Bollywood has produced some exceptional, evergreen, and extremely content oriented movies in recent times. Lagaan, Black, Taare Zameen Par etc. but still we do not find a place in the Best Foreign Film category in the Oscars. It is rather unfortunate isn't it?
If one was ever to write a paper on Antonio Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony, the Oscars are a prime example of how hegemony plays out in the real world. Why are we so crazy about an Oscar? Is recognition by the US all the Indians are dying for? Will that prove to be an acknowledgment that India has arrived at the world stage?
It is how the media plays it, how our minds are shaped by the use of the internet, television and newspapers. When one talks of going abroad, it is usually presumed to be the US. Why? There are so many other countries in the world. They have better cinema, better actors, better standards for judging awards, then why are we so determined to get an Oscar? Is it because it is the most fair system? Or because it is globally accepted as being the most prestigious? Well, neither of them is true.
We tend to blindly replicate the West in whatever fields we can. Our slavery and colonialism is not over yet. Welcome to India of the 21st century whose latest philosophy is "When in doubt, look west". I agree to some extent that there are many things that the west (I mean the US in the present context) has achieved and done better than we could. However, it is not the be all and end all of superior civilization. Have you ever reflected on the t.v. shows and movies produced in India? How many ladies in India are dressed in saris worth thousands and jewelery worth lakhs 24x7 working in the house and cleaning utensils? Or how many boys and girls in India meet on the streets and start singing songs and everyone starts dancing behind them? It is pure drama and nothing else. Then why don't we have the same critical reflection of the shows and movies produced abroad. Not everyone lives the same lifestyle like the ones we see on Desperate Housewives, or Baywatch, or How I Met Your Mother or American Pie. Everyone in the US is not stripping naked and having sex all the time with almost anyone. (And that by no means is the definition of being liberal. But I'll reserve more thoughts on being liberal for another post)
However, getting back to my point, why is an Oscar award so important to us? I think we have been carried away to a point that we are just mesmerized by whatever is happening in the United States. We want to do everything the way they do it. I personally have great faith in our cinema (Yes, we do have our shameful moments like Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag and Jaani Dushman etc.) but our award ceremonies are as good and as fair as any other. Personally, I am one of those who believe that Slumdog Millionaire was awarded Oscars as a propaganda to show Indians in a bad light(I am sure there are those who disagree), and therefore, I believe that the Oscars are not the epitome of fairness and ultimate touchstone of recognizing good cinema.
It is time we start having faith in what we do rather than just be chimps and copy the west or crave for their recognition. When thousands die in India everyday in the floods, riots, due to poverty, earthquakes, we never observe a minute of silence. But when thousands died in 9/11, there was one minute silence in India. God Bless America!
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What you're talking about is nothing more than an extension of the natural human tendency to look up to and ape someone we consider better than ourselves for some reason or the other. While India apes the U.S. (macro scale), teens everyday ape idols they see on TV or around their school and college campus. It's hardly surprising.
ReplyDeleteIf we think hard enough, I'm sure we'll find that the U.S. too looks up to someone/ something... and my bet is on Hollywood... most of them are worse than us Indians when it comes to being desperate about stuff like the Oscars or Hollywood.
well i quite agree with you. This tendency to worship hollywood is seen even in bollywood stars themselves who start jumping for joy and telling whoever is willing to listen that they have got some part in a HOLLYWOOD movie ( even if the part ends up being a tiny scene in an inconsequential movie).Doing such overseas movie are considered to be a sign of being successful and those who indulge in such movies are hailed as heroes or bring us 'poor indian' into the limelight. Personally i hated the movie slumdog millionare as all they focussed on was the ilth ,the corruption and the crime instead of focussing on the will to survive, cooperate and co exist that is so predominant in the country. The movie is nothing like the book q & a (on which it is supposedly based) and it is a disgrace to associate such a great book to such a movie
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