A Social Commentary of Bollywood

“What kind of music do you listen to?”  This is one of the few questions people ask each.  Each persons taste in music is so diverse that it cannot be confined to a certain type of genre or song.  What one person finds enjoyable and relaxing, may cause annoyance to someone else in the world of music.  My taste in music has been greatly expanded thanks to my Indian background.  In America, we have Hollywood as the movie capital. But in India, Bollywood is the movie capital and they have a different approach to films and music altogether.

To understand how Bollywood music industry in films have evolved, you have to look at two different time periods: the past and the present.

If we look at this music video, we see that there is very little touching or close interaction between the man and the woman.  Traditionally, this is how the general Indian community favored the movies and music, whether it was a romance or action film.  Additionally, music was sung by the actors/actresses during the film.  So Bollywood films are basically equivalent to musicals.  But in recent years, Bollywood has been evolving (some would say for the worst) in how they make their movie and music videos.  This films and musical performances was a way to display the culture and heritage of India.

This music video is completely different from the first one. In a sense, some would say that Bollywood is becoming more Westernized.  If we analyze this video, we see many changes.  First, we see that the women’s clothes have become more “revealing.”  While showing a woman’s belly button and such is not a big deal to Americans, trust me when I say that the Indian grandmothers are making rude comments about the women who do this.  Secondly, we see a closer interaction among the men and women to promote more of a “sexy” feel to the video.  The filmmakers feel that this will keep the audience pleased and interested.  Lastly, while this song many not have much, many songs have started to incorporate the English language into the lyrics.  I feel that this makes the songs less relatable for Indians as a whole.

I think that it is necessary for the filmmakers to continue the Hindu traditions to show independence from Westernization.  What many people do not know is that Bollywood was born during the nation’s struggles against the British.  Bollywood is a symbol of freedom from foreign influence.