Hindi film title of the day

As the deadline's coming closer, I find myself being extremely short of time to even post anything on the blog, which is just sad, because there's still so much to learn!

Well, I'll try my best to at least post something each day.

Today's Hindi film title of the day is-

Deewar (pronounced as a flat 'd-ee-waar'): It means a wall. By the way, it's a very popular Amitabh Bachchan movie from his hey days.

Hindi word of the day!

Writing this particular blog post while on a bus to London. Will update about that one in more detail, but let's get to our Hindi word of the day!

I've decided that once you guys know the basics, it's getting harder and harder to come up with generic words. So I decided to start explaining the names of popular Hindi films.

I guess then from today this feature will be known as Hindi film title of the day. Are you ready?

Today's Hindi film title of the day is-

Sholay (pronounced as 'show-lay'): This means embers. Of coal. Which don't look hot but still are capable of scorching. Of course, this is my interpretation, after watching the movie.

Maybe you can tell me your interpretation when you watch the movie!

Bollywood: Only song and dance?

When I went to speak to Asad Shan, the founder of Iconic Bollywood Productions in London, I knew only a little about his background. The fact that he hosted a Bollywood show on a music channel in India before coming to London and setting up his own acting school gave me the feeling that he was one of the many struggling actors who could not manage to crack the industry and hence came back to impart the wisdom gained whilst trying to make it. But after speaking to him, I realised that he really knew the workings of the industry.

And that is how we got talking about the way the industry is today. He kept saying that the usual song-and-dance fare is what the people want, and the only thing that makes money, so the filmmakers don't want to experiment with anything else. But I think that is changing. Very slowly, yes, but definitely changing. How else do you explain the commercial success of Dev D, a modern-day spin on Devdas, a classic. The movie is all about sex, drugs and alcohol, a look into today's urban India and I think it did very well for itself. The approach to the film was very dark and the topic itself was enough for drawing much criticism. But it's success, mostly among urban audiences, proved everyone wrong. However, a glaring sign of how the industry itself recieved the film is seen in the way it was dealt with in almost all the award functions.

While Filmfare (which is like the Indian Oscars) gave it one nomination in the best film category and one in best music, and in spite of winning in the best music category, the lack of enthusiasm and the usual fanfare related to every other film nominated was clear. And so we saw that even in 2010, the hindi film industry does not look positively upon newer, fresher cinema. But at the risk of sounding foolishly optimistic, I feel that just having such a film nominated is a baby step forward in the new age Bollywood era.

Hindi word of the day!

Hey all! All set for a new word to enrich your Hindi vocabulary? Well, let's get on with it!

Today's hindi word of the day is-

Aankhein (pronounced as aan-khey): This means eyes. Although it might seem a little unusual to teach you guys this word, but as you progress through watching more Bollywood movies, you'll realise that it's used fairly commonly!

Eg: Teri aankhein kehti hai sau kahaniya.

Your eyes tell a hundred stories.

Hindi word of the day!

I'm in a very big rush, so I'm going to make this a short one!

Today, our little class is going to learn a new Hindi word which is-

Namaste (pronounced as, well, na-mas-tey): Which is a greeting, sort of like hello. It's a very respectful greeting too.

Eg: As Shahrukh Khan enters the room, to meet the reporters, he says "Namaste!"

Hindi word of the day!

And this is something that I know you've been waiting for a whole day...your quick guide to Hindi, the Bollywood way!

So, today's Hindi word of the day is-

Dard (pronounced as a flat d-ar-and another flat d): It means pain. I know it's not one of the first few words you want to learn, but once you start watching Hindi movies, you'll be amazed at how common this word is!

Eg: Hum dil ka dard utha te hai.

(I carry the pain of love)

Now you cannot get more filmy than that!

Hindi word of the day!

Hello all! I realise I'm a little late in posting this for today, but I hope this still counts as Monday, because GOD knows my day is far from over!

