{"id":9501,"date":"2021-07-23T02:21:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T02:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/?p=9501"},"modified":"2021-07-23T02:21:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T02:21:48","slug":"the-transformation-of-hindi-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/hindi\/the-transformation-of-hindi-films\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transformation of Hindi Films"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by James Love<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

While growing up in Bollywood, literally<\/strong> \u0938\u091a\u092e\u0941\u091a, I did not watch Bollywood movies. That’s because theaters were usually packed with men, yelling<\/strong> \u091a\u093f\u0932\u094d\u0932\u093e, whistling, and catcalling at the screen. For my safety’s sake, I refrained<\/strong> \u092a\u0930\u0939\u0947\u091c from going to movie theaters that showed Hindi movies. However, I did watch the occasional<\/strong> \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0938\u0902\u0917\u093f\u0915 movie that was scheduled on the one channel our Indian television station had besides<\/strong> \u0905\u0932\u093e\u0935\u093e the news.<\/p>\n

The melodrama<\/strong> \u0928\u093e\u091f\u0915 that ensued was enough<\/strong> \u0915\u093e\u092b\u0940 to take care of a year’s worth of dramatics. However, in 2004 after my child was born I had a craving for nostalgia<\/strong> \u0905\u0924\u0940\u0924 \u0915\u0947 \u0932\u093f\u090f \u0935\u093f\u0937\u093e\u0926 and started to watch Bollywood movies. Now, mind you, I grew up on a steady diet of Hollywood movies. That’s where my taste lay.\u00a0 I watched Clint Eastwood westerns with my dad, and other classics and blockbusters as time went by.<\/p>\n

In 2004 we were still watching movies on VHS which of course quickly evolved<\/strong> \u0935\u093f\u0915\u0938\u093f\u0924 into the DVD sphere. So, I would dutifully rent Hindi DVDs, or buy them from the lone Indian store in Seattle.<\/p>\n

However, when data emerged<\/strong>\u00a0\u0909\u092d\u0930\u093e as the leading conduit for movies, there was a radical transformation<\/strong> \u0906\u092e\u0942\u0932 \u092a\u0930\u093f\u0935\u0930\u094d\u0924\u0928 in the typical Bollywood movie. The difference can be seen especially in the last few years since Netflix and Amazon Prime came into play.<\/p>\n

The content was predictable<\/strong> \u0909\u092e\u094d\u092e\u0940\u0926 \u0915\u0947 \u092e\u0941\u0924\u093e\u092c\u093f\u0915 but the music started to get better. I had a particular distaste for the high-pitched voices I heard on the radio as a child. But now voices such as Suzanne Demello and Atif Aslam were huskier and modern jazzy sounding. Also,\u00a0 A. R. Rahman transformed<\/strong> \u0924\u092c\u094d\u0926\u0940\u0932 music scores with films like Taal and Swades.<\/p>\n

The outfits too got better. Not many changes between scenes and even during a scene. The storylines were still the same. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Parents of one usually, against the relationship. Conflict, breakup, and then makeup. Romantic scenes were chaste<\/strong> \u092a\u0935\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0930 and modest for the most part, thanks to the Indian Censor Board.<\/p>\n

Also, it was usually the men who transformed typically for their roles. But nowadays, younger Bollywood actresses<\/a> are working on one project<\/strong> \u092a\u0930\u093f\u092f\u094b\u091c\u0928\u093e at a time and actually getting into the details of the role. Weight<\/strong> \u0935\u091c\u0928\u00a0 transformation for one is becoming a trend. The women put on or drop their weight to perform more realistically in character.<\/p>\n

Another thing I observed<\/strong> \u0926\u0947\u0916\u0947 \u0917\u090f was that the women did not get dressed to the hilt in each scene but actually<\/strong> \u0935\u093e\u0938\u094d\u0924\u0935 \u092e\u0947\u0902wore casual clothing with no makeup (or barely-there makeup) in many scenes. What a relief!<\/p>\n

My favorite kind of Bollywood movies are those based on true stories<\/strong> \u0938\u0924\u094d\u092f \u0915\u0939\u093e\u0928\u093f\u092f\u093e\u0902, such as Mary Kom and\u00a0 Dangal. Of course, the occasional comedy set in my hometown of Mumbai such as Munnabhai M.B.B.S. are also a favorite<\/strong> \u092a\u0938\u0902\u0926\u0940\u0926\u093e. The Tapori<\/a> language brings back great memories and is a delight to hear.<\/p>\n

However, recently I have ventured into the world of Independent Bollywood films on Amazon Prime and Netflix. There is a plethora of choices. I am of course, much older now, and quite easily shocked<\/strong> \u0939\u0948\u0930\u093e\u0928 at some of the films that sneaked past the Indian Censor Board. They are accepted here. But banned there.<\/p>\n

I still cannot get used to the Indian television serials. They are stereotypica<\/strong>l \u091f\u0915\u0938\u093e\u0932\u0940 stories of mother and daughter-in-law relationships. Instead, my weeks are spent waiting in anticipation for the next best Netflix or Prime movie recommendation from my friends to watch on the weekend.<\/p>\n

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While growing up in Bollywood, literally \u0938\u091a\u092e\u0941\u091a, I did not watch Bollywood movies. That’s because theaters were usually packed with men, yelling \u091a\u093f\u0932\u094d\u0932\u093e, whistling, and catcalling at the screen. For my safety’s sake, I refrained \u092a\u0930\u0939\u0947\u091c from going to movie theaters that showed Hindi movies. However, I did watch the occasional \u092a\u094d\u0930\u093e\u0938\u0902\u0917\u093f\u0915 movie that was…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":9503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,540606],"tags":[3800,556346,475553,255656],"class_list":["post-9501","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-film-theater","tag-bollywood","tag-evolution-of-hindi","tag-hindi-films","tag-mumbai"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t