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"Popular cinema frustrates all search for realistic portrayals of the configurations of class, caste or gender in contemporary Indian society" - this quote from an essay on popular cinema by Ashish Nandy, comes to mind after viewing ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ - yet another offering by mainstream Hindi cinema. Not surprisingly, the run of the mill successful film appeals to the emotions of the masses by harping on general feel good factors like togetherness, family, tradition, culture, patriotism or romance, more so love triangles, and a hero ‘who can do anything’. So it is again not surprising that it takes a three hour movie like “Kal Ho Na Ho’ to weave all these themes into its story. In the past few years, the NRI perspective seems to have taken over mainstream Hindi cinema. This film has all the sugarcoated ingredients and clichés suited largely for the palate of an NRI audience. Materially well off , emotionally they remain starving to connect to the sights and sounds of their homeland. New York is the backdrop of the movie as the NRI audience settled there will love your movie complete with ‘tributes’ to their communities. Also, it gives fodder to the collective aspirations of thousands of urban Indians back home. The characters may sport western chic in demeanor but when it comes to the ultimate choice, they opt for soft patriotism, for example when they talk about the uniqueness of India to market their revamped eatery. Also, certain western concepts like dating agencies, blind dates etc .have to be woven into the script and ‘explained’ to the Indian audiences.
Approximate Word count = 1013
Approximate Pages = 4.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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