The controversy surrounding ‘Hymn for the Weekend’ video by the popular Alternative rock band, Coldplay, doesn’t seem to end.
Since its release, every day I see a new bunch of people showing their disapproval for the way India is being projected in that video. People are afraid that the International image of our country won’t change as long as Slumdog Millionaire, Million Dollar Arm and Hymn for the Weekend exist.
But we forget that that these were only few cases, where the shadier side of India was highlighted. What about Bollywood, where this is done time and again, and we hardly bother to care about the bigotry.
We are offended by the way India and Indians are stereotyped, but actually our cinema is worse when it comes to depicting our own diverse culture and people coming from different backgrounds.
Objectifying women, racism and demeaning jokes on culture, are an integral part of Indian cinema. Whether it’s the item numbers or a movie like Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, sexism and gender based discrimination is deeply inculcated in our minds.
Remember the movie Fashion?
There was a scene in it where Priyanka Chopra wakes up next to a black guy, and shows the expression of disgust while the camera diligently focuses on his color. Isn’t that racism at its prime?
The Indian tweeple is going mad over the dilapidated buildings, colourful Mumbai taxis, Holi on the streets, kid dressed as a blue God and Beyonce as Bollywood ‘Rani’.
Since we are on the subject of discrimination based on ethnicity, even the movie Pardes falls in that category. In that movie, Americans are portrayed as uncultured, and apparently only Indians seem to know the true meaning of the word ‘culture’.
It’s plain hypocrisy. If we don’t have a problem with women dancing around in scantily clad outfits wooing men, as if they are their masters, then we don’t deserve to complain over a music video.
And when it comes to minority cultures or people coming from different states, the jokes just don’t seem to stop.
Whether it’s the funny Bihari/South Indian accent, or Punjabis as an element of dumbness. I can go on and on this, the point is we are more racist than we fail to realize.
If we want India to be showcased in a different light, it needs to start at the root. Only then we can expect others to follow. Or else there is no point cribbing over a Coldplay video or a Hollywood movie which creates the image of India as a backward country.
