Monday, October 29, 2007

We'll just see about that.

Reuters has a story on Bollywood fashion.
Bollywood fashion has become a lot less garish and more sophisticated these days, but designers say it still lacks its own unique style.... Outrageous outfits are out....
Oh ye of little faith.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

i dont understand you and your blog. if they stop wearing cool, original clothes then they're not unique anymore. if they wear normal stuff then they're not unique anymore. so basically the INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY ( it's NOT bollywood!!!!!!!!!!!) will never make you happy.

Susania said...

The day Amitabh Bachchan ceases to refer to it as "Bollywood," I will gladly comply.

Why, I think Anonymous thinks that we're serious... another satisfied customer!

Anonymous said...

amitabh bachchan doesnt refer to it as bollywood.
and i dont take you seriously but it's just that the other people who see this blog may take you seriously and laugh at indians like me because even our title seems copied ( when actually we didnt even make up the title and totally despise it).

Anonymous said...

amitabh bachchan doesnt refer to it as bollywood.
and i dont take you seriously but it's just that the other people who see this blog may take you seriously and laugh at indians like me because even our title seems copied ( when actually we didnt even make up the title and totally despise it).

Susania said...

Well, he may not be referring to it as Bollywood in recent interviews (and his own work has certainly gone beyond the traditional view of Bollywood-style cinema) but I SWEAR I have heard him use the word "Bollywood" in reference to Indian cinema more than once.

If the title is so offensive, perhaps the industry should consider starting a definitive campaign, led by the biggest stars, to change that.

You must admit that "Bollywood" is a very clear-cut descriptive, in a way that "Indian Film" or "Indian Cinema" never could be. I know that I always refer to films by Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha and ones like "Black" or "Sarkar" as "Indian films," but "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" is absolutely Bollywood in style. If someone says to me, "it's a Bollywood film," I immediately have a mental picture, and I'm interested; call something an "Indian film," and it is vague and could mean any kind of genre.

Anonymous said...

if we're indian, it kind of gives us the right to make fun of ourselves, and our film industry.

Anonymous said...

but the writer of this blog is isnt indian.
so what if his work has gonebeyond the tradional bollywood style. THAT'S IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHY WE CAN'T USE THE TERM!!!
also, we can't use this horrifying term that we indians get laughed at for just so that we satisfy our own selves in knowing what kind of movie our friend watched.
you don't catorgorize films like that in hollywood.

films like kuch kuch hota are CERTAINLY indian films, dealing with INDIAN stuff, made my INDIAN people, and viewed by INDIAN people (and ofcourse other ppl).
i certainly see everything indian about such films.

also just b/c you and i may be indian does NOT give you the right to make fun of work that had a lot of hard work put it into, however unfashionable, out of date, or stolen the movie may look. atleast those movies are better that something you will ever make.
you can critic a film, like a people do for every film made, but certainly not make fun of it. and again, i state that the writer of this blog and most of the commenters ARE NOT EVEN FREAKIN INDIAN!! personally, i dont think you can fully understand or appreciate an INDIAN movie w/o being an indian living in india. movies are more crucial in the culture and everyday life of india than any other country and their films. we appreciate the wacky fashion, hairstyles, family problems, and the out of the world stories b/c our lives are so stressful that we need a film where everything turns out just perfect even though that never happens in real life.

prove it that amitabh bachchan said bollywood. prove it.

Susania said...

Well, I went out to find my proof. Because, in all good faith, I remember hearing him refer to the industry as "Bollywood" in a video interview.

I found this instead. A few minutes in, Big B addresses that very issue, and he DOES find it demeaning.

So, what's to do? Are there conditions under which the term "Bollywood" is acceptable as an adjective, perhaps? As a descriptive term for a recognized artistic style? Because I cannot think of anyother term that so completely encapsulates what it is that we love about Indian cinema. Is the phrase "Bollywood style" OK? Because the phrase "Indian film style" conjures up no mental images to most Americans, I suspect.

So, other Indian readers, please tell us - is the use of the word Bollywood as an artistic descriptive acceptable? Or is Anonymous being unecessarily defensive?

Anonymous said...

when i first read the comments i did think that anon was being unecessarily defensive.. but then i remembered a recent episode of "dancing with the stars" the australian version, where they had a "bollywood" group dance, and the amount of head shaking they were doing (at first i thought they were doing an incredibly offensive impersonation of patients with a neurological disorder).. i don't think i want the term bollywood to represent indian cinema if all it brings to peoples minds is ridicule..