Hindi cinema has been a major reference point for shaping Indian culture in this century. It has influenced the way people perceive things or behave in their own lives.

The evolution of Bollywood, since the first film Raja Harishchandra to the golden age of Bollywood to the more commercial (masala) films has been critical in influencing the mind sets of the society by reflecting the existing trends or creating new ones.

The more commercial films were meant to create a fantastical image of a world, everything right from the greater than life set pieces to the skin tone of the main cast became an important factor The lead characters were no longer average looking people, they were fair and slim and beautiful.

This has an impact on the audience and soon even they wanted to look like these actors on screen, and also wanted to emulate their lifestyle.

There is no doubt that certain Bollywood films influences viewers greatly. For example, the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara made a lot of people visit Spain, where the film was primarily shot.

However, the fact is that more Indians belonging to the upper middle class now have more disposable incomes and a lot of them are traveling abroad for holidays. So, Indians were already travelling before “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” was released, but the movie provided the people with an alternative, where they could go.

However, in terms of percentage, very few films focus on such themes.

Bollywood films portray things like music, dance, traditions, architecture of India. While other things such as globalization, modernization, India’s strengths in certain areas have not been adequately despite in films, Bollywood filmmakers have been focusing more on westernization of Indians, the liberations of women, Hindi-Muslim and other caste related problems.

However, Indian filmmakers also face challenges when they try to depict various aspects of the Indian culture, including history of a place. Protests by various fundamentalist groups are common as they feel certain films are showing their culture in poor light. Most of the times, these protests are politically motivated as well.

The focus on westernization in Bollywood films has played an important role in influencing Indian people on things like fashion and lifestyle, and have also influenced their opinions on issues like drugs, violence and sex.

To the outside world, Indian films, especially Bollywood, does help create a perception about the country as a whole. but considering the diversity of India, it can be said that the formulaic Bollywood films never showed the culture diversity of India.

Besides providing entertainment, Cinema is also a powerful medium of information, education and helps in opinion building on various social issues.

Certain movies can also leave a deep impression on the young minds; thankfully, the censor board of India have been doing a good job of censoring content that could have a negative impact on the budding minds.

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“Men act, women appear. Men look at women; women watch themselves being looked at”.

This quote suggests very succinctly the position of women in the realm of the „look‟, including within the mainstream Indian cinema. Women have been relegated to a passive position in a film, not as a maker of meaning but merely an appendage to man who is the holder of substantial roles and undisputed power and authority.

The gender bias in terms of roles parity has been prevalent for long.

If we observe films from the earlier times till now, we will see that the male figure is the one with power, authority and someone who has command over others in the film. The women are given submissive roles of doing household chores or adding glamour to the film.

What counts is what the heroine provokes, rather than what she represents.

She is love or fear she inspires in the hero or he provokes him to act in a certain way, or else an epitome of concern and care. The woman in her does not have the slightest of importance in the roles offered. We rarely see women act independently, with authority, making their own decisions and having a say in what they want.

It is more like they being worshipped for their youth and beauty in Indian films. Traditionally, women have been reduced to just a spectacle in movies, commoditized for their beauty; there is hardly any difference in beauty contests and acting in films (For example Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen who have won the top beauty pageants).

Over the years, in Bollywood films, one of the noticeable and debatable observations has been the representation of women‟s identity in the films.

In the 90‟s several films were made in the genre called family drama, popular among audiences, especially the women audiences. It was infiltrated with Hindu rights belief in their family structure and the characters. Within this, the roles of the women have been “the ideal wife or mother”, or a victim which has been bought down my male gaze.

In modern times, women have been objectified to “a material that can be owned‟ through movies and item numbers that see women as a sex object. The films in Bollywood today feeds rape culture by portraying behaviours of men that are inappropriate, and glorifying or normalising them.

Women have been given comparatively less important roles than men in the film. She always acts as a support system through her characters.

The characters or role played by women over the evolution of Indian cinema can be broken down into certain standard roles such as – “The ideal mother‟, “the ideal wife/love interest/‟, “the Vamp/ damsel in distress‟ and “The Courtesan‟.

The Ideal Mother – “Mother Goddess” can be interpreted as someone who has power, authority, generally compared to “Durga Ma‟ as someone powerful who can conquer the evil by herself. However if we observe Hindi films she is represented as a tyrant figure or a sacrificing mother. The strong role of a mother is trivialized in films as someone who goes through silent suffering. The importance or impact of the character slips in and what remains behind is a pathetic caricature.

