In the recent Interstellar Vs Pushpa 2 debate, a comment from Janhvi Kapoor is going viral over the internet. When it was discovered that highly acclaimed American film ‘Interstellar’ will not be getting re-released in IMAX in India due to occupancy by the latest Indian blockbuster film ‘Pushpa 2’, many were quick to comment that “India doesn’t deserve cinema”.
To this, actress Janhvi Kapoor responded by saying that ‘Pushpa 2’ is also cinema and we shouldn’t be obsessed with idolising the west so much and must appreciate our rooted and larger than life cinema, like the test of the world does.
Indian cinema has a unique identity and has long been known and appreciated around the globe for being nothing less than a cultural phenomenon offering stories that are vibrant, rooted, loud and unapologetically dramatic. Our films and other forms of content often have a hero centric narrative, exaggerated drama, action sequences, or emotional storytelling. Well, these are often accompanied by artistic liberties, but isn’t that the essence of art itself?
Indian films might not fit into a Western template of realism or minimalism but that would mean ignoring the importance of cultural context. And that’s why when the young Indian audience feels embarrassed of it, a lot can be attributed to the fact that watching and knowing about English or foreign films and content has become an art of the shallow yet cool culture.
What’s more ironic is Western audiences have begun to embrace Indian cinema more warmly than some sections of our very Indian society. Films like RRR and Tumbbad have been critically lauded internationally and so have been shows like Delhi Crime and Sacred Games. This raises the question: why do some Indians need Western validation to appreciate their own cinema?
Moreover, this very Indian audience feels no guilt in neglecting parallel and independent cinema in India that consistently produces deeply nuanced, socially relevant, and globally appreciated stories (All We Imagine As Light, Girls Will Be Girls, The Lunchbox, Court, Masaan, to name a few).
No doubt, criticism of any art form is valid, but dismissing an entire cinematic culture for not fitting into a narrow, Western-centric mold is surely a disservice to its richness. It’s time we realise the beauty and diversity of our culturally rich storytelling and rise above the need of western validation and stop trying to be cool just for the sake of it.