the copy cat culture

There is a beautiful reality show on the small screen in one of the Hindi channels where the common man is made the butt of joke. The central character is a Sardarji who keeps getting into problem situations and who seeks the help of the common man on the road or at the bus stop or in a shop to pull him out of trouble. For example, the time when he ‘discovers’ that his feet are stuck to the ground. He finds it impossible to lift his feet. Passers by try to give him a helping had but his feet will just not budge. If, by chance, he is able to move one of his feet, it again sticks to the new location when he puts his foot down!! Such episodes are hilarious, generate quite a lot of fun and have the audience in splits. The complete show is a clone of a similar program that once upon a time used to run on an English channel. And – the crowning glory is that it has been adopted by a couple of language channels as well.

Similar is the case with Hindi films.

There is any number of films that have been ‘inspired’ by foreign films. In this connection, there used to be some popular TV serials where the audience would be treated to visuals of both the versions, side by side. The presenter of the show, with his inimitable tongue-in-cheek humour, would draw the attention of the viewers to the specific cases so that you could not miss the similarities – they were so prominent. Film makers never acknowledge these and shrug them off citing them as coincident. Obviously, due credits are never given where it is due.

When we venture into the territory of songs, the similarities of tunes between an English one and its Hindi clone are too pronounced for comfort. Some haunting melodies of the 60s and the 70s stage a come back in our Hindi filmdom and, subsequently, move on to the language films.

The recent release of a repackaged block buster of the 50s and its immediate acceptance by the cine-goers is conclusive proof of the fact that those who deal in the finer forms of arts are starved of ideas. New story lines are absent and the song and dance (SAD) sequences necessary to support a weak storyline appear to be repetitions. Actors have become stereotyped, the dialogue writers have run out of quotable quotes and every ation seems to be predictable. With the fairer sex willing to plunge into murky waters and producers available by the dozens to finance one-off ventures, the final offerings of Bollywood fail to create any impression on the discerning public. Securing nominations for prestigious overseas awards does not guarantee an extraordinary movie.

Of course, we have to thank our lucky stars that the Copy Cat Culture has not yet encroached into the territory of children (like ‘Baby’s day out’, ‘Home alone’, ‘Monkey trouble’ and ‘101 Dalmatians’) or into real action packed films (like ‘Speed’, ‘First blood’ and ‘The Rock’). I leave it to your imagination to visualize desi versions of such films.

other interesting links on india and indian culture:
http://peekayjee28.blogspot.com – destination india
http://peekayjee29.blogspot.com – indian satire
http://peekayjee34.blogspot.com – sweets of india
http://peekayjee35.blogspot.com – festivals of india

For me, part of the charm and appeal of Indian films is their unabashed willingness to steal ideas and make them their own. And KOI MIL GAYA may be the leader - you need both hands to count all the films that were ripped off to make this movie.

the copy cat culture goes both way..Some Hollywood movies are based on Hong Kong Kungfu movies, or bollywood movies (Moulin Rouge).. Hip Hop remixes with Bhangra in the background. In the world of fashion, a lot designers are copying the indian styles.. When the west does it, its called "inspired by" and when the east does, its called, "copy cat"?! Its matter of symantics..


Lets hope that all this copy catting makes understand each other better.

Ha! Good point.

sadhuji, you seem to paint Hindi films and film music with one colour. English films and music are good, Hindi films and music are copies of good English films. Sure there is a problem of copying in Hindi films, but presenting such a one-sided view is dishonest.

can art ever be original? can you be 100% not inspired and still create works of art? ( now, i am not saying that movies are 100% art - just trying to draw a parallel )

[QUOTE=sadhuji] Of course, we have to thank our lucky stars that the Copy Cat Culture has not yet encroached into the territory of children (like ‘Baby’s day out’, ‘Home alone’, ‘Monkey trouble’ and ‘101 Dalmatians’) or into real action packed films (like ‘Speed’, ‘First blood’ and ‘The Rock’). I leave it to your imagination to visualize desi versions of such films.

Actually 'Baby's day out' has been re-made in Tamil/Telugu. The baby was played by twin children of Nagarjuna (Telugu film star) and Amala (former Tamil film star). 'Speed' has been dubbed in several Indian languages on the small screen.

Whats intresting to me is that the majority of people in india have no idea that these things they are listening to and watching are being ripped off.

if they know its a rip off, they would stop listenign to it!!!




That blog is biased against Bollywood and India in general, i don't know whats so special about that blog, nothing new, these things have already been talked about hundred times everywhere....

For me Indian cinema has no charm. (a dissenting voice mutters...)
I wonder why they use the worst of Western music to base their songs on. I wonder why the 'actors' are not actors but presenters of two-dimensional cartoon stereotypes --- ever seen a woman sobbing like they do in Indian films?

Nick, Bollywood produces over 700 films a year. Not all of them are great so you need to know to pick the good ones. The past 3-4 years have seen an infusion of fresh young blood in Hindi cinema that is rooting for change.

This is what a reviewer had to say about a recent film that won the Golden Lion at Cannes.
Go rent yourself a DVD of Monsoon Wedding.

just got back from viewing this year's Diwali season blockbuster, VEER-ZAARA. I give it 3 stars- for three hours long! As predictable as it was, except for a massive twist of plot that was very innovative (not tellin!) I have to admit the songs, cinematography, sound recording and entertainment value are way above most western (American) filmi. Added bonus was checking out a word-of-mouth recommended Paki dhaba that was outstanding- YUMMMMMMMM

Remember, Bollywood, Tamilwood, etc. make movies For Indians, By Indians, and Of Indians. Like India itself, it has been influenced by all parts of the globe, yet still comes up with something that could only come from South Asia.

If ya don't like indian filmi, lord knows there are many reasons for doing so. But for me, the ultimate affinity is that they're so freakin INDIAN! I mean, if I go over and eat achcha khana & watch an indian film, I'm back there, capiche? (And I'm back only 10 days)

So I think my appreciation of filmi has grown over the years with my appreciation of India. That and the quality is so much better than the screech-in-your-ear-bus-stop noise it was 10 years ago.

90% of hindi movies suck .. there are v few film makers who want to influence change ... all producers and directors want to make money by showing old song dance movies .. and btw how many english movies are copies of hindi movies ??

i appreciate the lyricists who create lyrics to match with the corresponding english tunes - it does require a lot of doing. but, instead of acknowledging the original source they want to pass it off as original! and, the whole world goes ga-ga over the song. its all really so very childish and silly.

Soulfood; Yes, I might enjoy Monsson Wedding, I have heard of it. I'm not saying that I have never enjoyed an Indian movie or film song. Some of AR Rahman's early stuff was nice.

An ex-GF was a Hindi/Tamil movie lover, so I have had exposure to it, I have tried it.