Originally posted by: Clochette
It's called German filmindustry, German movies, German actors/actresses, German Cinema...
Hollywood is a genuine location...it's a part of the Los Angeles area...and there indeed was a large wood once upon the time...before film studios had been built there. So, Hollywood Cinema started in Hollywood.
Bollywood has no meaning than a negative one...no wood, no location, no language, just an artificial term to mock the Hindi filmindustry.
Bombay, btw. was never an indigenious name, it's a Portuguese name for 'a good bay'. Mumbai, however, is named after Mumbadevi, the goddess, and the Marathi word for mother. I would largely prefer latter to former... it's a much older name with a more regionally specific signification. π
Once upon a time a country's city had it's name based on its colonizer's city.... eventually this country gained independence over the colonizer... but did keep the original name. That city was New York.... based on York in UK. Which city is more famous today? Is the name an embarrassment? Me think not.
Let's talk candy. There was once a great baseball player - Babe Ruth - think of him as a Klose... or an even bigger figure. He of course used to charge an arm and a leg for endorsements. In order to skimp on that, a shrewd businessman launched a candy named Baby Ruth. It was an open secret that the candy was named to milk Babe Ruth's fame, but they concocted a fake origin story. The candy was a smash hit. Not the one to leave millions of dollars on the table, Babe Ruth launched his own candy with his own name. Baby Ruth candy company sued Babe Ruth for using a similar sounding name π€£ Can you guess who won that case? π€‘
The thought itself, that Bollywood sounds demeaning because it's based on Hollywood, comes from a western perspective! Sometimes it sounds like west oriented elitists (NOT you Clochette, you're far too sweet, sweeter than Baby Ruthπ) thinking "Hollywoodiya log kya kahenge (What will Hollywood people say).. sounds like a cheap rip-off... ". But when you look at it from an Indian perspective it makes sense... Let me explain:
When you hear Hollywood, it instantly transports you physically to the LA hub of movie making business. It's not just "American English Film Industry", it's much more than that... it's The Works!!
Similarly when you hear Bollywood, you instantly get transported to erstwhile Bombay (so tomorrow if Yogiji is successful in creating another Hindi film industry in Lucknow... that wouldn't be Bollywood but a separate entity π¬). THAT is where the Hindi film industry's talent thrives. It's a melting pot of people speaking multiple languages that come together to create 'Hindi' movies. Other than that Mumbai hub, the term Bollywood also means to represent people speaking multiple languages who consume 'Hindi' movies. The term also includes the associated paparazzi, the journalists,etc.. including people like me and you whose mother tongue is NOT Hindi but we come to anonymous forums like these to talk about Himdi movies.
So English or Hindi are just the languages in which movies are created. Film Industry is just the commercial apparatus that churns out these movies. But Hollywood or Bollywood is the entire ecosystem. So I take Bollywood over Hindi Film Industry any time of the day.
I wish you well, Clochette, in this noble zealous endeavor of yours to salvage the pride of Hindi Film Industry from the clutches of the allegedly demeaning term Bollywood. But I refuse to partake. And as we part, I'd like again to invoke the Bard. Imagine me, if you can, mouthing this as the Big B in Chupke Chupke... "What's in a NAME?"...
Me thinks it's Much Ado About Nothing.
PS: Clochette, I'm a Mumbaikar. Now I seldom use Bombay, but I can't tell you how many hearts pained when the name change was effected. Centuries back when Mumbai started morphing into a metropolis, it went by 3 names: Bombay, Bambai & Mumbai. Now it's just Mumbai..
PPS: Bandra, where many Bollywood Hindi Film Industry (π) stars live also goes by 3 names. Bandra (English), Bandra (pronounced differently, in Hindi) & Vandre (in Marathi).
A name captures a lot of history and fond memories... all of which get hurt when we attempt to whitewash it...
PPPS: Thank you for the award of the biggest post ever in IF history. I dedicate this award to HearMeRoar who has always inspired me to write more than 2 lines. π
Edited by Saleem-Pheku - 1 years ago
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