Loving Bollywood & SRK

I am experiencing a fascination with Indian movies these last few months: the music, the movies, the culture displayed therein, and Shahruk Khan, the person. I am downloading soundtracks and dancing my workouts to them. I had a party the other night, and it was all Bollywood music for my guests. I showed them my favorite dance number Maurya Re song from Don the movie showing a devotional dance for Ganesh; I am floored by the percussion, SRK's amazing agility and dancing, the choreography, the devotional aspects of it all, and the group dancing in the surf, so moving!  I can't believe how much I am moved/awakened/inspired by so much Indian music in general.

The movies? There is a lot to say. Mostly I love how so many of them are hopeful, uncynical and innocent. Some people accuse them of being "cheesey" which to me is a complement because cynicism is the opposite of that. Cynicism is the opposite of open, vulnerable and willing to risk yourself. I notice many American movies and series leaning toward valuing the cynical, sarcastic, and competitive, and these movies offer a nice break.

The continual reminder of the color and richness of Indian culture with ritual and spiritual attention in their lives, is stimulating and beautiful. Welcoming people home, blessing the young, honoring the gods with lamps and offerings, spending days at a time in festivals with food, community, dancing and music make me long for more ritual and community celebration here.

Many of the movies show me how painful some of the traditions can be, like arranged marriages, the caste system, and keeping family honor at the cost of individual happiness or matters of the heart. Honoring a parent, no matter how wrong or unloving, sometimes comes above honoring a lover or friend, but can lead to lifelong internal pain for many involved. Keeping up appearances seems to be paramount sometimes, and I love that these movies highlight this as a way to help people see the pain it might be creating for people. 

One aspect that has annoyed me is the lack of a voice that I see in many of the female characters. In moments of high emotion they wait for another to make a decision or express feelings. A refreshing exception Paro express her anger and hurt in Devdas recounting exactly what her lover had done to create the painful situation that they now were in. I yelled "right on!" being so happy she spoke her mind instead of looking helpless and frozen not daring to speak her feelings or wishes but waiting for the whims of her man or family to blow the winds of her destiny.

Shahrukh Khan is a force of nature. His on-screen presence combined with his accessibility, openness, vulnerability, humor, intelligence, accepting-ness, daddy-ness and "yes" energy visible in interviews, has me fascinated and smitten.