yet not a single woman. And almost everyone was seated right next to us. They assign seat numbers and there are four guards standing by to make sure that everyone stays in their assigned seats. You’d think that they might think to spread out the people a little, but apparently the computer spits out the seats in order, so we sat in a cluster of people with the rest of the theater entirely empty.
I didn’t expect that having loud and long conversations on your cell phone during the movie is entirely appropriate in India. In fact, I think we were the only ones who didn’t have a few conversations during the movie. This wasn’t all that surprising since the use of cell phone is ubiquitous here. You’ll often see someone weaving between chaotic traffic on a motorcycle while casually talking on his cell phone. So checking in with your peeps while watching a movie obviously is just natural. Movietime also is apparently the time to remove one’s shoes and let your stanky feet air out. Remember that we’re all clustered together . . . you get the point.
Now a little about the movie. Bollywood movies are about the music. In fact, unlike in the US, Bollywood releases the soundtrack long before the film is released. This is part of the marketing. People get to know the music and then, when the film is released, they want to go see the it, sort of as an extended music video. So we did the same. We went to a music store, bought the CD, and learned the music before going to the movie.
The music was good (not great), and the movie itself was very funny. Although it was in Hindi, we were able to follow the plot pretty closely. Because it was the same exact plot as The Producers. Instead of a Broadway show, they are the producers of a Bollywood film, but otherwise the story was exactly the same. Since we understood what was going on with the plot, we were able to appreciate some of the no-so-subtleties. For example, when the producers were on the phone lining up Japanese investors, the dialogue consisted of “King Kong, Ding Dong, King Kong, Ding Dong, King Kong.” Oh, culturally demeaning humor, I love you!
The best part of the movie (for me anyway) was its portrayal of Pakistan’s former President, Pervez Musharraf. To make sure the film they were making was a flop, the producers enlisted Musharraf as its director and one of its stars. In the movie that was designed to flop, Musharraf was supposed to lead Pakistan’s cricket team in a victory over India’s team. When the producers went to Pakistan to get Musharraf on board, he was living with his discheveled mother in a slum. And he was portrayed as being a diminutive and crazy man who was holding a hand grenade and obviously ranting incomprehensibly. Definitely a sign of how India wants to view Pakistan.
The theater was nearly empty, there were only about 20 people in total, yet not a single woman. And almost everyone was seated right next to us. They assign seat numbers and there are four guards standing by to make sure that everyone stays in their assigned seats. You’d think that they might think to spread out the people a little, but apparently the computer spits out the seats in order, so we sat in a cluster of people with the rest of the theater entirely empty.
I didn’t expect that having loud and long conversations on your cell phone during the movie is entirely appropriate in India. In fact, I think we were the only ones who didn’t have a few conversations during the movie. This wasn’t all that surprising since the use of cell phone is ubiquitous here. You’ll often see someone weaving between chaotic traffic on a motorcycle while casually talking on his cell phone. So checking in with your peeps while watching a movie obviously is just natural. Movietime also is apparently the time to remove one’s shoes and let your stanky feet air out. Remember that we’re all clustered together . . . you get the point.
Now a little about the movie. Bollywood movies are about the music. In fact, unlike in the US, Bollywood releases the soundtrack long before the film is released. This is part of the marketing. People get to know the music and then, when the film is released, they want to go see the it, sort of as an extended music video. So we did the same. We went to a music store, bought the CD, and learned the music before going to the movie.
The music was good (not great), and the movie itself was very funny. Although it was in Hindi, we were able to follow the plot pretty closely. Because it was the same exact plot as The Producers. Instead of a Broadway show, they are the producers of a Bollywood film, but otherwise the story was exactly the same. Since we understood what was going on with the plot, we were able to appreciate some of the no-so-subtleties. For example, when the producers were on the phone lining up Japanese investors, the dialogue consisted of “King Kong, Ding Dong, King Kong, Ding Dong, King Kong.” Oh, culturally demeaning humor, I love you!
The best part of the movie (for me anyway) was its portrayal of Pakistan’s former President, Pervez Musharraf. To make sure the film they were making was a flop, the producers enlisted Musharraf as its director and one of its stars. In the movie that was designed to flop, Musharraf was supposed to lead Pakistan’s cricket team in a victory over India’s team. When the producers went to Pakistan to get Musharraf on board, he was living with his discheveled mother in a slum. And he was portrayed as being a diminutive and crazy man who was holding a hand grenade and obviously ranting incomprehensibly. Definitely a sign of how India wants to view Pakistan.
You really can’t experience modern Indian culture without seeing a Bollywood film. The movie was entertaining and I’m glad we went.
4 comments:
Okay, you guys totally tricked me on this one. I thought for sure this was T-Boo's (AKA Brian L,'s) post, but it turns out this was written by my bro, 'da Doo. Hmmmm... just when I thought I knew you guys. Either way, it was hilarious. I was laughing so loud picturing you two in the midst of the foot stank theater that I made the pugs jump!
Yeah, the foot stank part was my favorite too!
I will have to get that movie when it comes out in DVD.
Glad yall are enjoying the trip!
--Sharon
You mention nothing of movie snacks!
hysterical!
i like a bollywood movie night as much as the next person....they are a riot.
do see devdas!
and for something haunting and beautiful, see "water".
(i have a feeling that was a canadian film company...don't quote me, i'm very tired and could be wrong.)
the feet and cell phones would have finished me off.
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