Hindi cinema, often known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is the Indian Hindi- language film industry based in Mumbai. The term is a portmanteau of “Bombay” and “Hollywood”. Perhaps Bollywood’s greatest influence has been on India’s national identity, where (with the rest of Indian cinema) it has become part of the “Indian story”. In India, Bollywood is often associated with India’s national identity. Bollywood has been a significant form of soft power for India, increasing its influence and changing overseas perceptions of India.
In Germany, Indian stereotypes included bullock carts, beggars, sacred cows, corrupt politicians, and catastrophes before Bollywood and the IT industry transformed global perceptions of India. According to author Roopa Swaminathan, “Bollywood cinema is one of the strongest global cultural ambassadors of a new India.” Its role in expanding India’s global
influence is comparable to Hollywood’s similar role to American influence.
Indian cinema or Bollywood is probably one of the biggest cinemas in the world. People often love Bollywood movies. The masala, action, romance, Bollywood and drama. Bollywood has paved its way into hearts. We just can’t get enough of our celebrities and big stars. But nothing is as perfect as it seems. Nepotism has taken the Indian film industry by storm. Bollywood always had the problem of nepotism for decades now. It is believed that Bollywood is a tough turf to maneuver for rank outsiders and star kids have it relatively easy. Karan Johar has been associated as “a flag-bearer of nepotism and movie mafia”. While it sparked off a debate on nepotism, our B-town stars stand divided on the issue. But not only nepotism, but there are also many other problems in Bollywood.
Bollywood body-shames woman is more than ever. With fans Bollywood loving Sonam Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar, Sara Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Zareen Khan and Huma Qureshi after being fit. Many actresses have come out and said women are often body-shamed in this million-dollar industry for being fat, too skinny, or too tall.
Many actresses have complained that the costume they are wearing is uncomfortable, too tight, or too revealing, but they are often told to do so. Bollywood makes women very uncomfortable in their skin. We understand that beauty is a big part of this billion-dollar industry, but who decides what is beautiful and what is not? Actually, why must we let someone else define what beauty is to us? This ideology has to change. We have come for a lot in this decade but have we progressed?
We still make movies where fat-shaming is OK. From fat-shaming Sweetu in Kal Ho Na Ho(released 2003) to a random overweight policeman that Varun Dhawan runs away from in Judwaa 2(released 2017) because fat people can’t run. Sadly, we are still expected to laugh at the expense of someone’s weight. We still haven’t come far with Ghoomketu enjoying fat-shaming his wife. These filmmakers could learn something from movies like Shaandaar and Dum Lagake Haisha which didn’t make us feel sorry or laugh at the generic ‘fat-woman’ on-screen. Stop adding characters of large size to your films for the sake of comic relief, because we’re not laughing anymore.
Anish Tiwari
Class 12th
Delhi Public School, Gurgaon
Anish Tiwari is an analyst, innovator, a data science and tech enthusiast, and also a Netflix nut. He has a different approach to life and has a lot of interest in business, technology, stock markets, and engineering. He is an avid reader of Dan Brown books and shows interest in political science.