The Ideal Wife/love interest – The caricature of the depiction of an ideal woman is portrayed by filling it with stereotypes. The suppressions inhibit the autonomy of the woman, dictated by the dictatorial authority of the man. The feeling of helplessness and then finally succumbing to the societal pressures have been depicted in Hindi cinema. The women end up playing the love interest of male characters in films, to add glamour and quotient to the film, sometimes even when the strength of the character played is overshadowed.

The Vamp – The evil character played by women in Indian films show western traits. Their behaviour includes smoking, drinking, dancing and someone who has lack of emotions. She depicts the “unacceptable behaviour‟ in the society, while in the end for most of the part she is punished for her behaviour.

The Courtesan – She plays the love interest of a man in the film just to satisfy the emotional and physical needs of the man. She is shown as a characterless woman or a prostitute that plays with the feelings of the man for money and power. By showing this, films have shown the notion that woman achieve success by immoral means of seduction, because they lack the ability or talent to become successful or independent themselves.

The women’s characters are trapped in secondary roles and the vitalizing power of women is primarily ignored. The present portrayal of women on screen also sends out a message which says “I am a girl, therefore bad and therefore destined to suffer”. The misogynist ad patriarchal attitude is prevalent through such depictions.

The global or westernized beauty standards comply most of the actresses to be fair skinned. The body shape of the actresses in Bollywood earlier were more on the healthier side compared to today where there is a pressure for a perfectly toned and a slim body.

The camera angle is also focused on parts of women’s body that are considered sexual such the navel, the lips, the breasts, with glossy costumes and glossy lips. Item play a major role in objectifying a woman with their lyrics and unnecessary inclusion of the songs in the film even when it does not add to the storyline of the film.

Item songs are included in films to please the eyes of the audiences and there are times when the film becomes a hit just because of the item number included in the film. The lyrics bring down the identity of a woman to merely a sexual object that can be harassed and followed till she agrees to be your love interest. The gaze of the male character is more predominant and importantly placed.

The globalisation of Bollywood and the media has made the faces of women highly sexualised, radicalised and gendered. Due to westernization the women in Bollywood films are shown as someone who speaks fluent English, is fair skinned, from the upper echelon of the society. This face is definitely not the face of the millions of Indian women and depict s them inaccurately.

Traditional Indian women are considered as “backward‟ and “middle class‟ in Bollywood films. This dichotomy of representation is disturbing still prevalent in todays times. The women are more often than not represented as a damsel in distress who needs a prince charming to rescue her from all the troubles. The essence of an independent woman is trivialised in Indian Bollywood films.

The infiltration of western ideals since the inception of the newly independent India along with rising of the Indian cinema plays an integral role in naturalizing images of Bollywood women for our consumption.

As a matter of fact from the early days of Bollywood to the current films released the portrayal of women has depicted stereotypes that depicted inequality between the sexes. The dilemma still persists in modern culture even though the Indian cinema continues to change and evolve, reflecting new trends in gender relations and the roles as well as the construction of women.

If certain thoughts are conveyed at a length through cinema, they will eventually never contribute in changing or affecting the thoughts or behaviours of the society. However, films with stereotypes do appeal to the masses and make money, since they have been accepted for long. This motivates many filmmakers to continue making films with more importance to male characters and trivialising of female characters.

Currently due to boost in the media industry, globalisation and normalisation of western ideals, the reach to the masses has become simplified and rampant, making the society more vulnerable to thoughts and cultures. The increased marketization of films reinforces women‟s roles in a strictly heterosexual and rigid fashion. These images are hardly unique across all media channels.

The representation of women has been talked about for quite some time now and more so, in current times due to rise in social media and the society becoming more adapting and comfortable in talking about sensitive issues.

Actresses today are acting in as well as promoting women centric films to break the gender bias in the film industry. The characters offered to actresses from the past films to the present see a tinge of a common stereotype looming over the varied roles in Hindi films.

Bollywood women in the present day have the possibility of more power. Films like Rani Mukherjee’s “Mardaani” shows women as strong, independent and determined individuals. Films like “Lipstick under my Burkha” are trying to break the stereotypes women are subjected to.

When we talk of comedy, we have seen the sphere be dominated by men predominantly because of the notion that woman lack sense of humour. However, actresses such as Sridevi and Juhi Chawla broke that norm. Today we see more actresses venture into the comedy space also due to increase in woman stand up comedians even though it is still largely patriarchal.

