The release of Finding Fanny
and the fact that the story is based in Goa has brought an old non-issue back
to the fore: the portrayal of Goa and Goans by Bollywood. Although a couple of
dozen Hindi films are shot in Goa every year, the treatment of Goa by Bollywood
raises hackles time and again, like it did with Dum Maro Dum and Go
Goa Gone in recent times.
Just as a reminder, Dum Maro Dum
had Abhishek Bachchan playing a cop who takes on the drug mafia (which existed
then, and exists now), but the fact that an attempt was made to highlight that
topical issue was not the focus of criticism at all. The uproar was about a
line which Bipasha Basu uttered in the movie, and those who have seen the film
know very well it was taken out of context. The film – even before it was
released – saw protests, and the matter was even discussed in the Assembly.
Some women’s group protested and put up a banner outside INOX which said,
“Bollywood b**bs coconut size, brains peanut size”, which was far more
offensive than anything Goan that Bollywood has portrayed in its chequered
history.
Go Goa Gone was a zombie
story set in Goa, and even before the film’s release there was a hue and cry
about it. “Is the director trying to show that there are zombies in Goa?” asked
an ultra-sensitive Goan in a letter published in the local newspaper. He would
perhaps have been perfectly happy if the zombies were in Delhi or Darjeeling.
But Goa is a no entry zone for zombies.
The French author Jules Renard once
said, 'Look for the ridiculous in everything, and you will find it'. Given
today’s scenario of people getting offended at the drop of a hat, I would
simply replace ‘ridiculous’ with ‘offensive’ in that statement.
As for the fuss over Finding Fanny,
let me quote from an editorial in a local daily which said, “Hello
Bollywood, Goans of today live in penthouses, lavish bungalows and drive Audis
and BMWs too and holiday in Thailand!” which the writer no doubt considered
a devastating critique of Homi Adjania’s film. That ‘Goans of today’ live such
a lifestyle is indeed news to me, and perhaps to all those who are reading
this. The acclaimed Konkani film Paltodcho Munis (The Man Across the
Bridge) didn’t have any Audis or BMWs in it either, but some people get riled
up only when Bollywood doesn’t show proper reverence for Audi-driving
penthouse-living Goans.
And therein lies the problem. What
exactly is the ideal or accurate portrayal of a Goan that would please
everyone? Should a Goan man never be shown drinking, or a woman wearing a skirt
in any film ever? Is there an
archetypal, acceptable Goan according to those who criticize Bollywood’s
portrayal of this entity? Hindi films have portrayed and often lampooned
communities from all over India, but I don’t quite see Tamilians or Punjabis
endlessly debating how and whether they are accurately depicted in Hindi
movies.
A lot of these false notions are
propagated when facts go unchecked and when people who don’t know the subject
speak or write about it with more passion than sense. On social media and
online forums, everyone has an opinion but very few have the facts.
If someone writes about, say,
cryogenic technology, you assume the person is either an expert or has some
knowledge of the subject, but that doesn’t apply to culture and certainly not
to films. On this matter, everyone is an expert. It’s a myth that Bollywood
stereotypes Goa, and this stereotype doesn’t originate from Bollywood but from
the very people who buy into the myth without evidence.
Fairly typical of this mindless
myth-making is a piece that appeared on the NDTV website
which talks about ‘Five Goan characters you know well.’ The article is plain
drivel because three of the five films mentioned in it – Baton Baton Mein
(a memorable film by Basu Chatterjee set in Mumbai), Julie (the story of
an Anglo-Indian family, remake of a Malayalam film - Chattakari) and Amar
Akbar Anthony – have nothing to do with Goa or Goans.
The fourth, Premnath in Bobby,
is described as a Goan with a “paunch, striped skin tight shirt, a joke in the
name of a lungi, a skull cap.” Now, this sounds plausibly stereotyped, until
you ask yourself: “When was the last time I saw a Goan depicted in this unusual
manner in a Hindi film?” Only in Bobby, obviously, because that was
probably the only time such a character was shown in a Hindi movie.
Premath’s Jack Braganza may be a character and his appearance is certainly
striking, but how exactly is he a ‘stereotype’?
The same applies to the fifth film, Saagar,
where Kamal Hasan’s character is supposed to be typecast. Incidentally, the
character’s name is Raja, but for some unfathomable reason the NDTV article
lists him as a Goan stereotype.
It is a misconception that every
woman in a Hindi movie who wears a skirt is Goan, but this idée fixe exists
in the minds of many.
Julie, for
instance, is the story of an Anglo-Indian family which is obviously not the
same thing as a Goan family. This fallacious identification of Indian
Christians with ‘Goans’ is a trope that doesn’t necessarily have currency
outside Goa. (There are Peters, Roberts, Monas and Lilys from Mangalore to
Mizoram, but this is conveniently overlooked, not least by those who criticize
Bollywood).
It is also a fact that there was a
time when Hindi films gave the impression there were only Christians in Goa or,
at least, that Goa was a Catholic dominated state. This impression,
unfortunately, continues to remain in the minds of people who are not in sync
with either Hindi films or reality.]
True, Bollywood is not particular
known for doing a great deal of research, but if you go by the malcontents’
view, you would think they are all out gunning for Goans. ‘The least Homi Adajania and his co-screen
writer Kersi Khambatta could do is, spent a few months, learning, respecting
and appreciating Goan culture and civilized lifestyle,’ said the editorial
in the Goan daily. If only the edit writer had done a bit of homework, or
stayed back till the end credits had rolled to see that the film makers indeed
had a consultant in Goa to ensure they got the details right. They brought on
board Cecil Pinto, arguably one of Goa’s finest humor columnists – and a
thoroughbred Goan – for his inputs.
Interestingly, Cecil had written,
many years ago, a very insightful piece on the subject of Goan stereotypes
which you can read here.
To come back to Finding Fanny,
the film was conceived in 2009 and Cecil was a part of the project since then.
His services were on tap during the shooting of the film in Goa. Some parts were
altered and the script was fine-tuned as per his suggestions, and many new
details were incorporated.
But hey, he forgot to recommend the
Audi, the BMW and the penthouse, which apparently are the hallmarks of Goa
these days.
In a dismal misconception of life in
Goa, the editorial further claims, “even homemakers get their chicken and
fish cleaned in the market itself” (the last time I checked, Goa also had
villages, some quite like Fanny’s fictional ‘Pocolim’) and “the use of
non-inverted verbs in every question like “You’re ok no, Ferdie?” and “What
man?”” was ‘sickening’, as if everyone here is a descendant of the Wren
& Martin family of grammarians.
The fact is that Bollywood has
evolved and changed considerably. But some people, unevolved themselves, fail
to observe that the world outside does not always conform to their suspicions
and prejudices.
There are several films shot or set
(sometimes both) in Goa that give lie to these mythical stereotypes, but more
about these films and their characters in my column next fortnight.
Published in The Navhind Times on 27th Sept. 2014