Moving on, today's word is:

Dil (pronounced as a flat 'd' and 'il'): Well, this word means heart. Again, not something that I'd use in everyday life, just as you wouldn't use the word 'heart' in an everyday sentence.

Eg: Hum ne tum ko dil de diya.

I gave my heart to you.

So there, congratulations folks, you're slowly getting there!

My First Bollywood Party

So, this was my first Bollywood party and it's just sad that I had to crash it! But here's the package I made on the party. I've tried to make it as exciting and fun as the party itself, but the extremely wobbly camera work and poor lighting does not help my case. But I had no option as I didn't have a tripod (because I stumbled on the party by pure chance and I don't carry a tripod with me to class everyday, especially when I'm only going to be sitting in class and editing all day!) and it was an outdoor party (for more details on how I discovered the party, click here). Well, I've tried my best with editing, to not bring that into focus, I hope you enjoy it!

Also, if you were wondering if it's been embedded within the website yet, here it is. While you're at it, have a look at the rest of the website too. Not a lot of stuff has been uploaded, but work is in progress!

Hindi word(s) of the day!

And we're back to learn a new Hindi word! Today's word is again something that is very commonly used in Hindi films, actually especially in Hindi films. Being a 22 year-old, fluent and regular Hindi speaker, I have to admit that I must have said this word all of 22 times. Let's end the suspense, today's word is:

Pyaar/ Prem/ Mohabbat/ Ishq(pronounced as, well, p-y-aa-r, p-rey-m, mo-ho-bbat, ee-sh-k): All these words essentially mean 'love' and are used almost in the same context. So why have four words when one can suffice? Well, romance baby. Bollywood is all about elaborate, drawn out romance. So in some sentences, pyaar sounds better, in others mohobbat sounds better and nobody says prem anymore. It's archaic. As for ishq, it's not exactly Hindi. It's Urdu. Urdu and Sanskrit are the two languages, from which most Indian languages were born. So there's a lot of over-lapping. And it's also a general opinion that Urdu is a more poetic, romantic language so (obviously) it finds it's way in a lot of Bollywood movies and songs. So much so, that sometimes even I don't understand what a song heavy with Urdu words means! Although that doesn't stop it from becoming very popular.

Eg: Hum tumse pyaar karte hai.

(I am in love with you)

When I crashed into a party...

So a very interesting thing happened to me last night. While I was slaving in my class at the university, my colleague suggested we go for a stroll. So we went. And that's when I heard a Bollywood song playing somewhere in the distance. Now I have a knack for this kind of a thing and I was quick to identify the song too. But it was intriguing. Who was playing Hindi songs that loudly at 9 pm? We followed the sound and realised that the sound was coming from outside the University. I concluded that it was probably some Indian having his Saturday night party in his car, playing these songs loudly.

Now I must pause this story to tell you that in India, it is *extremely* common to play the latest Bollywood songs very loudly in your car. So I'd just like to say that it seemed like the most natural conclusion to make! Here I was, thinking I could go and talk to this person and tell him about my project. Have a little chat.

But, I remembered I have a camera with me. So I said, lets take a chance. Off I went to investigate the source, camera in hand. And after crossing some wild bushes (yes, bushes) I came across a house and some kids playing on a trampoline in the garden. After some quick and efficient exchange of words by said colleague, we found out that it was a Bollywood-theme birthday party. The woman was lovely, and invited us in. And it was such an amazing sight! There were all these people dressed in Indian clothes, even a guy who had tanned himself brown and worn a wig with sunglasses-- now that's bollywood! After some quick interviews, everyone gathered to do a Bollywood dance, now that there was a video camera in the party. And then Jane (the hostess) remembered that she has a Bollywood dance CD. So with a female trainer on the projector, everybody gathered around to do the "Bollywood Dance". And that was the best moment of the evening.

And that's what Bollywood is. It's not just the dancing, it's the feeling behind the dances, the vent it gives to your expressions, the way you always end up having fun with it, even if you didn't manage to do the 9 steps out of the 10 that were taught. Ah, what a feeling.

