Anjan-da,
My grouse is not that Mother India or Satya Jeet Ray's movies are a hit in the West. My grouse is that just like Mission Impossible or Pretty Woman or There is something about Mary - etc Hollywood movies - do not see the need to invite all sorts of characters from India, Japan or Timbucktoo -- to make their movie seem appealing across the globe -- and rely on the All white, all Christian charatcter of their actors --and be confident that it will sell .
Then why cannot these India born West (or Indian metro) bred producers produce some decent stuff like Hyderbad Blues (on the same theme of NRI techie coming to marry a girl in India) made on a shoe string budget by US based NRI techie - or like American Desi -- both movies portray a very healthy image of India - both made by raw hands .
Why cannot it be a movie of a all Muslim couple in India or a Christian one for that matter . I do not see any inter-racial (Black guy/girl and White guy/girl) couple Hollywood hits--same effect is there for inter-religious marriages in India - in the movies.
What good is their Harvard Degree, if it can only make them spout venom against their land of birth or that of their parents?
In the forum at Harvard -on Pluraism- where I spoke about the wife beating bit - I also mentioned about the bug-a-boo of Hindu Mythology at Harvard Divinty School and all western academia- whereas other faiths are also mythical characters. Professor Diana Eck of the Harvard Divinity School nodded in appreciation (teaches there about Hinduism) and a senior faculty member sitting in front of me said " Thank you for raising this issue" -- another African American women said " Thank you for narrating your personal life incident"
When every educated person in the West is so open - why should our pseudo elite West educated movie producers and secularists - be so damned stuck uop and opinionated?
Umesh
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Anjan-Da wrote:
Dear Umesh,
Thanks for your spiel on the Indian directors. I am not much of a film buff, but spent some time to see the three recent films; there has been so much said in the press reviews. None of the reviews I've read touch on the subject of religious matters as you have shown, but rather tries to portray the new India of tolerance, openness, and secularism. That, in a way, may be good since there is so much again on bride-burning and such.
In the old days we had the Sunil Dutt and Nargis movie, Mother India, which I think got very good reviews from the West. I was a kid then and I remember bing dragged to see this epic.
Anjan
umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Anjan-da,I think all these movies are made from a Western perspective - I mean west-supremacist perspective. West is good - East is Bad. Though Dubey is shown to be a good , poor-upcoming man - but his heroine - had to be a poor, good Christian girl -- without some Western link why would anyone is the West watch it -- I think this speaks of the low-level confidence of the film makers.Mira Nair I learnt is a Punjabi (Nayyar) from delhi - educated at Harvard flm Inst. Nair is a South Indian name. She is one of the first Indian women to study here - as was Naina Lal- the first Indian female Harvard MBA . Both from Punjabi families - married to Muslims. It seems they had some guilt complex about Hindu(read Punjbai) Muslim riots at the time of Pakistan's creation.The girl I knew in Bhopal had many offers for marriage to go to USA - I think she was waiting for me - till she was 31 -- and forced into an arranged marriage - now ofcourse she thankfully loves her husband. She was no bride linked to a married man -as was this movie's heroine. She was from a very well educated (Berkeley, Stanford Profs in the family) and her brother married into (as doctor house husband too) in a the very top circle Delhi business family.However, he was more like the poor Dubey's love-arranged, holy matrimony style girl.None of these film makers can accept that India can have good, rich, Hindu -male and female characters ---it perhaps - they think --wuld not sell well to their western audience -- and brand them as Hindu fundamentalists.Well, this is my personal view.Ofcourse, there is plenty of corruption and I do not like stifling arranged marraiges myself -- but corupt marraiges are not the norm in India. Indian marriags generally work - and perhaps for that reason Western men and women have startd showing prefernce for Indian (or Asian) partners.UmeshPS: Mridul-da, You are right - Punjabi marraiges are exhuberant - though cost a fortune - and lead to dowry deaths as well -for the brides - even in Delhi
"Anjan K. Nath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Mridul,Thanks.As I recall, I attended one Punjabi wedding in Shillong and it was quite a solemn affair like our Assamese and Bengali weddings.AKN----- Original Message -----From: mridul bhuyanSent: Friday, April 29, 2005 12:00 PMSubject: Re: [Assam] Monsoon Wedding and wife beating--old images of India>From: "Anjan K. Nath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "umesh sharma" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [Assam] Monsoon Wedding and wife beating--old images of India >Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 11:38:56 +0800 > >I liked "Monsoon Wedding" and especially Mr. Dubey. I wonder why all three movies by the Indian directors, "Bend it Like Beckham," "Bride and Prejudice," and "Monsoon Wedding," have the same theme of marriage? > >And, are Punjabi weddings the way they are depicted in the movies? > >AKN >----- Original Message ----- > From: umesh sharma > To: [email protected] > Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 5:23 AM > Subject: [Assam] Monsoon Wedding and wife beating--old images of India > > > Hi, > > I just started watching this movie by Mira Nair - not as bad as Gurinder Chaddha's it seems - I like that comedian wedding organizer - who was tyhe scare crow character in the movie "Run" - of Bachchan Jr. where I had to run to the police station in the middle of the film -the police called on my mobile- to save my skin - for someone had complained to police that I was begging through press (advts) to purportedly go to Harvard. > > I'd like to see the face of the retired Chief Engineer ,Mr Chandra from Raipur - if he could see me now - really at Harvard. > > The movie - is going as suspected - the corrupted Burgousie face of "elite" Indian yuppydom. > And I suspect this is how most of Western youth view Indians who land up at places like Harvard. Even a so called school time "friend" is here - who doesn't wish to be reminded that only elites or roayal from Jaipur or India do not land at Harvard. > > Sometimes while cleaning classrooms I hit upon interesting seminars. Earlier one was by Indian Ambassador to US Mr Sen - I was waiting to clean the room, if they chose to leave. This Tuesday in the same room (Fong Audi) three women presented a documentary of Pluralism - supposedly on different relgions. It turned out that Shamita - the Indian (Hindu) was highlighting about wife beating - ofcourse blaming the males. > > My comment made her become pensive. I said that I am (name, Harvard GSE etc) a son of a wife beater, when we grew we realised it is not good and made my father stop it - and how somehow it led to some female luring away my father from our family. So South Asian sons should be trained to take up cudgles on behalf of their moters. Ms Shamita had no answer to that. She started making defensive statements that she doesn't want the family to break but the hand to stop. Well No risk No gain. > > i think she didn't like the idea of a son standing upto his father - again she wanted tradition to continue - you can't have everything. If u want west - have it in full!! > > Am I wrong? > > Umesh > Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > _______________________________________________ > Assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > > Mailing list FAQ: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > To unsubscribe or change options: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam >_______________________________________________ >Assam mailing list >[email protected] >http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > >Mailing list FAQ: >http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html >To unsubscribe or change options: >http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assamAs I have seen in Delhi for the last 12 years, the punjabi weddings are truely depicted in these films.
Mridul
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