On top of what I said earlier, I'm amazed that Bollywood's interpretation of an intellectual is Saif Ali Khan. Like what the heck?
He may be a voracious reader, although I'm yet to be convinced, but it just shows how close-knitted Bollywood is. This guy, KJo, is nearly 50 - yet, his problems seem to those that people in their 20s suffer. Jesus Christ, this guy as is as old as our parents, but he acts like he's just hit puberty.
Rajeev Masand indicated how everyone in Dharma is "attractive or good looking," and how Karan goes for such a thing. I find that true. Karan would rather take up a neatly dressed mediocre in-house Bollywood son than a chaotic, terrible dressed, yet intelligent Bollywood insider as his assistant. Look at him. He's not an actor, but he's undergone cosmetic procedures. He's pompous; he's deceptive, and an Anglophile. I'm sorry but I find Karan, Saif, Zoya, etc. all Anglophiles. Except, Saif is genuine and the other two are pretentious.
And, all these people who talk about GREAT cinema, could they make a movie like La La Land? Could these filmmakers (especially KJo) be daring enough to make Moonlight? La La Land is no better than Khamoshi and Dil Se, but Bollywood loves to ignore these classics, when Hollywood is celebrating La La Land.
This brings me to Bollywood's obsession with Oscars. It's not even for us, but we have this mania with Oscars, Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, etc. We still seek Western validation.
Have you see Bollywood decorate movies such as Pyaasa, Madhumati, Naya Daur, Awara, Shree 420, MEA, Mother India, Aradhana, Dil Apna Aur Preet Paraya, Anand, etc. as much as Hollywood recognizes It Happened One Night, It's a Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, Sunset Blvd., The Apartment, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Graduate, etc. No, we'd rather act like English is the gold standard..
Look at classics movies from 1990 onwards - HAHK, DDLJ, Khamoshi, Dil Se, Maachis, Satya, Rangeela, Sarfarosh, JJWS, Raakh, etc. - Bollywood barely talks about these movies. The likes of KJo would rather talk about London or New York (not even Paris). In fact, name a filmmaker who talks about Godard, Truffaut, or Kurosawa.. Oh my, they're not Anglophiles.
Tsk, tsk.. This mentality won't go as long as we have more filmmakers going to Bollywood from the grassroots. We need more people with Indian sensibilities over these wanna-be Indians. You have be brown, but you're just white people with brown skins. Soz.
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