Years before I learned how to write my name, I was watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and other Bollywood films with my family. We don’t speak Hindi, and obviously I couldn’t read English subtitles at the age of 4, but the language of love is universal--making Bollywood films a global phenomenon.
When the late Yash Chopra passed 4 years ago, Bollywood lovers all over the world experienced true heartbreak. With over 100 films produced and distributed by Yash Raj Films, Chopra essentially framed the perfect love story with his creation.
The power of Bollywood films was felt so deeply across nations, families, friends, and lovers of all ages. So deeply that little old me began to understand the basics of love and affection before totally understanding the English alphabet.
People joke – even I joke – that every Bollywood film plot is the same – super lovey dovey with a side of family values, that the random breakouts in coordinated dance and song are excessive, and that the older you get the more you start to question the reality of the happy endings.
But after recently watching Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, I have to admit I was leaning out of my seat, nearly crying, also laughing, and feeling my heart race all at once. Even after being exposed to so many reasons not to love, trust, and feel passion, these films still have me on a 3 to 4 hour-long (yes, they’re very long) emotional roller coaster.
And it’s true. Almost every Bollywood film is a love story. And you can always guess the endings…they’re always happy endings so you pretty much know what’s going to happen within the first half an hour. But you ride it out anyway to see the ups and downs in the middle.
And family is certainly a huge theme in the films. Again, you know the family/families will be united at the end of the movie, but you stick it out for Amitabh Bachan’s angry Indian dad faces.
Why? Is it because our heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan is such an amazing actor with his filmography of 80+? I seriously considered this thought for a second. The acting in Bollywood is unbeatable-- from little Anjali (you know which Anjali) to all the Raj’s and Prem’s. I mean it makes sense with certain powerhouse actors and actresses dominating the industry for decades. But I am not convinced that those actors carry Bollywood. Because when they’re gone, Bollywood will still be standing.
After some thought, I realized the gem of Bollywood does not at all lie in its producers – as we’ve seen since the greatest one has passed. It does not lie in its actors, as they will one day pass too. It has to be the same values that stand strong in every one of those films.
And that’s what gets us – love and family. The values instilled in South Asians and cultures rooted in South Asia are love and family. That’s what makes it so easy for Bollywood producers to produce beautiful films, for Bollywood actors and actresses to adopt roles so easily, and for Bollywood fans to feel all the feels.
Simply, we all share common values. We know at the end of every argument IRL comes a happy ending…but we know we cannot fast forward to that ending. We have to ride it through and learn the lesson. Just as in every film, though the themes are similar, we watch them all from start to finish – because they teach us what our cultures and religions and parents have taught us – to love and cherish each other.
Bollywood is a film industry that can never collapse. And we will continue to watch the same oldies over and over – and we will give every new film a chance too. The same chance that we give to our siblings and to our lovers, because with each chance, is new lesson learned.
"Na judaa honge hum / Kabhi khushi kabhi ham"
We shall not be separated / In times of happiness, in times of sadness
