Are Hindi makers ashamed or insecure of own culture?

I have never understood why Hindi makers in particular seem so keen to copy Roman, Greek, Egyptian mythology as depicted in Hollywood?

Why they transplant that leitmotif in Indian historicals and epics?

Why are they lacking faith in own culture and assume audience will not accept own dress, jewellery or language or original stories?

The make up, tattoos, hair or sets seem like wannabe LOTR, GOT, HP, series, Gladiator, Troy or Benhur especially since last 2 decades.

Earlier BW has made more Indian looking stuff like Mughal e Azam, Ram Rajya, Jai Santoshi Ma and hit bullseye.

What happened now and why make same mistakes again and again misreading youth? Same kids who grew up reading ACK or watching epics on tv will not mind own people shown own way.

Why is it that hard to grasp?

Ever heard the phrase : "Future Americans temporarily inconvenienced by their Indian passport"

It applies to a lot of them (not all of course).

So well said. I mean can they not understand openness of youth and masses to see Indian content when they see success of ACK comics, archives of Chandamama and even old shows on Ramayana, Mahabharat or historical figures popular? Indian dresses, jewellery are popular even abroad. Why do Indian makers think they have to show Indians dressed like Greeks or Romans?

Or eat meat or show villain in a dark lair or hero in sunny spaces?

Or show meat eating as sign of villainy?

Success of South films like Bahubali, Magadheera, PS series should let them know Indians are okay with characters dressed like Indians.

And we are not looking for desi or wannabe versions of Benhur or GOT.

I totally agree makers and writers from last 30 years seem to be out of touch with Indian sensibilities or are wannabe Hollywoodiyas.

Maybe because most of Bollywood is lazy and the current crop of directors/actors have grown on Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc. So it is easy to plagiarize designs from those sources. And the larger younger audience has also grown on the same content. So it's easier to appeal to them..

Ayan tried to do Brahmastra around Indian mythology. But he had no Indian frame of reference to take from so he recycled basic urban fantasy and superhero tropes. I don't know if it's necessarily malice as much as it is laziness.

And I mean it's not like South Indian directors don't lift from other sources liberally. Rajamouli is rather much too inspired from Japanese animes.

To me, too, it also appears due to laziness, but also to lacking self-esteem and trust in Indianess.

Still, there are writers and directors - I'm sure - with excellent scripts and expertise in depicting history and culture...probably they just don't find producers or the needed money to do the movies.

The regard to the West and the damages colonisation did still prevail too much, I think, especially in the Hindi filmindustry.

Desi doesn't sell outside a niche audience unless it's packaged with sex or Shah Rukh Khan. It has more to do with the inferiority complexes among the public in general than how the makers feel about it. If you take a poll you'd find the average person is more inclined to talk about Marvel comics than Amar Chitra Katha for whatever reason.

Chris Hemsworth may or may not be 'attractive' but when you judge him purely based on looks he leans towards a butterface-y situation. If he were an Indian guy, with the same face and the same body ,people would easily say he's not handsome . This goes for a lot of other things as well.

Also maybe they're going for a 'global' vibe since everyone is hooked to the internet and their smartphone and consumes foreign media all day.

Consuming foreign media does not mean Indians are okay with historical or religious or folk lore being mangled to make it look 'global'.

I totally disagree with your first line that desi does not sell unless it has sex or SRK.

How did Lagaan, Jodha Akbar, Bahubali, PS series, RRR become so successful? Craze and pan India housefull shows for Bahubali were real. Saw it firsthand in even Punjab where South films hardly have takers.

Even Padmavat, Bajirao Mastani have done fairly well with more desi look and not blindly copying Hollywood.

The dubbed versions of Magadheera are popular online and on TV as well. How did it click then?

Indian youth may be more inclined to talk of Marvel but also know Indian history and epics are what they are and know their context and do not want to see them transplanted or re imagined as sasta version of GOT.

The disaster of Ekta's Kahani Hamarey Mahabharat Kay which had characters dressed like Romans and Greeks, and panning of Adipurush says it all about acceptance of Indian youth also when it comes to cheap re imagining of Indian epics in Greek or Roman mytho mode.

Do you have examples of movies or shows capturing Western motifs?

I have seen the opposite in the media I have consumed. Tooth Pari completely reinvents the vampire genre. Here the vampire lore is steeped in Indian mythos of witchcraft and the culture of Calcutta. Saas Bahu aur Flamingo is a completely Indian rendition of the drug lord genre. The desert culture of Rajasthan, especially that of the Banjaran completely shines through.

The lazy part is true.

Their poor writing, lack of research shows.

I was watching interview of Asha Bhosle where she revealed that she and Lata learnt Urdu and took classes to get rid of Marathi accent and sing nore authentically especially when they sang for films like Mughal e Azam, Razia Sultan.

Hema Malini learnt Urdu and Farsi to sound authentic when she did Razia Sultan.

Dilip Kumar took classes to get Bhojpuri style accent right when he did Ganga Jumna and sound like a real villager from UP region.

Whereas I do NOT see writers, makers, actors or singers of today go extra mile or do research.

All they see is TRPs or BO or masala or wannabe global content trending online.

I have read Mohit Raina used to meditate and read Shiv Puran to know more about Lord Shiva and bring a composure to his acting. Nitish Bharadwaj knew Sanskrit and actually he had read Mahabharat.

I do not see such dedication or preparation by today's heroes and heroines drunk on own stardom.

Sagars and Chopras had whole research team when they made Ramayana and Mahabharat and consulted scholars and translators, cultural ministry also. You do not see that level of commitment now. Just makers who see these epics or historical legends as source of masala.

Akki's Prithviraj was also badly made. Period.

Originally posted by: Clochette

To me, too, it also appears due to laziness, but also to lacking self-esteem and trust in Indianess.

Still, there are writers and directors - I'm sure - with excellent scripts and expertise in depicting history and culture...probably they just don't find producers or the needed money to do the movies.

The regard to the West and the damages colonisation did still prevail too much, I think, especially in the Hindi filmindustry.

I agree with every word.

Lack of self esteem, lack of trust in Indianness or feeling ashamed or feeling it is low class or low brow or boring or regressive or uncool is part of the issue.

Elite class probably views Ram Leela as something small town or middle class people view.

The English press had bashed TV shows based on these shows and called them nukkad naatak or calender art or sign of regression and communalism or plain bore and they were aghast at success of these shows.

They were surprised at success of Amish's Shiva triology and new shows on Shiva such as Devon ke dev Mahadev and rise of period films and shows on TV in 2010s.

I do find a wannabe attitude in Indians especially from liberalisation and globalisation era from 90s. Especially in urban areas and elite class. There is also pseudo intellectualism or anti intellectualism and no knowledge of either own language or English.

Just know slang from global pop culture or internet chatspeak.

Colonial hangover sure has a role to play.

A lot seem disconnected or deracinated and for them even festivals mean a holiday or card parties or getting drunk. Or dressing up and eating like a pig. Or getting laid at late nightouts on a holiday or festival.

IDK if they find history or folklore or religious epics regressive or loaded or too heavy or philosophical or dated or whatever. Or see them as just potential for masala and some revenge or love triangle.

I once saw a so called scholar also discuss with Amish how to make epics 'cool' and I was a bit taken aback as to why he thinks there is a need to make it look cool?