Re: Kashmir To Canada With A Bollywood James Bond

Date: 22 Apr 2003 10:25:55 -0700
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.bengali,soc.culture.pakistan,soc.culture.punjab,soc.culture.bangladesh
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"kgazi" <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:<0U4pa.12847$X44.317@fed1read07>...
> If "Bollywood" was a corruption of Bombay and Hollywood,
> why hasn't MUMBAI converted it to MULLYWOOD ??
>
There might be hesitations about using "MULLYHOOD" for
"Bollywood" in deference to the established status of
Mollywood.
About 800 movies are produced every year in India. Of
them only about 30% are from Bollywood. In terms of
movies produced, Mollywood had surpassed Bollywood many
years ago. Apart from its movies in South Indian
languages, Mollywood is now a significant producer of
Hindi movies as well.
Here's a BBC article on Mollywood:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1473599.stm
BBC News
Saturday, 4 August, 2001, 21:59 GMT 22:59 UK
Swiss appeal for Tamil cinema
By Emma Jane Kirby in Geneva
Switzerland has long been a favourite filming resort for the film
producers of the world's largest film industry, Bollywood.
The snow-capped Alps are frequently used as lookalike stand-ins for
the mountains of Kashmir, which are currently unsafe to film in
because of the continued fighting there.
But now it's not only the Alps that have become subcontinent
film-makers' favourite props.
The medieval town of Berne, which is the Swiss capital and the
country's fourth largest city, is the latest Helvetian mascot to find
itself with a starring role in an Indian film.
This time it is not for Bollywood but for Mollywood - the prolific
film industry of Madras which makes about 125 films a year in the
Tamil language.
According to director Krishnan Subaash, with its sandstone buildings,
its beautiful fountains and the splendid Gothic cathedral with its
100-metre spire, Berne simply represents "fairyland" for the Indian
audience back home.
"This is where Tamil-speaking people would like to be in their
dreams," he says.
Western audiences may find the sequences confusing
"Most of our audience come from South India and Sri Lanka and most of
them are very poor. They could never afford to come to Switzerland to
see these riches, but they do dream of such things. So with this film,
we make their dreams come true."
A Western audience however, may be excused for finding the dream
sequences a little confusing.
Song and dance routine
He's dressed in a blue shiny shell suit and trainers and he waits
patiently while his face is patted by an extra, in an attempt to
absorb some of the make up, caked several inches deep, which is slowly
dripping down his face in the stifling 32 degree heat.
A heavy gold medallion hangs from his neck and the signet rings on his
fingers flash against the lens of the cameras.
"ACTION!" shouts the director and suddenly, against the eternal
clanging of Berne's trams, the market place is filled with Indian
music and Aji begins to writhe and twist as startled Swiss shoppers
gawp.
"I'm dancing because I'm in love," he explains afterwards.
"My Tamil audience will understand this - they will see these amazing
buildings, and me in my Western dress which shows I am rich, and they
will understand that I am in heaven."
Subaash's film is a remake in the Tamil language of a popular Hindi
film called Love and Marriage.
Like most Tamil films, it's a mixture of song, dance and dream
sequences and centres on the relationship between a hero and heroine
who decide to marry.
"Mollywood films are much better than Western films," says Subaash.
"Western films are over-categorised. You call your films a comedy or a
thriller or a love story.
Indian stars have a huge following among expatriates
"We have all of these elements in every film. Western films - what are
they really? Bedroom scene after bedroom scene. Look at our films - we
don't allow our actors to kiss one another but we show real love in
our Tamil films. Indian girls love them."
Aji is busy signing autographs for a crowd of female Japanese tourists
who have crowded around the film crew.
"Who is he?" one of them asks as she elbows her friend out of the way
"Is he a pop star?"
Star's hopes
But Aji is confident that one day he will be as big as Mollywood's two
main stars Kamal Hasan and Rajnikant.
"This film is beautifully shot," he says.
"If it makes girls happy, it will mean it will be my big break. We
don't just show Tamil films in India, but also in Sri Lanka, Canada,
USA and Malaysia. There are also Tamils in Berne and Zurich so maybe
we could release it here in Switzerland too."
So if the Tamil version of Love and Marriage succeeds when its
released later this year, does this mean Aji could become the Tamil
version of Brad Pitt?
The make up cracks as Aji screws up his forehead in puzzlement. "Brad
Pitt?" he asks. " Is he a pop star?"
>
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/movies/11HERO.html
> >
> > Bollywood banquet that is "The Hero."