Bollywood and the Business of Secularism - Page 2

Originally posted by: ---Betty---

There are some catchy subtitles - Hindu by habit, Secular by assertion, Baniya by instincts

Haven't read the whole thing yet.. But yes BW stereotypes esp the minorities...

Btw "The Davinci code" movie which depicted Christ and Mary Magdalene as couple, was banned in India, Pak, China, middle eastern countries...

It was NOT banned in the USA( it was a blockbuster) or any Christian majority western counties

As far as I know no catholic majority country banned it

Isn't Ayesha an Islamic name? There's Ayesha Jhulka, Ayesha Takia ( born Hindu I think)

It is common sense. Do as the romans do. In majority Hindu country if these Khans keep giving Muslim themed movies then they will at some point flop. You need to reflect your country in movies. So there is no surprise there. Its about money..its about appealing to all. Hence the name in their movies

Well thats a biggie article.. Summary anyone?

Originally posted by: Angel-likeDevil

@bold --- woah :O ..I thought it was banned all over the world...

It is a valid point. But truth is it all depends upon audience taste and political scenario. Bollywood is BO .dependent. It did stomach fair share of controversy and stood firm. Garam Hawa had controversial release. US is different than India. The political scenario out in India is different and religious divide line are stronger.

In 60's Bollywood showed lot of Muslim stories. Mere Mehboob is good example.

Amitabh has played Christain(Naseeb, Aakhri Raasta)/ Muslim (Coolie, Khudha Gawah, Andha Kanoon) characters. I am taking his example because I am too bored to look at other actors.

The thing is Bollywood caters to North belt most of which are Hindu. But it has never really tried to stereotype Muslim in past. They were shown to be normal people. But Christian and Parsi have been stereotyped badly in Bollywood mainstream movies. Though Parallel Bollywood did a lot to undo the damage by portraying them as normal people who have their own set of issues. 😊

Originally posted by: d-_-b

[quote]Can you think of any Hindu star who had to take on a "catchy" Muslim or Christian name?[/quote]

Why just take on a Muslim name, the Hindu actors/actresses(Dharam,Hema,Mahesh Bhatt etc) change their religion to indulge in polygamy.😆

😆

Bollywood has had many lovely movies in the past which had Muslim characters in lead..And they depicted the culture and tehzeeb very well along with melodious music..It was mainly bcoz there were many Muslim film makers and actors who were active and aware..There was a sweet movie showing Parsi family..Khatta meetha..And Christian families in baaton baaton mein..I remember watching few more on TV..But don't know the names..

^^ thankyou guys, I was waiting for members with knowledge of old movies and the 'parallel' cinema to talk about this.. 😃