Bollywood the Hollow-Wood
The Hindi-language movie-making industry of India profoundly known as Bollywood began in Bombay and grew as an enormous movie kingdom. This industry has grown at a great pace since its inception. The 21st century’s Bollywood produces as many as 1,000 feature films annually which is circulated in all of India’s major languages and various cities. Indian cinema has a great reach, influence and impact on its viewers. The youth of India has always followed the famous actors of their generations.
Almost 95% of India’s youth tries to follow the characters portrayed on the silver screen by their favourite actors, it all looked in good shape till the time movies were informative and not obscene. Since the commercialization has joined the hands with Bollywood, the meaning of art has completely changed! The industry and movie subjects are dominated by the reforms and issues like violence, rapes, vulgarity and obscenity & these are the main source of infesting young minds thereby increasing crime rates. Many such reasons have caused the shallowness in this industry, let’s discuss why Bollywood is becoming the Hollow-Wood for this nation.
The notorious behaviour of Bollywood towards the women characters is no more a hidden tragedy. According to the researchers, the female actor’s role is not given as much importance as the male actor’s role. Female characters are often portrayed and described with very superficial qualities like attractive, beautiful, shy and feeble, whereas male actors are treated as protagonists who are strong, brave and practical.
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Indian cinema has bifurcated women as good and a good or ideal woman is portrayed as chaste, submissive, obedient and controlled, whereas a bad woman is westernized, bawdy and indecent. Majority of the time women characters are used as a bait to lure the audiences to cinema halls, as per the research 80% of the Bollywood films have more screen time for males in comparison to female actors. This kind of behaviour is not limited to Bollywood but it is also a part of many other small film industries that are operating in India. Using a woman as a decorative prop in the film & the male protagonist is at the forefront is common practice here.
Bollywood continues to provoke nepotism at top of the voice with roots in kinship and glamour. The truth is not hidden that present-day Bollywood industry is still largely controlled by a handful of families from a very long time, the culture of mom and pop shop is still heavily dependent on personal relationships. So, it is not very difficult to understand that the roots of nepotism run deeply in this industry.
The back story started when Bollywood acquired the status of the industry in May 1998, and corporate studios were placed in action with a hope of bringing positive changes in the work culture of Bollywood. But unfortunately, the scenario remained unaltered, the discrimination continued between the two types of film aspirants (star kids and common people from outside Mumbai). The star kid was given multiple chances and breaks but the outsiders had no choice but to get success with early projects. The star kids are still taught well for cementing their position as stars at an early age but the outsiders are only welcomed in the hollow circle if they have achieved success and benefitted the business. The best opportunities and leverages are still reserved for the insiders and the outsiders still have to break the impenetrable walls of the elite club and snatch the few plum project left after the reservations.
Indian movies have an obsession for beautiful, clean and hygienic places for shooting even though the country does not seem to maintain cleanliness. Directors and producers prefer studio shots in London, America or Switzerland, all the clean places except India. The Indian audience is adamant on watching the happy endings and does not appreciate the practical aspect of life that has been portrayed in those two and a half hours. New film-makers who try to convey the reality of life and covey the real issues of society are very under-rated because people accuse them of making dark and depressing movies.
If we talk about other film industries situated outside India, the producer will only demand a great script, a director and a good cast, then comes the music. But in India, Bollywood lives in a parallel world, where it seems a music album is made and then a script is made to fill up the blank portions. In the present time, Bollywood asks for director, male actor who can perform moderate dance step and an eye candy actress who fits in the music album. The success of the film depends on the response received for the music album; it is saddening that our song does not have the shelf lives anymore. No one wants to go back and rewind the hit songs of recent past.
There is no inadequacy of talent and it is the fact that nothing is more rewarding than hard work. Opportunities knock the door who spend their blood and sweat to master their talent. The global box office is growing along with the revenues providing platform to several talented outsiders and now it is upon Bollywood to save itself from the hollow shell of darkness and save the industry from a slow wind-up.
