Hyderabad has Tollywood...
Chennai has Kollywood...
Bangalore has Sandalwood...
Mumbai has Bollywood...
Kolkata too has Bengali Cinema sometimes referred to as Tollywood origining from where it all started - Tollygunge.
Even Bihar, Jharkhand and UP also have Bhojpuri cinema.
But, the only thing that Delhi doesn't have is a Dollywood!
Being in Hyderabad for quite sometime now, I have often found myself engrossed in discussions on Tollywood. The amazing thing is that these discussions take place with full intensity with the Auto-wale Anna, the maid and her family, my friends at some of the top IT companies here and with most of the industry friends. Almost everyone is in awe of the stars and their aura.
I have realised that the city dwellers have it in their genes and it has eventually become a part of their culture and routine. It is the same feeling that I had being a Delhite when I related with 'Janakpuri style' in Band Baja Baraat or 'Tilaknagar' in Oye Lucky Lucky Oye or 'Pahadganj' in DevD or 'North Campus' in Rockstar. Its more than just relating to the location; it is completing a full circle with society and culture forming cinema and cinema in turn depicting society and its culture.
As a Delhite watching movies which invariably were Bombay oriented, we most of the times saw them as, "oh, so once in Bombay there was a man or a woman who....". Satya, Rangeela, Bombay Boys, Chameli, Chandni Bar, Munna Bhai, Zanjeer, Agneepath are a range of fine examples. It was on very less occasions where we saw a movie with such belongingness saying, "Here in Delhi there lived a man or a woman who...".
As I find myself overpowered with the charm of Tollywood (and its insanely ravishing heroines), I understand that Delhi might never have a Bollywood alike Dollywood; notwithstanding which, "Main aur meri tanhai aksar yeh baate karte hain, Dollywood hota to aisa hota, Dollywood hota to waisa hota..." :-)
Well, this holds true for the Telugu movies I have been watching; Jnr. NTR has all the time been a shanty colony idol, stylish hero Allu Arjun was an orphan turned Mr. Perfect, the lean Varun Sandesh hitting his senior in Happy Days or the nutcase Naga Chaitanya, wooing away the girl of his dreams and living his dreams as well. So, there is a mutual respect in the city. People don't feel low about someone else and at the same time they don't feel they are lesser to anyone. I think that's the characteristic of Hyderabad, maybe a discussion awaits on this...
Footnote:
Well, a conversation struck and a discussion kicked off on this at Chutneys. We realised how does it affect the lifestyle / culture apart from the aesthetic pleasure of living parallel to a Tollywood. In Delhi at every instance of a road rage or any rage the most common line is, "Do you know who I am, my Uncle is the ....... or My aunty is the..........". In Hyderabad, the common man is 'a hero in himself'. He doesn't need anybody to strengthen his case. He alone can.
I understand that laws of gravity and physics are a bit lenient here but then that much for, 'entertainment, entertainment, entertainment'.
3 comments:
Khosla ka ghosts was the best Delhi film ever. It completed that circle for me.
Varun, dude i am so happy to have seen your comment and know that you are still attached to Delhi say India. yes Khosla ka Ghosla does complete the circle. Warm wishes on Holi!
I would say that people like Dibakar Banerjee have captured Delhi in their movies and to the point that it gives a fairly good picture of the city and its people to an outsider. It would never compensate for not having a Dollywood (or whatever) but always remains (& helps) in the minds of people who try to identify the personality of the city.
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