Bollywood and ‘masala‘ are synonymous and irrespective of how cool or sophisticated we consider ourselves, a huge chunk of us does prefer to make advance bookings for the latest mindless blockbuster over thoughtful and realistic cinema. So as a tribute to the spiciest and the most melodramatic Bollywood movies, here are the some of the most celebrated cliches that make up a Bollywood movie-
1)Exotic Locations- Concepts of time and distance are irrelevant in love, or so it would seem if you watch Bollywood movies. The lead pair is frequently a globetrotter and even the poorest of lovers manage to romance, at the very least, in some famous North Indian hill station! The latter is a rare occurrence though, for the lovers in our movies have powers that allow them to navigate the world within the span of a five minute song.
2)The Lover Boy/Bad Boy- The bad boy is a damaged, destructive soul on rampage until he meets the love of his life, the very ‘nice’ and ‘virtuous’…well girl who ‘believes in him’ and kindles his incorrigible spirit to seek salvation. The lover boy, on the other hand, is a ladies’ man who does not believe in ‘commitment’ and very conveniently discards them all. Alas! his sexist ways come to an end when he meets a ‘nice’ and ‘virtuous’ girl who…- you know where this is going!
3)The Nerdy Girl – This has to defeat all established psychological notions of personality. The reserved and homely girl turns into a lively, vivacious, adventurous girl overnight on being loved by the above-mentioned playboy ‘aashiq‘. Suddenly, she feels beautiful and worthwhile, a feeling that eluded her for most of her life. Yeah right. (Sigh) (Sigh some more)
4)It’s all about sacrifice- Such sacrificial lambs we are, we sacrifice for our family, for our friends, for love, over and over again for it is our ‘duty’. The girl with unrequited love quietly leaves the boy to be with his love (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), the very much-in-love couple decide to keep their affections for each other closeted for the sake of their grieving family (Hum Apke Hain Koun) , the man-with-a-death-warrant lies to the girl he loves so that she does not have to suffer (Kal Ho Na Ho). All’s well that ends well though. So we have the happy endings too (Yayyy), except maybe in Kal Ho Naa Ho, which had a bittersweet ending.
5)We love stereotypes- Some stereotypical characters are a fixture in Bollywood movies. For instance, think of the loud-mouth Punjabi, the dumb and annoyingly petulant female eye-candy, the cool dadi, the innocent Gujjus, the good-at-heart but universally misunderstood guy.
As a parting though, ever notice how every Hollywood celebrity seems to think that Bollywood movies are musicals that require one to be a dancer? We all know that they have no genuine idea about Bollywood, they don’t need to tell such stupid lies, really!
