- Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor
Hi MissMalini Peeps,
You’ve probably heard the recent media insanity about Bollywood award shows, paling in comparison to the Oscars. This again? Really?
Everyone is complaining, why can’t Bollywood awards shows be like the Oscars? There is a simple answer to this: Bollywood is not, or never will be, Hollywood.
Yes, Bollywood award shows are more crude, humorous and over the top, than the Oscars or Golden Globes. But that is the problem with the Oscars, everyone complains about how boring they are. Billy Crystal said something along the lines of: “The Oscars are millionaires congratulating each other with golden statues” (please, please don’t quote me on that). The Academy knows it is boring and even enlisted Justin Bieber (Maple Leaf shoutout!), to increase viewership. Bollywood award shows, in my opinion, are funny. Yes, I don’t like the edited dance sequences (too many post-production light effects), and they really need someone to time the show, but they’re usually entertaining shows.
With regards to Bollywood award shows being bias, well, so are the Oscars. There is no denying that Bollywood award shows are heavily associated with filmy “camps”. Does Shah Rukh Khan* deserve every Filmfare he got? No, and neither does Kajol. However, many argue that the only reason Hugo got so may Oscar nominations this year, was because of Martin Scorsese .
I think this all boils down to the “Bollywood Inferiority Complex”, or how Bollywood feels like it must “catchup” to Hollywood. It may be related to colonial depression. I really hate it when people say: “All Bollywood films are horrible, they cannot compare to Hollywood films”. The truth is, there are horrible Bollywood films (Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon comes to mind), but, there are also bad Hollywood films (Gigli). But both industries can churn out really good stories as well.
What are your thoughts, MissMalini readers?
*Note to SRKMates, I am not saying he is a bad actor; he was awesome in Chak De! and Dil Se. Please do not bombard MissMalini’s Twitter account. These are my comments.