Let me begin by saying I'm not Indian. I'm American/Canadian. But I've been watching Bollywood movies for about eight years, and I've seen a lot of them, although almost everything I've seen is from 1990 on, and I've subscribed to Filmfare for many years. Everyone who's written in this thread has made valid points. Yes, Hollywood makes really bad movies, copies ideas, etc. too. But it also makes really, really good movies. And they are original. Dhoom 3 is really a collection of clips from several Hollywood movies stuck together (see my comments on the thread about originality). The original poster talked about fans of various stars--good point. Compare, say, Russell Crowe to SRK. I like both, but Russell Crowe can play a huge range of characters and he disappears into his roles. SRK plays SRK. Of course Clint Eastwood always played Clint Eastwood, so that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I can't think of any male Indian actors who have much of a range. The women do, but usually it's wasted because they are almost always secondary characters, although I see signs of this changing (Suddth Desi Romance, Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl, 7 Khoon Maaf). Also, Indians defend their own films regardless of quality. Why? I don't feel offended if someone says 90% of Hollywood films are garbage. It's true. But I don't watch the 90%, I watch the 10%. Why do I like Bollywood movies? I'll start with the women: Katrina, Priyanka, Aishwarya, Kajol, Sonam, Juhi, etc. They are both talented actors and beautiful women. Next, the stories are very much like 1950s Hollywood (this is a good thing!) because they are innocent and sweet (I don't like the Bollywood gangster movies or low level comedies, and don't watch them). Third, the dancing and singing adds an element sadly missing today in Hollywood--where is West Side Story, The Sound of Music, etc.? Finally, these movies are HAPPY movies, for the most part. Having said all that, I have to say that most of my favorite movies from the last 10 years have been Japanese--they are original, have something universal to say to the audience (you don't have to be Japanese to understand them), and are extremely emotionally moving. Not to mention great acting and technical skill. Bollywood directors would be well served to watch a few of the best Japanese movies (Norwegian Wood, Confessions) and take some notes. I suspect a lot (all?) of the problems that Hindi movies have is because they are made so quickly--it shows. My two big complaints are 1) the non-Indian actors are generally terrible, especially if they have small roles. In the case of Dhoom 3, Mr. Anderson is just awful. Is that the best they could find in Chicago? Really? 2) The subtitles seem to be an afterthought. They ALWAYS have mistakes. In the case of Dhoom 3, writing 20$ instead of $20. In the case of Madras Cafe (the worst example I can think of), there are probably l00 mistakes or more. Plus they have Nargis Fakhri (who's American, remember) saying things in English that no English speaking person would say. Where is the editor? Why not hire a native English-speaking consultant to a) make sure that British or American actors with small roles can really act and b) edit the subtitles. It would take less than a day and a few hundred dollars. I suspect a lot of Indians have to depend on the subtitles too. Why spend millions on a movie but not hire an editor to check subtitles? Doesn't make sense.
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