The movies I saw at MCC were terrible. Benjamin would watch
them often on the dining room TV, his mustache twitching with the occasional
grin as the cast worked through another absurd dance number on a crowded street
or remote Himalayan hilltop. Shrill female vocalists and sharp, persistent
percussion dominate my memories of the music. Neither really appealed to me,
and they paired with a seemingly absurd plotline and slapstick character antics
to turn me off from the whole Bollywood scene.
Then in mid
November, I saw my first commercial for a recent box office arrival called
Rockstar. The vivid cinematography and guitar-driven, westernized pop vocals
really grabbed my attention. I immediately realized the MCC TV had only broadcast
films that were years or even decades out of production, and showed only the
antiquated precursors to modern Bollywood style. Before these insights, though,
or even the end of the preview, I realized I wanted to see Rockstar.
On our last
day before leaving Kerala for Goa, we got 20
tickets for the whole group to see the film. We did this in advance, because
one does not simply drop casually into a Bollywood blockbuster. Their
popularity requires booking tickets days or even weeks in advance for screenings
of recent releases.
The movies opened with sweeping
shots of a massive, frenzied crowd awaiting a concert in the coliseum in Rome. Jordan, the star of
the film, punches his way through a group of guys we has provoked to violence
in a nearby café, then sprints through the narrow streets before crashing
through security. Electric guitars flare up, pounding power chords over the
roar of the crowd as he splashes water over his bloody lip and grimy face, then
takes the stage, late for his own show.
The plot is decidedly tragic, as it
follows Jordan’s
fight for the love of a married woman, who eventually dies, leaving him
tormented and lonely. He uses the pain to fuel his music, which propels him to
international stardom but not happiness.
Three major points stood out to me
about the film. First, I was very surprised at the skintone of all the actors.
It was closer to my own than the dark brow of all their compatriots I knew in
Kerala or Tamil Nadu. Dr Khandke informed me this was common in the North, as I
now see from Delhi, but the Rockstar cast still seems even lighter than
average. This definitely enforces the whiteness-as-social-hierarchy trend that
is evidenced by such phenomena as “whitening’ ingredients in bodywash and
responses to interracial marriage.
Second, westernization was
prominent in the culture. This, too, I now recognize as a general quality of
the North, where men’s dhotis and lungis
are nearly absent. Saree sightings are still common in Delhi, though, wheras they are quite uncommon
in the film. Additionally, at least one English phrase seemed to slip its way
into every conversation, which I think does accurately portray the
multilingualism of modern India
– especially the youth.
The music struck me the most about
the film. Unlike the MCC films, which were probably actually Tollywood (Tamil
instead of Hindi), the songs seemed to progress the plot. For one, it was
important and logical to show Jordan
developing as a musician. Additionally, the musical segments portrayed
important events like his time in Europe and
the Sufi temple.
Most importantly, the music was
really good. It copied many effective elements of Western pop and dance tunes.
Several of us bought the soundtrack the next day and have been enjoying it ever
since. The album contained artwork for each song, Hindi lyrics, and a brief
English script excerpt or summary that places the piece in the context of the
story. It often contained additional details from the plot that didn’t seem to
make it into dialogue, like vocalizations of some of Jordan’s feeling after
getting kicked out of his house, and section that was just montage and song in
the film.
All in all, it was a surprisingly
good experience. I may at least keep up with future Bollywood musical hits.
No comments:
Post a Comment