Archive for August 31st, 2010

There is no denying that Dean and I watch a lot of Bollywood movies, so many that I”m familiar with a number of stars and the character types they tend to play  In recent Bollywood flicks we’ve seen, including Race, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye and others I can’t remember because I can’t recall the Hindi names, Anil Kapoor seems always to be this rich, successful guy who can’t get the girl to stay with him — she’s attracted by a young, penniless type who loves her more truly (though perhaps not more) than Kapoor’s character does. How does he feel about playing such losers in love, I wonder?

 Is it the big hair and sometime-Fu Manchu moustache that is at the roots of his on-screen romantic troubles? Perhaps it’s his characters’ propensity for wearing sunglasses inside the house (and in promotional images) that leads to being cast as the guy whom women feel they can live without. Or maybe this isn’t his usual role. I admit I’ve only seen him in about four or five movies.

But here’s the thing: arrogant rich guys who wear sunglasses and act like God’s gift to the world of women and otherwise don’t seem to have trouble attracting women IN REAL LIFE, so why in Bollywood?

The answer is obvious. Real women (at least some of them) will cut some corners to get a guy with money, but Bollywood is all about romance, fantasy, glamour, and the way things really ought to be. Jackie Kennedy fell for Aristotle Onasis, and we all know that that was wrong. In Bollywood, when Anil Kapoor’s oil and gas magnate type doesn’t get the girl, it’s like a righting of the wrongs in the universe.  When a young woman falls for the young penniless guy we feel better about the tragedies and wrongs of the world and about our own lives. And that, making us feel better,  is the goal of Bollywood.