NRI stereotypes

What is this obsession of bollywood and Phoren.. Its supposed to be Indian film industry but every character in movies seems to be living abroad and follows a cliched lifestyle of hanging out in clubs, living in palacial homes and going out with blond chicks. I know that there are a lot of NRI's but there are also a lot of Indians in India whose stories are very intersting too, whose issues are imp too... But no every movie these days seems to be shot in North America, Europe, Middle east or other places around the world. Some have started making movie out and out on Nri's yes we are humbled but one or two movies about us are enough.. why are you making every freakin movie about the same stuff over and over...And if you are showing something then show something with substance.. yes life is great here but staying abroad is not all about hanging out in beautiful parks, wearing skimpy clothes, making fun of people who dont know hindi.. Is this what we have come to that outsiders are making movies on us now.. aka.. Slumdog millionaire which I though was a great movie as it focussed on the much ignored people of our society the "not haves". Although some people deemed it as a mockery, but I thought it was realistic and meaningful. And I hope more and more such movies are made by our bolly.. Even 70's used to have movies even if in form of masala stuff on average working folks.. and people living in villages and people not living in metroes... but now bolly is just focusing on city folks and Nri's I dont know why??

I think a big part is the money that comes from the overseas market. Apparently the kind of films NRIs like are the KANK, Kal Ho Na Ho, Salaam Namaste types which are exclusively shot in foreign locations. I can't really comment on how true that is because I haven't lived abroad. KANK was not as successful commercially in India as it was in the US and UK. The only explanation I see is that directors/producers believe that those types of films will be gobbled up by the NRI audience.

You are right ... there are way too many films shot abroad, and I seriously doubt they represent NRIs well. That is why it is exciting for me to watch a film like Kaminey, Luck By Chance, Dev D or even Wake Up Sid which is entirely based in India.

Now about Slumdog Millionaire - I absolutely loved the film. But I think people took the "it represents real India" thing too far. It is not a realistic portrayal of anything really - its a fairy-tale film with generous doses of magical realism and 70s bollywood tropes thrown in. Also I don't know how many people know this, but the sequence where Jamal and his brother are chased through the slums was Danny Boyle's homage to a similar 8 minute chase sequence in Black Friday, directed by Anurag Kashyap, filmed in Dharavi. The idea of the two separated brothers on the opposite sides of the law is a classic Salim-Javed trope.

Regardless I really liked the film as a fairytale/magical realism tale. But if you do want to see something that is more of a "real" depiction of slums in India I would suggest Salaam Bombay by Mira Nair.

There are plenty of reasons why filmakers are so keen to continue shooting abroad -

Trade relations - promoting foreign locations to encourage ppl to visit on holiday

The nri audience - trying to make films they can connect with and appeal to them. The more nri's watching the movie the more dollars and pounds

Escapism - alot of the working class in India don't want to watch films on their lives. when they watch a film they want escapism

Glamour - for some strange reason, living abroad is portryed as being more glamourous ie living in a mansion, earning big bucks, wearning skimpy designer clothes, owning helicopters etc when the majority of it is not true and does not apply to every nri

@ Geet: and Bollygossipgirl I dont think we are obsessed with all this wrong potrayal of us in bollywood movies.. And why would we want to see foreign locates in the movies... when we actually live here LOL.. Its just the "creative" minds of these bolly people making wrong stereotypes of us! And yes maybe you can say that it offers escapism to people living in India as they start imagining that overseas as this horizon.. Yes I agree Slum dog millionaire is a terrific and enchanting fairytale which is very much inspired by our movies but alteast it is thought provking and a refreshing take on things..

Originally posted by: adios

@ Geet: I dont think we are obsessed with all this wrong potrayal of us in bollywood movies.. And why would we want to see foreign locates in the movies... when we actually live here LOL.. Its just the "creative" minds of these bolly people making wrong stereotypes of us! And yes maybe you can say that it offers escapism to people living in India as they start imagining that overseas as this horizon.. Yes I agree Slum dog millionaire is a terrific and enchanting fairytale which is very much inspired by our movies but alteast it is thought provking and a refreshing take on things..

Oh yes totally agree with that part. It definitely managed to create an emotional impact.

Maybe the escapism aspect is true for everyone. That is why we watch films that we know are not really depicting us well. Not that "realistic" films are the only good kind of films. I need to look for some KJo interviews to see his explanation for why all of his films are set abroad.

Sort of off-track, but I don't get why all of a sudden we have films based on terrorism but they are all shot abroad. As if the issue isn't relevant in India? And films about terrorism in India were made before KJo and YRF woke up to the subject (for instance, Black Friday, Aamir, Mission Kashmir).

The filmakers are completely clueless about the lifestyle nri's in the uk/usa etc lead. They either make characters really rich and snobby, or for some reason they are extremely poor and suffer racism.

I still remember watching ddlj and finding it weird how they didn't have curtains in Kajol's house - just nets draped on the window.

NRI's are spoiled brats. And everything firang is bad. I absolutely hated the message of Namastey London, such a jingoistic film that tries to show how everyone abroad is falling into bad ways, and they need to be rescued and marry one of their own kind. DDLJ is the start of the phenomenon I guess. Raj is attempting petty theft and is suddenly tranformed by Simran to a good dutiful boy and wants to go back home to Punjab.
I do think many NRI's do like certain films and make the K-Jo films a success by the packed theaters I have seen. Films that are set in India are more interesting for me to watch because they are more authentic like Geet said because the directors at least know what they are talking about. Rather when they make films abroad and try to portray the experiences of others that they don't know about, it is good to stick to what is relatable to you.
Oh, and Mira Nair is awesome. Suku, I recommend you watch Mississippi Masala. It shows the complexity of interracial relationships and how that is looked at in the desi community and Denzel Washington is in it.

DDLJ was definitely the start of the jingoistic preaching about the west v. India. I haven't seen all of Namastey London but I did see that Akshay Kumar monologue translated by Katrina Kaif, and the music video for the song with Upen Patel. I got a pretty good idea of what the film is about from those two things. Because you know girls in India would never go clubbing or drink alcohol .