I'm glad that Bollywood has spread it's colour so far that in a corner of Bournemouth, where there is a very marginal Indian population, people still find reasons of celebrating it.

Hindi word of the day!

So today, my dear students, we're going to learn a new Hindi word. Again, it's very commonly used in movies so it will help you get better acquainted with Bollywood.

Tum: (pronounced as t-oo-m)You, with slightly more respect. Not exactly like but sort of like 'Nous' in french. Also you in plural or a Hindi word for 'you all'.

Eg.: Tum is a Hindi word for you.

Bollywood through the years

I have always felt that if you want to really understand the history of a place, you should look at it's arts. And so I feel that if you want to know what India was like in the 60's, watch a movie from that time. Now I can't really show you a whole movie, so I thought to myself what's the next best thing to a Bollywood movie? A Bollywood song and dance, of course! So here's my own tiny guide to India through the years-

I hope you will excuse the fact that I couldn't find songs from before the 5o's, so a popular 50's song was 'Tu Ganga Ki Mauj (You're a wave from Ganges)' from Biju Bawra:

It's supposed to be one of the most romantic songs. Very melodious as well.

1960's : after the colour revolution: 'Jab Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya (Why fear when you have loved)' from Mughal-E-Azam.

Definitely one of the classics, well received by everyone. My parents still think the charm of this song has not been achieved by anyone else.

1970's: This is where it starts getting difficult. Too many brilliant and popular songs to represent ten whole years. But I will still try, I can only try. Although that doesn't mean that the songs below are best of the lot, they just happen to be the first few that come to mind!

Moving on: 'Hum tum ek kamre band ho (Both of us shut in one room)' from Bobby.

It's my personal favourite! Also deserve a definite mention: Pagh Ghoongru from Namak Halal, Om Shanti Om from Karz, Satyam Shivam Sundaram from Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Google them!

Madhuri Dixit at her peak, again, one of my favourites! Also recommend Pehla Nasha from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Dil Deewana Bin Sajnake from Maine Pyaar Kiya, Intehaa Ho Gayi from Sharabi.

1990s: Now this is the phase of Bollywood that I remember, because I grew up during this time. After very serious thinking, I've brought it down to just one song and know that this is only one of the best songs of the 90s- Mehendi Laga Ke Rakhna (like the subtitles put it: Make sure your hands are painted with henna) from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.

Other recommendations: any song from the movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hai, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Judwaa, Mohra...oh I could just go on.

And 2000s: Dola re Dola (roughly: my heart started dancing?!) from Devdas. Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit with fantastic sets, awesome costumes and a tragic love story based on an Indian novel. What's not to like?

Finally I'm going to leave you with a word of caution. More like a video of caution. Too much viewing and listening of Bollywood songs may lead to this:

Hindi word of the day!

Hello all!

Since this blog works as a supplement to my website, which by a very roundabout way, is a guide to Indian culture as well, I thought it would help my readers if they understood a little bit of Hindi too. So from today, I'm going to have a 'Hindi word of the day' on this blog.

To start with I'm going to do words that are very commonly used in Bollywood movie titles. So today's Hindi word of the day is:

Hum (pronoun; pronounced as hum in English): we or us. Also used when showing respect, similar to 'nous' in french.

Eg: Hum is a plural form of you, in hindi.

So there you are, you know marginally more about the Hindi language than you did 20 seconds ago!

Is London the hub of Bollywood in UK, possibly even Europe?

Recently, I went to London for an interview. Since I was making that 3 hour-long journey and spending some amount of money on the tickets, I thought to myself, it makes sense that I should make most of the trip. So I started looking for anything to do with Bollywood in London and although I was expecting it, the number of things to do still stumped me.

There were obviously the massive population of Asians and their ghetto-like colonies (there are apparently more Indians in London alone than in France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Portugal combined), then there were the cinema halls that play popular Hindi films right along with the usual Hollywood fare and even the London tourism department encourages tourists with the help of a map of popular locations in London where Bollywood films have been shot!

