Bollywood cinema has successfully clinched a major position in the Indian and global cinema with its popular stories, dance, music, A-list directors, big banner production houses and, of course, its celebrity superstar actors and gorgeous actresses. From the old black and white days, to the Eastman Colors, to the current days of vibrant colors, there have been a lot of technological changes and developments which have been induced into glamorous world of Bollywood, thus raising standards of different procedures involved in the entire system of producing a world-class movie. Obsession for regional stereotypes But one thing that hasn’t undergone any major change is the love of Bollywood for regional languages and culture stereotypes, which really dates back to long yesteryears. Even Chennai Express, the latest blockbuster of Shahrukh Khan and gorgeous Deepika Padukone, has proved how clumsily Bollywood fails in bridging the great gap between North and South. Deepika, the south girl with her “baakwas” Hindi and SRK, the “halwaii”, could have acted better. But they were trying to infuse humor in a very limp style at the cost of lungi, ‘Main idhar aati ,tum kidhar jaati’ lingo in a very heavy southern accent. Deepika, basically from the south (Bangalore), has admitted that she had to master the Hindi-Tamil tone, where obviously, Tamil dominates. The Rohit Shetty movie has crossed many box-office records but was it really justified for the mortifying accent of the south Indian to create humor? It could have been made much lighter with a story with North-South link as it was Kashmir se Kanyakumari tak. But this is not the first time where southern madrasi made the northern people laugh. It had originated in the Mehmood days of Bollywood. Other than south And sure, this is not the first time where we have seen Bollywood peddling with such deformed caricatures of other regional characters in India. Another common sight is the Punjabification of Bollywood. Besides Hindi, our filmmakers love Punjabi words like Puttar, Munda, Sohni, Assi and Tussi. Not just the dialogues, but the entire movies carry this Punjabi nature. Popular films like Love Aaj Kal, Son of Sardar, and Jab We Met have left us wondering if Punjab is the only North Indian state we have. A home in a hindi movie means it is a Punjabi home with a strict father who is loving and large-hearted (which is generally revealed at the climax), a typical housewife mother, and a very gaudily dressed neighborhood aunty who chatters, loves sweets, and brings the mohalla’s gossip for the mom. It’s only now that the new-generation film makers have shifted their focus to other states in the north as well, like Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar etc., us that though Punjab is the core of North, the Hindi speakers are not forgotten yet. The Hariyanvi-Jatt typecasting is also prominent in Hindi films which recently flopped at the box-office. Sometimes our film makers completely deviate from the commonly treaded path and place the characters in the bustling, old city of Kolkata. Kahaani, Dev D, Vicky Donor, Barfi, and Lootera are some of the very recent examples that I can think of. The bong connection of Bollywood is undescribable without traditional sari and jewelry-clad women participating in the devotional Durga Puja Festival celebrations. These scenes are shot in some dramatically beautiful corners of the city or portray the old world charm of the city. The Bengali accent, with “Au” and “Sh” sounds, is not put into effective use to create humorous and faked authenticity. Another ‘not so seen but still in interest’ group is that of the Parsis. Bollywood has always portrayed Parsis as Bawa, Rustom or Batliwala. Our films have mostly cracked joked about their appearance, nature and style of talking. How much is too much? Putting an end to these regional characters in Bollywood is unimaginable and is not required at all. What is essential is to add a little more authenticity, where the people of a particular region can happily relate. There should no more clumsy and cartoon-like characters which are just the exaggerated misrepresentation of the regional images. A little fills and laces will do. When the decoration to the character becomes more excessive and extravagant, the character or the story entirely loosens to create the intended impact on the viewers across the country. The recently released, Raanjhana, has shown a change. It’s a typical North Indian love story bought to life by a southern superstar, minus his lungi or fake “Aiyyo” accent. An immediate drastic change is never possible. But till the time Bollywood struggles to fill the space between the North and South, the humor in stereotyped Bollywood movies will continue to make us pity rather than laugh.