The women in the film fraternity today are fighting for woman centric roles and meaningful characters and the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema is changing. Even though we have moved a few steps ahead in terms of offering more meaningful roles to woman, and women themselves becoming more aware of the kind of roles they take, largely, there still exists prejudice and objectification of women.

The point of analysis of the representation of women is not to argue about morality or immorality since these are the choices made by the actresses and the directors. However, this kind of exposure of sexuality and the identity given to women through their characters has an undercurrent reinforcing pre-existing stereotypes in society, adding strength to the vicious cycle.

Bollywood has a long way to go before women are freed from gender bias and stereotypes even though the need the film industry is evolving and growing to provide better opportunities to women.

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Cinema is an integral part of the lives of Indians, and a great source of joy and excitement. Even in the first few decades of its existence, Hindi films managed to capture the fascination of Indians.

While films have evolved a lot over the years in terms of technology – black and white to colour, analogue to digital, zero graphics to animation, and so on, Hindi films have also evolved in terms of the content that it depicts.

Beginning of Indian cinema

The development of Bollywood dates back more than a century.

• Dada Saheb Phalke, considered to be the “Father of Indian cinema”, makes the first Indian film “Raja Harishchandra” (1913 silent film).
• Alam Ara directed by Ardeshir Irani was the first motion picture with sound (released on March 14, 1931)
• ‘Kisan Kanya’ directed by Moti B Gidwani in 1937 was India’s first colour film.

When the industry first took off, it was a time when the medium was used majorly for two purposes.

• First was to do social commentary at the then situation of the country. These stories were more rooted in reality and spoke about the harshness the general people of the nation had to face, such stories had characters which were relatable to the masses and so looked like an average Joe.
• Second purpose of cinema was to provide an escape from the harsh realities of the real world. The purpose was not to forget about what was happening in reality but rather to give people hope about a better future. The masses saw these movies and aspired to have a life where everything works out in the end.

The balance of these two types of cinema had a huge impact on the freedom struggle in the country. While the former films made people aware of the atrocities that the common man was facing, the latter gave them a reason to fight.

After the freedom struggle ended, the former kind of cinema started to slowly fade away, masses were more interested in an escape and a promise for a better tomorrow than to see the dirt and poverty of real life.

Golden Era of Indian cinema

The period between 1940s to the 1960s is considered to be as “The Golden Era” of the Indian Cinema, as well as of Bollywood.

Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and others were the pioneers of parallel cinema, which was greatly influenced by theater as well as literature.

Hindi cinema also produced some great gems in the 1950s. Films such as Shree 420, Do Aankhen Barah Haath, Naya Daur and Mother India reflected the social and political changes that were taking across a new, independent India. Actors like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Madhubala, Nutan, Nargis, Meena Kumari, became synonymous with the Golden Era.

Rise of the Commercial Films

Films with songs, dance, fight sequences started becoming popular, and post the Golden era, became the norm in Bollywood.

Masses were no longer interested in seeing films focused on poverty and other social issues; instead they wanted to see a world of fantasy. Bollywood films started depicting larger than life heroes as well as set pieces. The lead characters were no longer average looking people, but were fair, slim and beautiful.

These films were a lot more commercial (were also disparagingly known as Masala films) and even today the trend in Bollywood is to make full-fledged commercial films.

Read: How did the Hindi film industry got the name ‘Bollywood’?

Today, the Indian diaspora is a major audience of Bollywood films and continues to influence filmmakers such as Karan Johar. Bollywood films today are much bigger, have a global audience, and its influence continues to grow bigger.

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India’s first motion picture film was released in the 1910s by Dadasaheb Phalke, but over the years, several great people contributed to the growth of the Indian film industry.

The films in the earlier decades focused more on social issues. However, after the end of the British Raj in India, Indian film industry say the emergence of the parallel cinema came, which co-existed along with the commercial Hindi films.

As years passed by, commercialization of Hindi films increased; films focused less on social issues and started becoming a means of providing the audience with an escape mechanism, that made them look away from their real life issues.

This was the beginning of Masala films in Bollywood, and the transformation of Hindi films to Bollywood.

But who coined the term Bollywood?

There are several theories as to how the word ‘Bollywood’ was coined, although its difficult to say for sure that a prominent person came up with the name.

As the number of Hindi films produced started increasing, many of these films were greatly inspired by Hollywood films. Because the American film industry was called Hollywood as most of the American filmmakers and actors resided near the place ‘Hollywood’ (its a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California).