Then there are Bollywood schools for acting and dancing, places like Selfridges, who had an exclusive Bollywood collection in 2002, all sorts of Bollywood experts-- studying and teaching Bollywood as a course and whatnot.

Almost makes me wish I was doing this project from London and not from Bournemouth!

The Innate Indianness of being Indian

There is this thing, that roots me to my culture. The thing that makes me laugh at all the Indian jokes by Russell Peters. That thing I feel when I have a debate over who is prettier- Sushmita Sen or Aishwarya Rai. That thing that makes me ferociously argue about why Mumbai is really Bombay. I call it Indianness.

This Indianness is something that you only become aware of when you're living away from India. Suddenly, after living in UK for 6 months, when I saw a 15 year old film about an Indian family living in London, I related to it in a whole different way. And I'm sure people from other nationalities feel similarly about their counties, this blog post is about being Indian.

I lived my life thinking I was much too 'progressive' and 'western' to care for hindi movies in an emotional way. Sure, I loved watching them, because it was something I always did, and enjoyed each one of those. But after coming here, I realised how quickly and easily I was losing touch with it. Living in Bombay, you couldn't escape the films-- they would stare at you in your face on the walls of your train compartment, on the television sets in your living room, on the numerous hoardings around the city, in every mall, every shop. Two months living in the UK- once the novelty starts wearing off, once you comfortably settle down in your routine- you turn on the television and start surfing for something... And you realise what's missing with your dinner. You realise how these films were such a big part of your life. The mobile phone you buy, the clothes you buy, your choice of interiors, your ideal holiday location, your dreams even- you name it, and Bollywood rules it.

The recent many discussions of making movies entirely for an NRI (Non Resident Indian) audience was a strange concept- were there so many of us outside India that a movie with a budget of Rs. 15 crores could recover its cost and even make some profit with a movie like that? The answer to that lies in simple math. While a movie ticket in India costs Rs.150, in UK it would be nothing lesser than 6 pounds, i.e. thrice the amount. So even if a movie has been watched by 10 Indians, 3 NRIs would make as much money.

But my question is not how, it's why. These are the people who have left India for good, and some who have never been to India before. Why then, would they choose to be, for want of a more appropriate word, regressive with these movies? (Because Bollywood is nothing if not regressive and overtly moral.) The answer lies in our innate Indianness. The desperation of holding on to something that connects us to our roots-- in hate, in fanatic adoration, in mild dismissal, even sometimes in outright rejection-- we only keep going back to it because of our Indianness.

TASK ONE: WRITE AN INTRODUCTION TO BOLLYWOOD

For an industry that is one of the biggest employment generating sources, is brimming with social clichés and stereotypes, is a mirror to the pop culture of a country with varied cultural conventions, is the biggest film industry of the world, is home to scandals and controversies, is the endless dream of the escapist tendencies of over a billion people, is the ultimate ambition of countless young talents, is the single innermost desire of the youth of the country and is the sense of comfort and rootedness for a huge ex-patriot population, it is certainly not easy to do full justice to writing a sparkling and accurate introduction for it.

However, I shall venture forth one:

Imagine if you could watch the heart-breaking love story of Titanic, the action scenes from a James Bond film, the heart wrenching drama of Gone With the Wind and the comedy from a Jim Carrey movie, all rolled into one three-hour-long film, with some foot-tapping music and dancing, would it not make for a full value-for-money?
Well, that is Bollywood, and much, much more. The word Bollywood is derived by conflating Bombay (or Mumbai, since 1995) and Hollywood. Although it is not a physical place like Hollywood, Mumbai is where most of the crew and cast are based in. However, Bollywood has been construed as a condescending name by many people from the industry. “There is enough in the media about how Hindi films are often copied from Hollywood movies. Do we need a constant reminder to it by calling ourselves Bollywood?” asks Michael Ernest, a film director who has recently moved base to London. In spite of fierce opposition, the name seems to have stuck.