Bollywood in our backyard
Many stay connected to the native culture of South Asia at their local movie theater
By TARA DOOLEY
LARGE POPCORN AND A BEEF KEBAB ROLL
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3307152
Attending an Indian film is a regularly scheduled event for the Khanbabi family, from left, Mushir, Ilma and Hickma, of Sugar Land.
Thwarted love, greed and misunderstanding roll to a happy ending in theater four.
Next door, a man takes on the legal system, seeking justice for his murdered son. On the other side, a love triangle plays a version of doctor and nurse. And down the hall, a family drama becomes a little too real for even reality television.
It’s Saturday night at the Bollywood Cinema 6 and the drama has kicked into high gear.
In the lobby, popcorn pops. But in addition to Kit Kats and sodas, the concession stand also offers an assortment of chutneys for more traditional movie snacks such as samosas or kebab rolls.
Well, traditional for a movie-going crowd accustomed to actors breaking into song and dance and undaunted by sitting through at least three hours of movie magic.
In addition to traditional popcorn and candy, there are samosa plates, clockwise from top, beef and chicken kebab rolls as well as rice at the snack bar.
Indeed, tradition is an important part of why much of the crowd has arrived to view the week’s offerings from India’s prolific film industry dubbed Bollywood.
“The best thing about Indian movies is the culture,” said 27-year-old Hina Ansari, a fan of the films at the Bollywood Cinema 6. “It is a very, very rich culture.”
For Ansari, a native of Pakistan who moved to the United States when she was 5, the Bollywood Cinema 6 is one of three options — along with Funplex, which plays second-run films, and the West Bellfort Cinema 5 — in Houston for films that reflect aspects of the South Asian culture, family life, music, dance and language.
“The only reason I speak such good Urdu is because of the movies,” Ansari said.
The Indian film industry — the world’s largest — is mostly centered in Bombay, the city now called Mumbai. But the term, Bollywood, often refers to films that follow a pattern involving singing, dancing, romance and some family drama, movie goers say. Many of the movies are in Hindi, (which closely resembles Urdu), though other South Asian languages and English make their way into the films. Many have English subtitles — a necessity for some viewers born outside of India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
RESOURCES
BOX-OFFICE BLOCKBUSTER
One of Bollywood’s most anticipated films, Mangal Pandey — The Rising, opens today at the Bollywood Cinema 6, 2703 Highway 6 S. and the West Bellfort Cinema 5, 7703 W. Bellfort.
• Starring: Aamir Khan, who starred in Lagaan, which was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film in 2002.
• Story: Mangal Pandey was the leader of the 1857 revolt against the British rule in India. It is an epic that involves love, war, friendship and religion.
• For more information, visit www.bollywoodcinema6.com or www.bombaymovies.com
Often the movies are driven by big stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, considered the Clint Eastwood or Paul Newman of Indian film, Aamir Khan, a young heartthrob, or Aishwarya Rai, the former Miss World and star of the recent Bride & Prejudice. In contrast to Hollywood, the films rarely involve violence and until recently, even kissing was taboo.
In recent years, the signature exuberance of the films has trickled into mainstream Western fare such as Bend It Like Beckham, Bride & Prejudice and even The Guru.
“Personally, (Bollywood) was a big influence on me,” said Abbas Khan, manager of the Bollywood Cinema 6. “Sometimes they are a little campy. Sometimes they are a little silly. But they are about togetherness and family values.”
Khan’s father, Farooq Khan, owns the business — his fourth venture into Indian movie cinemas.
His first cinema dedicated to Indian films, the Shalimar Theater, opened in 1979, when the South Asian community in Houston was just beginning to grow. The theater closed in 1984, a victim of the rising popularity of watching videos from the sofa, he said.
But in 1989, Khan decided to lure the film fans out of the living room with Plitt Theaters. From there he began showing the films in second run at Funplex, a family amusement center, in 1997.
“I realized that people really wanted to come out and watch movies on the big screen,” Farooq Khan said.
As the South Asian community continued to grow in the Houston area, he decided he needed a bigger venue, so he opened the Bollywood Cinema 6 in January 2004.
Variety is the spice of life when it comes to Indian films playing at the Bollywood Cinema 6 on Highway 6.
These days, weekly attendance at the theaters varies depending on the popularity of the films, but it is often in the thousands, he said.
Indian movies are shown from the United Kingdom to the Middle East, said Jawahar Sharma, head of operations for Yashraj Films in Long Island City, New York. The United States makes up about a third of the industry’s foreign market, said Sharma, whose company distributes films in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the films are shown in cinemas such as the Bollywood 6 in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. In smaller cities, the community will rent a theater in a general audience multiplex to show the films.
“Hollywood will not make the films India makes,” Sharma said. “Culturally they don’t get it. That is why Indian film survives. That is why people are dedicated to watching the films.”
Though the term Bollywood often implies a formulaic musical, recently, Indian directors have taken their ideas to the screen and have come up with films that are sometimes racier or involve concerns of South Asians living in the West.
But the changes in Bollywood film reflect changes in a culture. And for Ansari, who lives in the United States, that means she can keep up-to-date with changes in her native country.
“When you go back there, you know what to expect,” she said. “You are not in a foreign country.”