The Bollywood Therapy

I had a non-Indian customer asking me if I could recommend some authentic Bollywood movies - she needed to have a good cry and relax. Most people will recommend comedies for a good laugh to de-stress, but apparently some find a good tearjerker movie to be equally therapeutic. We all need a good cry every now and then and believe me some of the Hindi movies are made specifically designed and researched to trigger your tear glands.  

It is this universal appeal of the Hindi movies that intrigues me. I grew up with a love-hate relationship with Hindi movies, comparing it to the technically advanced movies of the west and especially since it was fashionable to show your disdain towards entertainment that had mass appeal. Yet, over the years, I have learnt to appreciate and respect the attributes that is so distinctively Bollywood, and appeals to people from Africa, Middle East and Far East– language no barrier.

Here are some of the quirks that define Bollywood movies – without them, the movies would be just another movie – not Hindi movie that we grew up watching and share a love and hate relationship with.

1. Songs and dances. : You cannot have a Hindi movie without songs and dance and that is rule number one – rule This is the first quality that defines Hindi movies.  It doesn’t matter what is the genre of the movie, it is always a musical. The genres can be comedy, action, adventure, horror, romance – they are all seasoned with songs and dance.
2. Glamour and fantasy land: Nothing cheers the heart and pleases the eyes more than beautiful people in beautiful surroundings. Imagine spending 12$ and you not only get to hear great music with dance+fights+beautiful locales (doesn’t matter if the story is based in rural India – you can always dream and fantasize right?), but also if you are lucky, the story line might entertain you as well (make you cry).
3. Melodrama/ Emotional: Most Hindi movies have at least one scene that will trigger tears and if the film is a romantic/family drama, you will be sobbing your heart out! It’s as if the writers and directors have perfected the science of making people universally cry.
4. Black and white: Everything is good or evil – rarely will you find characters that are grey.  And good here means -sacrifice – how else do you think you will cry? Evil is generally just that – a cruel and brutal villain or a conniving vamp.
5. Family:  Hindi movies are a vehicle to promote family values and most do just that. You can have a thriller, even a horror movie, but in the end they all wind up being in the “drama” category.

So, if you feel the need to give your brain a break, and indulge your eyes and ears – go ahead and rent out some good Hindi movies; there are tons on Netflix too.

Check out this link www.cuppax.in/topmovies.php for the top 100 Hindi movies. And if you really are in the mood to cry – go ahead and rent anyone of those –they are guaranteed to wet your eyes. So keep the popcorn and Kleenex handy.