Bollywood’s Hollywood Fixation

Forget Sabu, The Elephant Boy, who made waves in Hollywood as a cute, disarming, oriental character in the late 1930s and 1940s. Forget even I.S. Johar, with forgettable cameos in blockbusters like Harry Black and the Tiger and later Lawrence of Arabia. The rush toward that fabled universe has never stopped. Be it Kabir Bedi, Persis Khambata, Victor Banerjee, Shabana Azmi, Naseer Shah, Om Puri, Aishwarya Rai, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Amrish Puri, they have all paid homage (with varying degrees of — ahem — success) to that great institution, called Hollywood.

In recent times, new entrants to join the “Present Sir” club include, Mallika Sherawat, Bipasha Basu, Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor and now the biggest — Big B, Amitabh Bachchan. While the local wit is ready with his broadside (“Really? These guys actually appeared in Hollywood movies? Where? You could fool me, kid!”), movie observers are not surprised at this roll-call. Remarked one, snidely: “What’s this big shock and surprise? Despite the big hoo-haa that our industry goes on about relating to Hollywood and the Cannes Award, every single year a big contingent religiously lands up there — as onlookers, spectators, guests — not competitors. Also, despite these mock-shows of indifference, one phone call from that deadly land and our stars are off and running – role, profile and duration, be damned! The reason is simple, guys. Hollywood is the baap (daddy)and endorsement for them is still considered the ultimate seal of recognition.”

Politically correct or not, point is, what is it about Hollywood that unleashes this irresistible fixation? Why, despite spouting heady rhetoric about the world’s biggest film industry’s popularity across all corners of the globe, do our stars (secretly) pine for that call from America and drool over photo-ops with dazzlers, like Oprah Winfrey or Tom Cruise?

Film Critic Akhilesh Pant lays it on the line: “Boss, the difference between Hollywood and Bollywood is like NCC (National Cadet Corps) and the Armed Forces, or Doordarshan and commercial movies. Hollywood was, is and will always remain the ultimate metaphor of showbiz and planet Earth’s undisputed capital of stardom!

Our stars are paper tigers, super hot at home and with diaspora audiences. Can a Shahrukh Khan or Salman Khan compare to a Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or Leornado D’Caprio? Or Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra compare to an Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts or Meryll Streep? There is clearly no comparison. Hollywood is where it’s at … period.”

New-York based Bollywood fan Tina Desai is not amused. The 24-year-old IT executive believes Pant is patronizing, vicious and missing the point. “When a B-town star is invited to do a Hollywood film, it automatically means that he/she has the talent and histrionic equipment to deliver, okay? Casting directors there don’t cast you because of your hairstyle or rishtedaari, okay? Also role-requirement, not length-duration, is the name of the game. Brand-fit is critical. Does he/she suit the role? Sure, many of our lead stars may not have enjoyed lengthy roles and centrality, but the opportunity and exposure to work with some of the most illustrious names in the business is bound to give them a huge high! I have no doubt that Naseer Shah’s interaction with Sean Connery, Anupam Kher’s with Woody Allen and Bachchan’s with Baz Luhrmann will be something they will always cherish, so let’s get some perspective.”

Cut to some hard facts. The recent outings of Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan and Big B in Hollywood movies rankles film critic Partho Chatterjee who pointed out, acidly that “except their really close family members and loyal friends, everyone will agree that they are way off even Andy Warhol’s deathless 15 minutes of fame template. It’s pathetic!”

Movie trackers take this point further by pointing out that Anil Kapoor’s Mission Impossible role proved totally impossible for any fan to rave about, because both the length and characterization were bizarre, Irfan Khan’s turn as Dr. Ajit R in The Amazing Spiderman has been hacked to a few minutes while Big B’s appearance in the D’Caprio starrer The Great Gatsby is fleeting.

While critics ridicule them as “glorified cameos accepted due to the dizzying glamour of Hollywood,” others offer another take. They believe that B-town stars in these big Hollywood productions, irrespective of role, profile or duration, provide an incentive for the diaspora audiences to see the film at least once, providing a sense of patriotic pride.

At the end of the day, two facts need to be admitted. Despite yelling our tonsils out about our glorious 100 years of cinema, Hollywood remains the benchmark. Glamor, scale, reach, technology, budgets, sheer legacy, charisma or solid star-power, they rule the world. Anurag Kashyap, Dipakar Banerjee and gang are interesting, but aren’t they ripping off, as mainstream Bollywood has for decades, the gurus of that industry and their storylines, plots, scene? Sure, Bollywood is taking major strides, but as a global force that instantly demands and gets respect, awe, admiration and attention, sorry folks, Hollywood is the real thing.

It would be a mark of maturity to acknowledge and admit these simple facts.