Western publications love to caricature India. The seriousness and rigor of real journalism is always missing. If @TheAtlantic wanted to do a story on Hindi film industry, I wish they had approached a serious critic and not a cheap fellow whose ‘journalism’ is kiss and tell.
The disgruntled fellow may not know but serious readers of @TheAtlantic should know, India is a huge country. What your cheap fellow calls ‘Bollywood’- a pejorative term, is essentially Hindi film industry operating out of Mumbai. But that is not the only film industry in India
There is Telugu,Tamil, Malayali, Gujarati, Punjabi and tons of other cinema in India and thriving. Thank you.Coming to Hindi Cinema, this fellow’s only qualification in writing this piece is that he dated a film director who happens to be a protégé of another famous film director
I am shocked that ‘kiss and tell’ author does not even know about Hindi films in the past that have been censored, movie theaters that have been vandalized,actors/directors/ singers who have been harassed by then governments of the day.Compared to that we live in golden era today
Current government has not banned a single movie which was a favorite pastime of the previous governments that the author favors. All kinds of movies are being made, watched, critiqued and hailed or trashed. That is what happens in vibrant democracies like India.
What the author’s real grouse is and he is such a bad writer that he cannot even hide his biases, so it is clear as daylight. He is upset that the substandard fare that Hindi cinema used to dish in the past now will be met with vigorous criticism. That is what bothers him.
This fellow won’t even be able to name 5 Hindi movie classics, much less critique them, and I have no desire to educate him. But for the rest, films like any other art, reflect the society. They do not exist in vaccum. Film makers in all eras have been able to tell their stories.
There is LESS interference from the govt and NOT MORE. What is happening is ordinary people now have a platform to speak up. So they are questioning stories that they don’t agree with, sound and look fake, talk about stuff that does not reflect their daily struggles.
There is healthy criticism that Hindi cinema is not used to and it is good that they get used to. For the author I have only one word of advice-look beyond KJo Cinema and you will be shocked to see the amount of good work that is happening.Creativity always finds a way for itself
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
