getting tired of all these indians who are so proud of their culture but yet speak english, adopt english names and try to act like white boys....
only pakistanis and sikh punjabis are proud of their culture from south asia
talk to any sikh guy and if they know u can understand them in punjabi or urdu, they will speak that instead of english
but vice versa for a hindu guy
That one statement is a give away on how very limited your interaction has been with people other than Pakistanis or Sikh Punjabis. Try interacting with any Bong or mallu or C'mon any community - each one is proud of their culture. Now if a mallu came up to you and started speaking in mallu - what r u going to call him - an idiot or someone proud of his culture.
Guess you should rethink your basis of judging whether someone is proud of his/her culture or not. I hope mein bhains ke aage been nahi baja raha hoon. :)
The Hindu friends I have are from Delhi, Madras and Bombay...
Where they speak Hindi and not from Assam or Orissa or other far away places...
But yet, they continue to speak English...
I know a Hindu aunti who speaks perfect Hindi but yet taught her children only to speak English....
This really annoys me...
I go to university, Chinese people speak in Chinese, Italians in italian, Russians speaking in russian, etc...
But Indians, even though they can't construct a proper sentence or mask their thick accent still speak in English to a person who can communicate with them better if they spoke in Hindi...
To me this is a sign of one trying to get away from their culture...
Why has this thread diverted from talking about acting to talking about languages?
Although you’ve discussed the minutiae of Hindi and Devanagri, you still need to do a lil bit of research into India’s demographics… India is very culturally diverse and not everyone speaks and understands the official version of Hindi… from what I know, there are 13 different dialects of Hindi alone, and after independence, there was a lot of resistance from speakers of other languages, especially the Dravidian languages who saw in the decision to endorse Hindi as an official language as an attempt to erase their language cultures. Hence, for the most part, English is still used for official purposes, and there are 18 other languages that are recognized by the constitution of India.
Furthermore, English has tremendous importance in the Indian education system and economy. Most of the schools, especially in the cities and towns, have English as the first language and all communication, written and spoken, takes place in English. I see this as a positive enterprise since it alleviates the concerns of those who still don’t see Hindi as their national language.
So all in all, there’s no such thing as a Indians having some sort of a complex with English…
Coming back to the topic of acting and movies, every year there are a few movies that strike a chord with even those who demand sophisticated and intelligent movies... and like someone pointed out, you should watch some old movies to see the calibre of some of the more superior actors. Movies like Anand, Khamoshi (old one), Koshish, and Ijaazat come to mind right away. In the newer ones, Teen DeewareyN, Maine Gandhi ko NahiN Mara were really good.
Where they speak Hindi and not from Assam or Orissa or other far away places...
But yet, they continue to speak English...
I know a Hindu aunti who speaks perfect Hindi but yet taught her children only to speak English....
This really annoys me...
I go to university, Chinese people speak in Chinese, Italians in italian, Russians speaking in russian, etc...
But Indians, even though they can't construct a proper sentence or mask their thick accent still speak in English to a person who can communicate with them better if they spoke in Hindi...
To me this is a sign of one trying to get away from their culture...
no offense, thats how it comes out
Well it might be the case in your experience though I am slightly surprised and let me give my current situation on this.
I work in a company in UAE which has just too many Indians - senior mgmt, HR and all over. There are a few Arabs and now we have started gettin others from western countries. The big complaint that all the non-Indians had to HR was that the Indians showed little consideration to them being around and would constantly break into talking in Hindi or any other Indian language when they were around. Ths apparently was happening even in team meetings when in case if on a particular project, the non-Indian was not directly working, the Indians would switch to Hindi - while that may technically not have mattered as it did not concern the non-Indian but it was understandably annoying for them that they could not make out what was being discussed. Even in informal conversations, sometimes the Indians or even the Arabs would switch from English and crack jokes leaving them a bit out of place. This is curently quite an issue in our office and seniors and HR had to speak to all Indians about this. We didnt look at it as because of us being proud of our culture or anything but just that at times, we felt more comfortable discussing somethings in Hindi or other languages and sometimes In English. We are under quite some pressure to now ensure that we always speak in English (even if others are not involved - it sometimes just bothers when you hear chattering in what appears gibberish to you)
So I find it difficult to accept that as a generalisation for all Indians.
Anyways, the thread has moved away from the topic...but maybe if you met more Indians or went to India, you would understand the 'proud of culture' part better.
Indians are not at par with Hollywood actors. There is a huge gap in communication among Indians as compared to the West. If you go and ask how Indian cinema fares among the Western people, the only reaction will be of laughter. I am being honest to say that people laugh at our cinema saying they are like Indian circus. Sadly enough the media in India over hypes Indian films to the hilt. I would rather let my performance talk rather than talk big in the media.”
Indian films can never be at par with global films in any respect, right from the scripting to screening. It is so systematic.
Is this why 'Dude, Where's My Car', 'American Pie', and all of the 'Scary Movie' versions proved to be huge sensational money grossers? Were any of these movies by any means "sophisticated"?? (And this is just a tip of the iceberg!)
Both industries are capable of making absolute crap. Yes, the ratio of sophisticated movies made by Hollywood is higher, but statistics will definately prove that they don't gross as much money as the regular bru ha ha junk movies make (middle America likes it dumb).
Good movies have been made in Bollywood, and are occaisonally still churned out. However, as somebody pointed out before, they don't find much appreciation from the masses (very much like the situation in the States). As such, they are not sustainable because at the end of the day, showbussiness boils down to money..and Bollywood does not have the kind of finances and sponsors that Hollywood has...so they take less risks. Who wouldn't want to make a crappy sing-dance love triangle movie if it's gonna make them super rich?
I think the topic starter has a point about the impact of movies. I don't think Indian actors are any less talented than American actors. It may just have to do with the training that actors go through in the US.
More importantly, it has to do with what the directors instruct these actors and over all production quality. A scene acted out very well by a good actor can be ruined in the Editing room by loud garrish music dubbed over it. Plus, as many pointed out, a typical mainstream indian movie is directed toward lowly educated people who are more interested in masala and song-and-dance routines than finer points of acting. Thus the low quality. The argument over no Indian movie winning the Oscar doesn't really wash, as Oscars are primarily meant for Hollywood movies, with a few bones thrown at foreign flicks.
i’ve never seen a greater number of decent scenes completely ruined by terrible score (usually hitchcock-style chords that don’t work in modern films) and cheesy sound effects than in his movies.
i saw Sarkar last night and made this observation at least a dozen times.
My last comment is that there are always exceptions to the norm. You can find plenty of lame Hollywood movies and every now and then a well-acted Bollywood movie also makes the rounds.
Nikhil25, while the thread discusses only acting, my major gripe about Indian movies, entertaining as they may be for many viewers, is that they are devoid of intelligence. In many instances, especially at pivotal climax scenes, the writer of the movie practically insults the intelligence of the viewer. Very often, the basic story plot is almost implausible. I am sure there are exceptions, but this is what I generally find.
You sure can be funny…(even though not intentionally:D )