“A Karan Johar film is definitely about us”
In an article entitled “Bollywood Gets Real, Taking On the Modern Indian Marriage”, Anupama Chopra writes about the (so-called) “new Bollywood” of marriage and infidelity. “Increasingly realistic portrayals of marriage — happy and otherwise — are very much on the mind of Bollywood these days,” she writes, talking about Karan Johar’s splashy new film Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna and Rajat Kapoor’s Mixed Doubles.
The article has quotes by K-Jo, Kapoor, Shobhaa De (as the author of Spouse and presumably an expert on the Indian marriage) and, oddly, a neuropsychiatrist at one of the major Bombay hospitals. Er, why would you quote a neuropsychiatrist in an article about marriage - did she mean to quote a psychologist, or was she just quoting him as a married person? Here’s the paragraph in question:
The institution of marriage was radically redefined in urban India after the nation’s liberalization movement began in 1991. So much so that, as Dr. Rajesh Parikh, a neuropsychiatrist at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Center in Mumbai, put it: “The modern marriage barely reveals its lineage from the traditional marriage of decades ago. Today marriage covers the entire gamut from altered gender roles, satellite relationships, geographical separations and divorce.”(And uh, that bit about the economic liberalization and the redefinition of marriage?)
De, of course, has the last word, such as it is (she always has this talent for seeming to speak on behalf of an entire generation, even if one is never sure which one she is speaking for): “‘Mixed Doubles’ is art house. We think, ‘It’s not about us, it’s about them.’ But a Karan Johar film is definitely about us.”
A K-Jo film is about us. Especially the bit where Shahrukh lands up in a helicopter on the little old helipad at Raichand Mansion, wearing a trenchcoat and rushing in for his mom’s pooja. I sooo identified with that.
“A Karan Johar film is definitely about us�
Trackback by DesiPundit — July 31, 2006 @ 5:37 pm
You may not but I guess Shobha De probably can! And so can millions of other Indians and that is why they are so popular. Can’t beat the market.
Oh, and don’t blame me, I have never watched a K-jo flick and never will.
Comment by confused — July 31, 2006 @ 5:43 pm
heh.. ! loved the snarky ending !
Comment by Gautam Ghosh — July 31, 2006 @ 6:19 pm
So you own a helicopter too? Cool!
Comment by km — July 31, 2006 @ 6:26 pm
GG, :))
Confused: I love K-Jo films. I just don’t identify with them :)
Km: yes, a helicopter, and a trenchcoat. And my dad looks like AB :)
Comment by Uma — July 31, 2006 @ 6:44 pm
Yeah either that or the great directors of our industry has been increasingly efficient in “getting inspired” from their LA counterpart…
Comment by DK — July 31, 2006 @ 7:56 pm
Karan Johar unifies India.
You see regardless of what the name is - be it Raichand or Mathur or even Iyer knowing how Johar is- they are all inevitably punjabi.
How’s that for unity =D!
Comment by Deepali — July 31, 2006 @ 10:08 pm
I love K-Jo films.
There, you spoiled everything! The horror!!!
Really, why do people watch Johar’s films? And what is this K-Jo business?
Shobhaa De, yeah, she’s THE expert on marriage. And yes, everything these days can be tracked back to the opening up of the economy. Time to get a grip, isn’t it?
Comment by Nanda Kishore — August 1, 2006 @ 12:37 am
Hilarious closing line! Loved it! But this is a discussion I have often with my friends, and they just dismiss the lack of realism in Indian productions (be it movies or television soaps) as something unimportant. In response to a comment on this post, I’d said (I hope it’s not too pompous of me to quote):
I remember when I was a seven year old, I used to watch fight scenes from hindi movies with great fascination. A hero who could send a baddie hurtling through the air, spinning and sailing, and even breaking through furniture, with just a punch! Awesome! And most kids are like that. For kids, that is perfectly acceptable. But when one grows up, one can see that that stuff is utter bilge.
What pains me, is that a huge number of adults in the country seem to still be at the intellectual level of seven year old kids. In a movie where the hero was a detective trying to solve a murder, he asks a nurse at a hospital what blood group the blood found at the crime scene was. She replies, “C group, Sir�. Armed with that knowledge, the hero rushes off to find his next clue. This had me in splits, but the sad part was that everyone else was watching with great anticipation, victims to the suspense.
One of the numerous goons that work for the kingpin villain, gets shot in his head, from just ten feet away, with an assault rifle. “AAAAAH!� he cries, as he collapses. How insane is that? The list is endless. A man preventing a helicopter from taking off, by pulling it down with sheer muscle power; a body getting riddled with assault rifle bullets, and then falling forward (if physics behaved like it does in Bollywood, CSI guys would be wrong every time!); a jeep blowing straight up, even though it was hit by an RPG from above… And this is not even beginning to comment about the acting.
AmiLEan Questions has a post on the American media. If it’s true that a nation’s media is an index of the mentality and thinking of the majority of its people, then it’s also true that a nation’s television and entertainment industry reflects the average IQ of the masses. Sadly, the average Indian, then, is very, very dumb.
Comment by witnwisdumb — August 1, 2006 @ 4:14 am
BTW, this particular KJ film (KANK) is also about Mike Nichol’s ‘Closer’!
Comment by Karthik — August 1, 2006 @ 4:35 am
Using words like ‘globalization’ and ‘liberalization’ makes any article sound well researched by nobel winning economists - so there is a rationale to it.
Did you see the dialogue in the trailer:
“Tum Jaanti Ho Ki Is Ghar Mein Mujhse Zyaada Naakamyaab Cheez Kya Hai?”
“Humaara Rishta”
Can you get better than that anyday? :p
Comment by Praveen — August 1, 2006 @ 10:41 pm
Good one! I love it, the sarcasm, the brevity.
I agree about Shobhaa De too. I like her spunk, and her dont-care-attitude at times. But her quotes always make me wonder what she’s trying to prove. Also Spouse was completely devoid of any inspiration.
Comment by Shikha — August 3, 2006 @ 6:19 am
Good one! I love it, the sarcasm, the brevity.
I agree about Shobhaa De too. I like her spunk, and her dont-care-attitude at times. But her quotes always make me wonder what she’s trying to prove. Also Spouse was completely devoid of any inspiration.
Comment by Shikha — August 3, 2006 @ 6:24 am