BOLLYWOOD AWAKENS

Of late we have had a number of mainstream Bollywood Movies which have moved away from the prerequisite formula for a Masala Hindi movie. There has been a phenomenal change in the way the movies are made nowadays .These are movies which have an actual storyline, u know “An actual story” (and that too in Hindi Movie).I thought I had never live to see this day. These are movies that either inspire us or at least make us think. They have been successful in ‘bridging the gap’ or ‘breaking the barrier’ between commercial cinema and thought provoking art cinema. Earlier the general thought used to be that art movies are not money makers and that mainstream Bollywood movies are not thought provoking.

A point to be noted here is that do movies affect our lives? A very superficial answer might be No and it will seem to be an obvious one at that. But on a closer look one might feel that some movies do actually affect our life. They make you think about yourself, your lifestyle, the community at large and how we are part of the larger picture. Some of the movies which illustrate my points are:

SWADES (WE THE PEOPLE)


















The story here revolves around an NRI who leaves behind his riches and a comfortable life for the betterment and welfare of his country, his own motherland. How many of us would have the courage to even think about going through with such a step. Most of us would ridicule this and say that such things are only possible in movies. What I propose is an intermediate step between the two extremities. One doesn’t need to give up everything to help the society. A good cause done with a clean heart is all that it takes to be better person.

RANG DE BASANTI (A GENERATION AWAKENS)

Perhaps the best movie that I have watched till date. It displays careless young college students realizing that a country is made its people and its citizens are the ones who have to work towards its progress. Every time I see this movie it inspires me to do something selfless. Such movies fill you with a sense of pride for your country and make you look at the larger picture and how you can be a part of it.

LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI

A fresh Perspective towards Gandhi-ism or as is called ‘GandhiGiri’ by the goonda Munna in the movie. This movie teaches the most important value that each one of us should have i.e. Truth. Our lives are becoming a bundle of lies. A lie to cover another lie and so on. Why can’t we just learn to say the truth? Maybe coz it’s difficult. As is said Truth Hurts (Sach hamesha kadwa hota hai).All we have to do is start speaking the truth. Whenever we know that I can lie and get from this situation we should try and gather up the courage to say the truth. It might be a big thing but it will help you in the long run.

Chak De India

The latest entrant in this list and it pleases me that a sports movie was able to implement the prerequisites to be on this list. Chak De was successful in breaking the caste and gender barriers embedded in the minds of the common man. It also brings to light the politics involved in the game and also the passion of the sportspersons for the game. The plight of the sportspersons of games other than cricket can be seen as they are never referred to as ‘Sports Stars’ like our cricketers. The deadly combination of hockey and girls was able to move a lot of people to actually go and watch sports other than cricket.



All these movies have something in common. They can either be inspirational, passionate, humorous or serious. But what all of them have in common is that ALL of them UNITE INDIA and empower each and every citizen of India.


So after a deep slumber Bollywood has woken up to the reality of the lives of common man and has started displaying this on celluloid. It feels great to watch such movies and hope for many more interesting and thought provoking movies to come in the future.