Dhurandhar 2 vs. Bollywood: Don't leave your brains at home

Dhurandhar 2 has become the first Indian film to top the US box office chart. A Hindi film beating all Hollywood products, on American soil, even if just for a weekend - is absolutely unprecendented, and perhaps also irreplicable.

This is especially strange, because this movie is not just getting recognised for sheer entertainment value, but also geopolitical and cultural significance. Rarely has a Hindi movie stirred such a strong debate on both sides of the political spectrum, not just in India, but also internationally. The Left says the movie is "naked" propaganda, the Right says it's comeuppance. And from the Centre comes a very serious question:

Since when did Bollywood products become so "important"?

Ever since Bollywood (or the Hindi film industry) found its footing back in the 50s, it's been all about "song and dance escapism" alone. We were always especially proud of being devoid of any seriousness or grey matter whatsoever. Every commentary on the Hindi film industry by the West, or even film scholars in India, has always told us that films are for "entertainment" and a means for people to "forget" their lives. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Jab ek aadmi poore din thak haar ke picture hall mei jaata hai, usey maza aana chahiye. For everything else there are documentaries".

That's what we were told.

And that's not a fringe comment, by the way. Indian film legend Satyajit Ray Sir explicilty called Indian film audiences "fairly backward" for never taking anything with depth beyond a baby's hair strand. And folks like Karan Johar actively criticized people like Amir Khan for making intellectually demanding films like Taare Zameen Par and making Bollywood films lose their "identity", (i.e. of being absolutely and intentionally retarded).

So if Bollywood is just about movies prescribing "leave your brains at home", how can the same Industry be accused of having the muscle to turn the world's biggest democracy on its head? And if the industry indeed has the power to shape the national discourse and "bring change", why did we always make such extraordinarily dumb nonsense?

It all comes down to the makers' will and wonder.

Yes, the audiences may be "fairly backward", as Satyajit Ray Sir said in 1982. Or Indian people may be accustomed to "leave your brains at home" type stuff, as Karan Johar still believed until 2025. But it's the responsibility of the makers to up the ante. To look through the possiblities. To draw outside the lines. To spiral out.

As Mr. Nicholas Cage said in his Oscar acceptance speech for Leaving Las Vegas back in 1996 (where he won Best Actor), "Blur the line between art and commerce". That's what it's all about. Blurring the line between art and commerce.

Dhurandhar may be good or bad. But what its unbelievable success in the cultural zeitgeist says is that films are important. They don't have to max out on cringe and defy the laws of physics to work. They're not just "entertainment". They're much more than that.

Dhurandhar The Revenge: A Box Office Phenomenon.

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