Are there any realistic depictions of second-gen NRIs in Bollywood? - Page 7

Originally posted by: InspectorShirke

Tbh I find second generation NRIs and desis a bit jarring. They look down on people from back home down just because if their accent even if their English is good. Like their English is much better than their Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi/Tamil etc. The second-gen desis try their best to use being "multilingual" to their benefit but the fact is that they are not even that good at their mother language.

I look down on Americans because their English is not good. In fact, they don't speak English, they speak Americanese. 😆

No there isn't a single depiction in BW that's relatable to 2nd or 3rd generation Desi's.

NRI's depicted in BW are complete aliens whether it's speaking, behaviour, family dynamics, even clothes.

Religion and culture are 2 separate things as many have pointed out. There are so many 3rd generations who actively partake in religion, whether it's joining the youth groups at Hare Krishna/BAPS/other sects to raise their spiritual and religious knowledge as well as charity work. However, so many of them wouldn't be caught dead watching a BW movie.

Even as a second generation desi in the UK, who's often labelled a coconut there's definitely a difference between me and third generation Desi's. Moreso their willingness to learn Gujarati/Punjabi/Urdu at a Saturday school and actually undertake it as a GCSE (10th equivalent in India) and proudly flaunt this on their CV/LinkedIn. If that's not pride, I don't know what is.

3rd generation Desi's whose families immigrated from Kenya/Uganda in the 60's/70's tend to oscillate between extremes; either really traditional or so far removed from their roots (Priti Patel springs to mind here who acts even more colonial than the British).

There's so many variations of NRI's that no one has even bothered distinguishing from- Mississippi Masala did a good depiction of an Indian family kicked out from Uganda under Idi Amin and then Brick Lane, but they're not BW.

Originally posted by: noorsand

Being a first-gen in Canada, I have noticed a lot of my second-gen friends and cousins speak better Punjabi than I do (Punjabi is my native language but I did not grow up in Punjab) also a lot of them use archaic Punjabi words that no youngster in Punjab would ever use. I once had a friend refer to a plastic bag as "momjama". They are also more religious than my friends and cousins in India. But, Canada has huge Sikh (and Punjabi) population and culture, so it could just be that.

On topic, I don't think I have seen any realistic depiction, I agree with some replies that Bollywood movies does not even bother with accent. As a kid, it didn't matter but if you are telling me Hrithik Roshan (Raj) grew up in New Zealand in Kaho Na Pyar Hai and never even went to India and has no Kiwi accent

Also Bollywood need to stop showing rich (not just average rich, but rich to the extend of Ambani) NRIs.

Wow, that seems unique, it's pretty interesting that they've captured that use of Punjabi from a moment in time and kept it alive!

I feel the same with Swahili creeping into my Gujarati. As my grandparents lived in Kenya, their use of Swahili made its way into Gujarati. So much so that I thought "sani" and "dogo" were Gujarati words whilst growing up.

Definitely makes me feel like a dhobi ka kutta "na ghar ka, na ghat ka".

Originally posted by: Mrignaini

Wow, that seems unique, it's pretty interesting that they've captured that use of Punjabi from a moment in time and kept it alive!

I feel the same with Swahili creeping into my Gujarati. As my grandparents lived in Kenya, their use of Swahili made its way into Gujarati. So much so that I thought "sani" and "dogo" were Gujarati words whilst growing up.

Definitely makes me feel like a dhobi ka kutta "na ghar ka, na ghat ka".

In such cases, it's better to give up all your past baggage and simply embrace the nation you're a part of.

My second cousin lives in the US. Her daughters consider themselves fully American who just " happen to be Brown".

That's the idea way to identify so avoid any kind of confusion.