Passionate lip lock. The watershed in Hindi cinema. So far taboo - suddenly given the thumbs-up by the censor board. It was ok to kiss on the larger than life silver screen. What followed was a slew of films capitalizing on it to get the box office collections ringing louder than usual. Films like Khwaish were described not as per genre of a moving love story but on its Kiss Count - the film with 17 kisses. How bizarre is that? But what is more bizarre is Bollywood itself. Bollywood that revels in the new found independence is a shy bride itself. Or at least pretends to be one. Yes, Bollywood - the world which film stars populate.
Bollywood as a word is hated by most stars. But I want to use it as it best describes their world - that coterie of mega stars and starlets, the wad of cash rich producers, the thin layer of underpaid script writers and overpaid music composers, lyricists and of course the iconic film directors. Bollywood, the real world which houses these people must not be confused with Hindi cinema. For, Bollywood is not Hindi cinema.
Bollywood is the world where the stars live. Hindi cinema is the world where these stars live the lives of ordinary people. Hindi cinema is a microcosm of our culture, our values, our thinking. It changes as we do. It reflects what we think. It is art imitating life. That is what Hindi cinema is. But it is not Bollywood. Hindi cinema is about the masses. Bollywood is tribal. Hindi cinema is ever evolving. Bollywood as a tribe is static, never changing. Hindi cinema is liberal (more so, now that kisses are allowed). Bollywood is parochial and feudal. Hindi cinema is progressive. Bollywood is still living in the Victorian Age. How ironic then that the contemporary is made by the tradtional!
Why do I call Bollywoodians traditional? Because that is what they are in their personal real lives. They behave very similar to a tribe with a few tribal lords that draw the line of morality even when they attempt to cross it in their ouvres. The tribal laws are set and rigid. One man's wife cannot kiss another man on screen. That is the unwritten rule. Once a woman is married in real life, she ceases to be an actor on screen! But the man continues to be one. No wonder all kisses are showered on nubile actresses and all the married ones are left untouched - even though "the scene demands it". The male ego of this tribe is too inflated to accept a real life wife kiss another actor even if it is an essential part of the acting. The entire tribe complies. No wonder a much married Kajol in real life was asked to deliver a kissless copulation in Fanaa. The scene and script certainly demanded it. Only the real life marital status came in the way. Look at all other countless liplocks that have happened. The actress who gets kissed and kisses back is always unmarried in real life. The marital status of the man, however, is not important.
And it is not as if the lady herself decides. It is her marital status. A much kissed Juhi Chawla in Lutere is made to seal her lips after she gets married. Same will happen with Aishwarya, Preity, Priyanka, Kareena once they get married. Karisma's tryst with lips stopped after Raja Hindustani. You may say, much is being made of just a kiss. But this is a sign of something deeper. Of the double standards of the tribe. Of the tenuousness of real life relationships. Of the lack of faith in them. Of the specious ways of covering one's insecurities. And of the sophisticated veneer that hides the hollow inside.
Why else is there a denial of the casting couch practice? There is denial of the links with the underworld too. There is denial of relationships gone sour. There is denial of real credit and appreciation. There is denial of a healthy competitive spirit. Why is Bollywood so wont to expressing itself openly? When the profession ironically demands that very openeness and candour? In trying to be others, they have forgotten to be themselves. What is the use of all the excess when one has to live a life of constant denial?
You write well.. wonder why you have stopped since?!
Posted by: Vinod | March 19, 2007 at 03:20 PM