MOVE OVER HOLLYWOOD

by Kumkum Ramchandani

 Bollywood has arrived – flashy, glitzy, flamboyant and chaotic, but here to stay. Huge things are happening. Ash, giggles and all, is on Oprah, 60 Minutes and Letterman. She is one of the world’s 100 most influential people (Time) and the world’s most attractive woman (Hello mag) and is slated to act with Meryl Streep and Brendan Fraser. Mira Nair makes news with a Bollywood sequence featuring Reese Witherspoon in her most expensive movie to date, Vanity Fair. Laagan and ‘India’s Tom Cruise’ Aaamir Khan are embraced by Fifth Avenue socialites and the Oscars crowd, and Nandita Das is on the Cannes Film Festival jury. Moulin Rouge, a Bollywoodian Hollywood blockbuster, incorporates Chumma Chumma and a choli clad Nicole Kidman. Andrew Lloyd Webber is enchanted by A.R.Rahman’s talent and launches ‘Bombay Dreams’ in London and on Broadway. 

In the U.K. Bollywood movies already make the top 10 lists. Bhangra, bhajis and Bachchan are part of the mainstream. Before Bombay Dreams hit the stage, well known UK chain Selfridges highlighted Bollywoodian fashion and music. But even New York, the mecca of fashion, is now responding to the call of Mumbai’s Tinseltown. “Trickling from India are lurid movie posters, wedding ensembles enriched with spangles and gold embroidery, denim tote bags, T-shirts with deities, bangles, henna and chokers,” announced a bemused New York Times.

 Warren-Tricomi, an upscale Manhattan hair salon, now offers filigree henna body designs inlaid with Swarovski crystals. Zitomer and Ricky’s, well known drugstore and cosmetics chains are stocking sari style fabrics and embroidered handbags with Hindu icons. Arrow Travel, also based in NY, is offering tour packages which include a visit to a Mumbai movie set. New Yorkers, always keen to follow a trend, are flocking to Jackson Heights, Queens, to stock up on Bollywood DVD’s, Hindi music and 22 carat jewellery.

 The world of fashion is also being engulfed by Bollywood kitsch. Manish Malhotra, Rocky S., Rohit Bal, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, all of whom are favourites with Bollywood stars, have also designed for the likes of Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Naomi  Campbell, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. Gone are the days when Hindi filmi stars dressed like nautch girls. Today’s Bollywood babes could feature on the pages of Vogue.

 Though the filmi industry in Mumbai is pleased with the ever widening reach of its influence, there are some rumblings of discontent amongst the desi literati. Shabani Azmi, who was in Toronto to promote her latest film, Morning Raga, said she had reservations about the term ‘Bollywood’, which, quite unoriginally, stems from ‘Hollywood’. Others think that the west is cashing in on Bollywood solely for economic gain.

 Even in relatively conservative Canada, Bollywood glam made a slam in the wildly popular rambunctious over-the-top annual Fashion Cares M.A.C Viva Glam 2005 event, intriguingly entitled Bollywood Cowboy. The annual event, now in its 19^th year, raised a huge amount of money for the Aids Committee of Toronto (ACT).

 The fashion charity extravaganza, with a loyal fan following built up over the last 2 decades, came up with a wacky mix of cowboy chic and Mumbai kitsch. Hunkily muscled male models strutted their stuff in see-through kaftans, turbans, lungis and jewels while even the National Ballet of Canada adopted the theme of the evening with a production incorporating ballet and desi dance.

 The 5000 strong crowd roared its approval as leather clad cowboys jumped out of stage coaches which turned around to reveal scantily clad Bollywood vamps in sequins and bra tops amidst the splendour of rich hanging saris and satin cushions. The lilting music of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly rubbed shoulders with Chaiyya Chaiyya and Shahrukh Khan’s Pretty Woman. Canadian song diva Jann Arden, dressed in a glittering bindi and a David Dixon duster coat of  mithai pink silk brocade and gold embroidery wowed the sell out crowd while Punjabi Hit Squad blasted their way through with bhangra and folk rap.

 But more than the performances, it was the mainly non-desi visitors at the show who demonstrated that Bollywood is here. Decked in Stetsons and eastern garb with bindis, juttis and jewellery to match, the crowd avidly shopped for bargains and danced the night away to support a good cause.

 But events showed that one cannot take Bollywood lightly. Several Indo Canadians took a stand against the ‘loose’ use of Hindu iconography. Said Tushar Unadkat, owner of a Toronto advertising agency, “ At this Bollywood theme show, we barely saw any brown skin and even more disturbing was to see drags dressed as Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi. At the entrance there were these two white models dressed as Krishna & Radha distributing photos of all the Hindu gods and goddesses.”

 A statement from the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAP) added: “One of Fashion Cares’ marketing materials features a sexualized and erotic woman seated in a goddess pose. Hindus and non-Hindus alike have been outraged by such flagrant use of religious imagery.”

 Film maker Mitra Sen said, “Also note that Fashion Cares did not feel it was necessary to consult with any members of our community in the production of their show.”

 Sheena Singh, Executive Director, Multicultural Calendars, pointed out: “Imagine hosting a Hollywood Crusade event in Toronto with drags dressed up as Mary and Mary Magdalene in sparkling Madonna styled costumes serving drinks to the crowds and Jesus and Joseph in a voluptuous jewel-embedded g-string handing out pictures of all the Christian saints at the door.”

 One of the few Hindus not overtly disturbed was film maker Deepa Mehta who told the Toronto Star: “This appropriation of culture makes me slightly uncomfortable but surely we should be a bit more secure in our culture.”

 Don’t mix Bollywood glitz with religion, was the strong message. ACT posted an apology on its website.

 Another damper was M.A.C spokesperson, Pamela Anderson, who when asked during a press conference if she had ever seen a Bollywood movie, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Whats that? When I first saw it I thought someone had spelt Hollywood wrong.”

 Get a life, Pamela, before you get left behind in the Bollywood bound stampede…….