As an avid fan of Indian cinema, watching RRR this past week was a lot of fun. I remember it taking Western cinema culture by storm a few years back, for its striking visuals, fascinating plot, and exciting music. Though it’s a great movie, I remember thinking something along the lines of “What’s with all the hype, especially now?”
Don’t get me wrong, RRR is a great film. However, Indian cinema is known for being larger than life, and I have become accustomed to, and even spoiled by, movies that go above and beyond. I grew up with the Indian film industry being at the center of my cinematic experience, and as such I had grown familiar with the tropes that came with it. I was curious to explore how someone completely unexposed to Indian cinema would react to it as a genre. I found this video from Accented Cinema, a YouTube channel with a multitude of video essays that generally focus on foreign cinema: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b85CHHdTTz4
The first six minutes of the video talks about Bollywood, which broadly refers to Hindi films from India. This is the subset of Indian cinema I am most familiar with, so hearing a newcomer discuss it was insightful. The video creator discusses what has made Bollywood so successful, and it is primarily the romantic, fairytale nature of Bollywood films. However, he also notes that in recent years Bollywood has begun to diversify, and this is something I can attest to. In recent years films have veered further and further from the formulaic romance-centric movies of the past. Finally, he mentions how the best Bollywood films, such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), Dangal, and 3 Idiots, are exceptional because they critique some aspect of Indian society (arranged marriage, sexism in women’s sports, and the Indian education system, respectively).
He then talks about Kollywood, the Tamil speaking section of Indian films. I have never seen a Kollywood movie, so I took his word on what the experience for a newcomer would be like. He brings up a movie called Super Deluxe, which I’ve added to my watchlist because it seems incredibly entertaining and clever. He then moves to Tollywood. I have seen a few Tollywood movies, which is the last section of Indian cinema he discusses. Tollywood is known for its action, without a doubt. The video creator discusses Bahubali, a 2015 epic that I think was the film that paved the way for RRR. Both RRR and Bahubali come from the same director, and though I think RRR surpasses its predecessor, both clearly show the focus Tollywood has on physical action and drama. Accented Cinema points out how this focus on physical action contrasts with the emotional and story-driven drama we often find in Bollywood films.
Overall, I think this is a great video for someone who knows little about Indian cinema, and he makes fantastic recommendations for those trying to get into Indian films as well. My advice, to supplement his, would be to have fun when watching Indian cinema. It is, as I said, larger than life in many ways, and I always walk into each film with an open mind. I also wanted to make some recommendations to supplement Accented Cinema’s, for those trying to get into Bollywood specifically.
Bollywood:
– Jawaan (2023), an action movie that explores government corruption, paternal bonds, and the often hazy line between right and wrong.
– Om Shanti Om (2007), a romance that embodies everything classic Bollywood has become known for
– Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), a more modern romance that shows how love is timeless
– P.K (2014), a comedy that satirizes basically every aspect of our society, including religion, sex, and of course, love
– Gully Boy (2019), a gritty drama about the rising rap scene in Mumbai and a young artist’s struggle with breaking conformity