1940s to the 1960s is also considered to be “The Golden Era” for Indian cinema due to the popularity of Bengali filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen; and the Bengla film industry was called Tollywood because most of the films were produced in the Tollygunge district.

So, it was just a matter of time before someone came up with the name Bollywood for Hindi cinema, as the Hindi film industry was centered in Bombay (now called Mumbai).

This happens to be the most popular theory.

It’s common knowledge that legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan does not like the word ‘Bollywood’ for the Hindi film industry.

Because, ‘you see the whole country of this system is juxtaposition by the haemoglobin in the atmosphere because you are a sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity’.

Another theory is that the word “Bollywood” was first used in the 1970s by a writer of a film magazine, although there is not much agreement on this theory.

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There are many who are talking about “Outsider vs Insider” in the film industry, and they are many who are talking about the importance of having close friends in life, with whom one can share important one’s grief.

Here’s Nitish Bharadwaj (the original Krishna from BR Chopra’s Mahabharat) sharing some important lessons from Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide, for youngsters.

Sushant Singh Rajput suicide – Lesson 1

Make your children into SHIVA, who has the capacity to drink & digest the worst poison of life named HALĀHAL. Train our children to be like a RIVER, who bypasses every obstacle & yet flows to its destination.

Why are so many students, executives, youngsters & even businessmen committing suicide? We haven’t trained our minds to accept failure in life. FAILURE is HALĀHAL. I mourn the loss of all such Sushants.

The purpose of life is not to succeed by social norms like money & fame but to succeed by the norm of Ātmā – which is pure happiness. In a person’s life, if more number of years are spent in happiness than in grief, the person is successful. If you have accepted defeat and yet found the courage to move on, you are successful.

The post Nitish Bharadwaj (Krishna) shares lessons for children from Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide appeared first on Bollywood Presents.

They are iconic and inspirational for millions of people. So if they don’t speak, I think it’s irresponsible. For the Cauvery Calling project, they have not only spoken but have also committed money to it. Why is an actor or an actress not considered serious? Just because they act, dance or sing, you think they should have no opinion of their own?

I’ll like to recall what John Sibelius once said, “Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in the honour of a critic.”

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A post shared by Juhi Chawla (@iamjuhichawla) on Sep 24, 2019 at 2:50am PDT

Kangana Ranaut interviews Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev: Highlights & Pics

During the interview, which was named ‘Conversation with the Mystic’, Kangana Ranaut questioned Sadhguru on a wide range of topics – society, peoples mindset and how spirituality fits in all of these.

For a change, Kangana Ranaut donned the cap of a host and interviewed the spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Kangana Ranaut, known for her straight-forward demeanour, also spoke unabashedly on a range of topics:

• When I first heard about you many years ago, I rolled my eyes and muttered something about ‘Oh guru types’
• Honestly, if it wasn’t a New York best seller book, I wouldn’t have read your book. What is it about the western stem that we can’t do without? There are so many books unless Americans don’t approve of it, it just doesn’t make sense for us.
• If somebody rubs you the wrong way the only thing that we heard from our mothers/elders is, ‘Woh bhagwaan dekh raha hai’ – What? Where has it got us?
• When you’re in a beautiful city (outside India) and when you’re with Indian friends, you’re always cursing India. More money you’ve got, you can literally get away with anything, that’s not the best way to go forward.
• There is a scene in my upcoming movie (‘Manikarnika’) where the character saves a calf, but my crew had a whole discussion saying she can’t save a calf, it has to be a lamb. Because we don’t want to look like calf savers.
• Criminals cannot be associated with religion.

In the past, Kangana has spoken highly of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him the rightful leader of the country. And this interview of Sadhguru.

So does Kangana see herself getting into Politics in the future?

While, Kangana Ranaut has an opinion on the country’s politics, and also thinks that actors should not shy away from talking on Politics, she feels one has to be detached from a lot of thing to get into Politics. One should give up one’s family, home and children to best serve the country, and she is not yet ready to do so.

“Politics shouldn’t be a career. I feel if someone like me wants to join politics, then first of all they have to achieve detachment. Right now, I am so successful (in films) that I don’t want to make career anywhere else. But if I want to serve my land then I can’t do it if I have some vested interest in some other department. That becomes conflicting then. So, if people want to pursue politics they should, but they need to achieve some kind of renunciation,” said Kangana.

Kangana was also critical of her peers in Bollywood who choose to shy away from speaking on politics nowadays, to avoid getting into trouble.

