When will a Kannadiga character appear in Bollywood? – Hindustan Times

Once I noticed Rocky Rani…Kahani, the thought occurred: when will a Kannadiga character populate a mainstream Bollywood film? Rocky Rani has the Bengali Chatterjees. Chennai Specific has Tamilians. Why are there no Kannadiga characters in mainstream motion pictures? Is it as a result of they don’t encourage the favored creativeness? Is it as a result of they don’t have robust traits that may be caricatured just like the “mental Bengalis” or the “flashy Punjabis”? What are the signature traits of the Kannadigas?

There are two, and neither will assist with getting us into Bollywood. Ask the outsiders who’ve populated Bengaluru about Kannadigas and some adjectives come out. One is that Kannadigas have a “softness” to them. They’re light, genteel, civilised. The best way to painting this in a Bollywood potboiler? However politeness is just not the one trait that marks Kannadigas or Bengalureans. What’s attention-grabbing is that two of Instagram’s hottest comics are primarily based on this metropolis: Shraddha Jain and Danish Sait. Each painting layered points of life in Bengaluru. They’re snarky, sarcastic, impolite, jumpy, foolish and extra. Why are these qualities not capturing the creativeness of standard and mainstream cinema?

Usually, Karnataka is just not good at advertising and marketing. The world is aware of Kanjivaram sarees however who has heard of Molkalmuru silks from our state? This state is on the crossroads of Hindustani and Carnatic music however someway the world associates Chennai with music. Some a part of our poor advertising and marketing has to do with branding. Most individuals affiliate locations or merchandise with only one or at most two adjectives. Bengaluru, and for that matter, Karnataka, maybe has too many layers. Our state slogan: “One state many worlds,” is each correct and complicated as a result of it doesn’t inform us what these “worlds” are. In distinction, Kerala’s “God’s personal nation” branding evokes poetic visuals in our minds. Cities too want a robust character for them to face out, like Mumbai did within the Munna Bhai motion pictures. We Bengalureans might imagine that our metropolis has a robust character however clearly, Bollywood doesn’t know what that’s.

After all, this brings up the entire query of whether or not you’d need a Kannadiga character in a Bollywood movie. As my mental (naturally) Bengali good friend stated, “Bollywood reduces characters to caricatures. Why would you want for that?” As a result of it’s a marker of getting arrived within the nationwide acutely aware—similar to India bidding for the 2036 Olympics is a measure of the nation’s confidence, its perception of getting arrived on the worldwide scene.

In Bengaluru, the tech, IT and start-up worlds take up all of the air area. There may be little room for a lot else. You’ll suppose {that a} Bollywood movie with edgy, loopy, twisted characters which are making a start-up would make for plenty of drama (back-stabbing, name-dropping, insecure egos, betrayal, it’s all there) however that hasn’t occurred. The closest we’ve come to is within the stand-up comedy world the place Bengaluru has been the runway for a lot of together with ‘Pushpavalli’, ‘Aiyyo Shraddha’ and Danish Sait.

So what’s going to it take for Bengaluru to catch the nationwide creativeness? To begin with, Bengalureans must make it to the highest of inventive industries. The rationale so many Bollywood motion pictures are primarily based on Punjabi households is as a result of lots of the movie producers are from that state. Lots of the music composers are from Bengal. Producers discuss to musicians and inventive cross pollination occurs. A personality is born. Bengalureans are largely in IT sector, not Bollywood. This isn’t a price judgement. Financial prosperity comes earlier than the thriving of tradition. Tokyo turned a monetary powerhouse within the 80s earlier than it turned recognized globally for style manufacturers like Sacai, designers like Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusuma.

I consider that that is the inflection level for Bengaluru to take off in areas that transcend tech. Museums are being in-built our metropolis. Plenty of books primarily based on Bengaluru are being printed. It’s unhappy that one of many slick podcasts that’s made in Bengaluru is ‘WTF with Nikhil Kamath,’ the place he talks in an echo chamber made up of his buddies who’re all in—no shock there — tech.

The comfortable energy that comes from Korean tv serials, its music and style is a good distance off for Bengaluru as a result of prefer it or not, we’re nonetheless a metropolis with a programming, engineering mindset that values dot.coms greater than connecting the dots in a inventive imaginative style. Cultural cross pollination can solely occur if tradition is well known, which it isn’t in Bengaluru. Till that occurs, Bengaluru will nonetheless be caught in a linear mindset that’s about {dollars} and cents somewhat than bigger than life personalities who seize the favored creativeness.

(Shoba Narayan is Bengaluru-based award-winning creator. She can be a contract contributor who writes about artwork, meals, style and journey for a variety of publications.)

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