JOIN USIndia in Hollywood eyes
The White Tiger’ was the latest attempt by Hollywood to turn its lens towards Indian society. It was not a novel attempt. Filmmakers in the West have tried for many years now to show the “real India” with its unending poverty, bright colours, boundless opportunities and exotic mysticism, be it through ‘A Passage to India’ or ‘Slumdog Millionaire.
Western pop culture still has a long way to go in being able to depict brown characters as wholesome multi-dimensional people or depicting India as more than loud noise, crowded roads, spicy food, and bright colours.
Until that day comes, let’s take comfort in the movies that have managed to capture the scenic beauty of the country.
The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson’s comedy-drama tells the story of the three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), who haven’t seen one another since their father’s funeral a year ago, and haven’t seen their mother since even before that. While Anderson is guilty of using India as a mere backdrop, the movie also comes across as a sort of self-parody of the hippie-era commodification of Indian culture.
It is ultimately a story of three white men embarking on a spiritual journey and discovering themselves. But, Anderson, known for his aesthetic visualisation does not fail in delivering an India that is truly a sight to behold.
Life of Pi
The survival story of ‘Pi’ Patel who survives a shipwreck and shares a lifeboat with a tiger. The movie is most famous for the CGI tiger in the second act, but the entire first act of the film was shot on location in the coastal town of Puducherry.
The French Quarter, Grand Bazaar and Le Jardin Botanique de Pondicherry feature prominently. Based on the novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, who coincidentally enough found his life changed by a visit to India and wanted to understand the “mechanism of religious faith”.
The Namesake
The movie, adapted from Jumpa Lahiri’s novel by the same name, tells the story of a Bengali immigrant family, the Gangulis, who have settled in America. It depicts the conflict of cultural identity experienced by the characters. The movie features Kolkata of the late 1970s, depicted by the Howrah Bridge, and protest marches.
Eat pray love
The film is about Liz Gilbert, a successful woman who leaves her life in New York for a three-stop worldwide tour: Italy (to learn to eat), India (to learn to pray), and Bali (to learn to love). The movie continues to push the trope of India as a place for spiritual enlightenment to the point that Liz not only spends all her time solely in the ashram, but also refuses to interact with any of the natives except for Tulsi, a seventeen-year-old Indian girl who serves as a vessel to portray the orthodox nature of the society. Parts of the film were shot in Pataudi and Mirzapur.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The John Madden-directed 2011 drama film brings seven guests together at a dilapidated hotel located in Jaipur. Based on the novel ‘These Foolish Things’ by Deborah Moggach the movie, by John Madden, is set in Jaipur. Ravla Khempur in Udaipur, the Marigold market, and Kanota Fort are some of the scenes that make their way into the movie.