I first heard about "Hymn for the Weekend" when one of my friends posted about it on Facebook. I wasn’t sure what I was going to see but I was willing to give it a try. It begins with a montage of “Indian” images such as peacocks, sadhus, a temple service and of course Beyonce dressed as a Bollywood star and this is where I pretty much lost it. For the sake of the video I watched it all the way through but with a mix of anger and sadness. Anger because this was yet another stereotypical Westerners' idea of what India is and sadness because this didn’t surprise me at all.

First, during the video, kids are playing with bright colors for the festival of Holi. This is the Festival of Colors and for some, like my family, this is actually our New Years. This festival is deeply rooted in religion and the true reason it’s so important would take too long to explain in this post but the significance essentially comes down to the win of good over evil. Even more so, it’s the time of the year to forgive and forget and to mend any relationships. This is the time, especially in India, where everyone is equal. We play Holi with brightly colored powered and no one is safe from the fun. You can be old or young, rich or poor every day of the year but on Holi, everyone is equal. But of course, in this video, it’s just a colorful background for Western performers to make a fun video. None of the significance of this festival are apparent in this video and in many parts of the world.

I also mentioned, however, that I was also saddened by all of this because it continues to happen over and over again. For example, Slumdog Millionaire, Lean On and Bounce all were shot in India to show the Western world what India was like but it wasn’t really India. It was the stereotypical India that the Western world wants. In these videos, there is no depth to a nation that has existed for centuries with a culture so ancient that many of its facets are yet to be discovered. Henna tattoos have a significance that aren't just to decorate parts of one’s body when their bored. The matha patti, or the intricate headband Beyonce wears, has a reason behind why its worn. Sometimes the matha patti is passed down from mother to daughter and it signifies their lineage or a certain gemstone is used in its features to represent something. The bindi itself is placed in the center of the forehead to signify the third eye but not everyone would know that.

However, what really interested me was the inclusion of Sonam Kapoor, a Bollywood actress from one of the biggest acting families in India, in this video. She’s in the video for such a short time frame that it took me a while to see that she was actually a part of this video. Instead of being the focus in this video, we have Beyonce showing the world what beauty is and if you don’t fit these boundaries, why bother? If they truly wanted to show Bollywood for its beauty and elegance, Sonam should have been the center and a bigger part of the fictional movie Rani (which means “queen” in Hindi). Furthermore, it made me feel as though I should be okay with the rest of the video because Coldplay was able to show Bollywood to the Western world using an actual Bollywood actress!

So you’re probably wondering why all of this is such an issue for me. For one, this is my culture that’s being inaccurately depicted by people who think they are better at representing our culture, traditions and ways of life than we are. After all, Western artists are supposed to come in and show the rest of the world what India’s made of because no one wants to hear it from Indians themselves. Secondly, when people watch this video or Lean On or Bounce, this is the type of India they’re expecting: it’s always colorful party on the streets of any Indian city or in other words, very superficial. And take it from an Indian girl, India is not this simple. It’s a beautiful country that is colorful but there is more culture and tradition than can be explained in a lifetime.

I want the Western world to see India for the incredible country that is it but I want it done in a way that isn't so stereotypical. I want a video told from the view of an Indian person instead of two Western performers. So instead of jumping to the defense of Coldplay and Beyonce, try and understand why and how their new video is problematic.