“Artistes always say that we should not talk about it (politics), we get into trouble but if (someone), who is so successful and has 25 cameras and mediapersons covering him or her, doesn’t talk then who else will? Then why are you successful? What does success mean to you? Just earning money, eating and having fun? You haven’t been kept at a pedestal so that you can live your small life easily, the people have kept you there so that you also think about them,” said Kangana.

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Bollywood celebs know how to celebrate in style and that applies to the festivals as well. Their Diwali celebrations are grand, lavish, and you see the stars wearing their designer best.

Unfortunately, entry to these parties is by invitation only, so unless you belong to their fraternity, you won’t be able to attend.

These parties are also a perfect excuse for Bollywood actors & filmmakers to meet & bond, socialize, and even to mend differences.

Amitabh Bachchan and his family refrained from Diwali celebrations for a couple of year because his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s father died in 2017, and his daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda’s father-in-law died in 2018. But this year Amitabh Bachchan celebrated Diwali.

Shah Rukh was in New Delhi with son AbRam ahead of Diwali, but will return to Mumbai in time to celebrate with family, and to possibly attend Amitabh’s party. “Attending Diwali parties has become a culture. So, I have to rush back,” says SRK.

There’s a tradition of playing cards on Diwali day; Its believed that on Diwali day, Goddess Parvati played dice with her husband Lord Shiva and she decreed that whosoever gambled on Diwali night would prosper throughout the ensuing year.

Since then, people indulge in a bit of gambling on this day to ensure that the goddess of wealth smiles upon the players. The tradition of playing cards have been followed wholeheartedly by some of our Bollywood celebrities.

1. Aamir Khan threw a card party on Diwali day at his Bandra residence. The ‘PK’ team, along with Raju Hirani were expected at the party. Aamir’s house was beautifully decorated and his guests were served home-cooked food. Aamir also organised all-night long card session.
2. No one can beat the Bachchans when it comes to organizing lavish & classy Diwali dos. And its Jaya Bachchan (and not Aishwarya Rai) who’s in charge of the party, in terms of organizing it. The top names of Bollywood gathered at Bachchans residence, where the celebs enjoyed the traditional card party. Stars of ‘Happy New Year’ were expected at the party.
3. Salman Khan and his brothers also hosted a grand celebration for family and friends. With sister Arpita’s wedding round the corner, the celebration only got bigger
4. Shilpa & Raj Kundra may be relatively new in the party circuit, but the Kundras make sure that their parties are stylish and chic.
5. Khiladi Akshay Kumar and wife Twinkle also host some of the best Diwali parties in Bollywood. It seems Akshay is not only a khiladi when it comes to movies, but also at plays cards. In fact, everyone is scared to play cards with Akshay as he is quite a pro when it comes to a deck of cards.
6. The oldies / buddies club: Best friends Rakesh Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra and Jeetendra have been spending Diwali together for ages. The venue of the party keeps changing but they do play cards all night long. Its said that the money at stake is usually high (compared to the other parties) but the spirit is playful rather than competitive.
7. TV czarina ‘Ekta Kapoor’ hosted a card party at her family bunglow in Juhu. Games like Flush and Rummy take the center-stage and the stakes go higher as the night progresses. Ekta’s parties continue till the wee hours of the morning.

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So what is Cauvery Calling all about? Here’s what I got from Isha foundation’s website.

Cauvery river is depleting fast. The simplest way to make Cauvery flow again is to plant more trees near its banks. Cauvery Calling is an initiative by Isha foundation that will support farmers to plant close to 242 crore trees to revitalize the river Cauvery.

Kangana Ranaut who is supporting this cause that will help increase the green cover near the river, also lashed out to Bollywood celebrities for not giving enough attention to the Chennai droughts, whereas Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio had expressed his concern regarding the issue.

“The drought in Chennai became a global issue. Leonardo Di Caprio was concerned about it even though he is in the US. Don’t you think I will die of shame if I have no concern about what is happening in my country?” Kangana (donated Rs 42 Lakh towards the initiative).

Slamming Bollywood film celebrities, Kanaga said they were just social media activists.

“Nobody is rich enough, everybody needs money, I am sure it goes the same for the richest people in India. When I hear about them, they are under a lot of debt and that too 1000s of crores of loans and it scares you. So my point is it is never too easy to take out even Rs 42 from your pocket and give it to somebody else. Hence celebrities need to set precedents where they are beyond armchair warriors. It isn’t a big deal to donate Rs 42 lakh but who will go through the hassle of opening the link and making the payment?”

But why did she donate 42 lakh rupees, and say not fifty lakh?

