Some Indians consider Bollywood movies as their staple diet; many may miss a meal, but not a new release on Friday. The three hours of solace in the dark and often dingy cinema halls for many is more soothing than visiting a mosque, temple or a church. Truly Bollywood movies are the lifeline for many Indians, their recouping pill to help them grapple with the harsh realities that surround.
However, those who make these movies do not care about the sensibilities of those who go to see them. On-screen characterisation of some real-life characters are so depressing, that instead of being entertained some really feel hurt when they identify with those characters. Hindi movies still have not broken from their clichéd presentations and continue to do so despite all round advance-ment in the filmmaking techniques.
Take for instance the depiction of south Indians particularly the Tamilians in Hindi cinema. Their peculiar mode of dressing, eating, talking, all is an object of ridicule in Bollywood. It is not that those who make the movies are unaware of the sensibilities of the Tamils; all the more galling then that they do not tone down the characterisation of south Indians in Hindi cinema. The trend began back when the comedian Mehmood played a 'madrasi' in the movie Padosan in the 1960s. The only rationale behind such deli-berate portrayals would seem to be to highlight the superiority of north Indians vis-à-vis the southerners. Rarely has the Hindi cinema depicted north and east or north and west divides, the way it does between north and south.
The coloured Muslim