RIP ‘BOLLYWOOD’: IT’S THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY, ARGUE FILMMAKERS
ENOUGH!!! I hereby resign from Bollywood. Whatever the f*** that means.” This one tweet by filmmaker Anubhav Sinha sent social media into a tizzy. He also added (Not Bollywood) to his Twitter profile name. While most thought he’ll stop making films altogether, the 55-year-old later clarified, “Bollywood was”, “Hindi films will”, to indicate he is dissociating himself from the term, not the industry.
Echoing the sentiment were filmmakers Sudhir Mishra and Hansal Mehta. Mishra tweeted: “What’s Bollywood? I came 2be partof Cinema inspired by Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor…”, and Mehta’s post read: “Chhod diya. It never existed in the first place”. WHAT’S THE FUSS? Mehta says the term ‘Bollywood’ is ‘very derogatory’ for Hindi cinema. “People call it ‘Bollywood’, it doesn’t exist. We’re all part of Indian cinema,” he says.
Mishra, who helmed films such as Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003) and Khoya Khoya Chand (2007), says the term is an insult for the over 100-yearold industry. “Filmmakers like Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt, were they from Bollywood? They were from the Indian film industry. We want to make films and cinema belonging to all, whether it’s a guy living in Jabalpur or Jamshedpur, Chennai or Kerala,” he says. ELITIST CULTURE
That ‘Bollywood’ makes “no sense” is echoed by acclaimed director Shyam Benegal, who was conferred with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2005. “The Indian film industry is the largest in the world. Why should we take a terminology that belongs to the industry of some other country? Whoever used it must have thought it’s a very clever idea. We have several film industries in the country, each language has its own,” says the 85-year-old.
Producer Pritish Nandy feels it is purely a semantic issue — calling yourself Hindi film industry or Bollywood is a matter of choice. But, he adds, “I think the main issue, they’re saying, is they’re distancing themselves from the culture of what is known as Bollywood, a culture run by elitist, nepotistic filmmakers and their families for years. It’s not entirely a professional environment, it’s never been.”
Onir, who has directed films such as My Brother ... Nikhil (2005) and I Am (2011) says even in the past, those not associated with mainstream cinema didn’t refer to themselves as being part of Bollywood. “It’s not something invented now, people like
‘Bollywood’ is borrowed from the West. Why, when we have our own film industry? Do we call French films Follywood?
Hansal Mehta, Filmmaker
Shyam Benegal and Ketan Mehta have always preferred the term ‘Hindi’ or ‘Indian film industry’. I don’t like the word Bollywood too, it sounds like Hollywood,” he says.
Indian cinema is huge, feels Anurag Basu. “Calling ourselves Bollywood is a feudal mindset. We are Indian cinema, where films are made in more than 15 languages. There is no film industry like ours. We should not degrade ourselves by calling it Bollywood. When I go to international film festivals, I feel ashamed when we are called Bollywood. There is Korean cinema, French cinema, Italian cinema... why not Indian cinema?” says the Barfi! (2012) director.