It’s because Rs 42 is needed to plant a sapling (to be done by volunteers of Isha Foundation). So Kangana has donated towards planting one lakh saplings.

Well, we think this is a great cause and we all need to support such initiatives if we want our children to grow up in a greener world.

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No doubt that political parties in India are trying to leverage the medium to gain a competitive advantage for the forthcoming LokSabha elections.

PM Narendra Modi and My Name is RaGa (based on Rahul Gandhi) will release soon. The trailer of My Name is RaGa hows the fictionalized Gandhi invoking the memories of his father and grandmother, both former prime ministers and both assassinated, calling them martyrs who gave their lives for the country.

Such films, coming so soon before India’s general election, have drawn fire from opposition politicians, who say they are little more than propaganda.

India’s ruling party, the BJP, aggressively promoted Bollywood films “The Accidental Prime Minister” and “Uri” on its social media accounts. With elections near by, for quite some time the opposition had been raking up things like Demonetisation & GST. However, these two Bollywood films have shown BJP in a much better light.

Also Read: Bollywood Celeb who have joined Politics

While, Uri shows that the party is capable of taking bold decisions, “The Accidental Prime Minister” shows how the congress party looks for directions and commands from the the Gandhi family, despite having a Prime Minster, who is not from the Gandhi family.

BJP shared the trailer of the movie, “The Accidental Prime Minister” on their Twitter account. However, Twitter users mocked the party for the tweet and criticised it as an attempt to malign the Opposition.

However, there were some who justified the tweet.

“Can’t we extend our wishes for a film? Congress has been all for freedom, why is it questioning that freedom now?”, asks MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

The film is based on the book of the same name written by Sanjaya Baru. Baru was Manmohan Singh’s media adviser when the latter was the prime minister.

Right after the book was released, ex-PM Manmohan Singh had stated that the book was an attempt to misuse a privileged position to gain credibility for commercial gains.

Read: When Bollywood took a stand against the government / political class

Another film that can help BJP in the elections is the film ‘Uri’, based on the surgical strikes. With the surgical strike as the the main story, it shows the government behind a transformed India (‘Naya Hindustan’).

Former deputy PM LK Advani with daughter Pratibha at a cinema to watch Uri: The Surgical Strike.

Read: Several Bollywood & Indian film Celebs in politics now

While Bollywood celebrities have always campaigned for political parties and walked rallies showing support for certain political parties, this could be a new trend – make films that become a channel for propaganda for political parties.

Also, its quite likely that the the Election Commission of India might take notice of this aspect and not allow such movies to release right before elections.

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No wonder, despite increasing air-fares (and the rape incident), foreign tourists continue to come to India to celebrate Holi with locals in cities like Mathura, Vrindavan and Varanasi.

The more care-free souls just pick up their back-packs and go all alone (without travel guides) to Holi hot-spots like Mathura and Vrindavan. They camp out during the days of the festival and participate at the grass-root level by mingling with the locals.

Play in a Controlled Environment
For those overseas travellers who’re apprehensive about venturing on to the streets to play Holi, here’s some good news. Most hotels & tour operators in India have started making arrangements for them to play Holi within the premises itself, so that families who’re concerned about playing with the locals can play Holi within the hotel premises itself in a controlled environment.

I’m sure that’s a tempting proposition, because if you’re a foreigner planning to visit India around Feb/March, you’ve to experience Holi.

Capture the ‘Incredible India’ Experience
With everything around being so colorful, this is also the best time to capture that ‘Incredible India’ experience.

No wonder, people from various places in Europe and the US come to India to experience this festival of colours. And not just for travelers, its also a great time for foreign journalists and photographers to be in India.

Do it Like the Bollywood stars
If at all you decide to play Holi, do it like the Bollywood stars, by dressing in ‘white’. You’ll be glad you (and your family) did that because all that colouful mess really looks amazing when captured on pictures.

Most tour operators provide travelers with white ‘kurtas’ and herbal colours. So go ahead and use them.

Holi Based Tour Packages
Where to go? Although, North India is the centre for Holi celebrations, if you’re going to play within the hotel premises, you could go anywhere in India.

• Jaipur is also quite popular among foreigners. The Elephant Festival (cavalcade of brightly painted elephants) of Jaipur on Holi eve is another spectacular aspect that foreign travelers love.
• Goa promises revelers with its own version of Holi, Shigmotsav, the state’s biggest Hindu festival spanning 14 days
• Several tour operators also offer Kerala Holi tour packages.

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