In Casablanca, a one-horse town dotted with fake Rick's bars, I asked a Bollywood-smitten Moroccan who had seen Dil to Pagal Hai "14 times" why he preferred Hindi to, say, Egyptian films. He explained that Egyptian movies were badly made and sexually crude while Hindi films were slick and sexually subtle. However, what he liked most of all was that they espoused the importance of the family, the value of sacrifice, respect for elders, faith in religion, and last but not least he loved the singing and dancing. In short, all the Bollywood elements our snooty critics deplore as hackneyed and sentimental are celebrated overseas. There's a moral here somewhere.
Clearly, Hindi cinema, or to call it by its proper name, Bollywood, has been under-utilised as a national asset. Our foreign office mandarins, even after the successful Iraq experience, are reluctant to fully acknowledge or exploit an export item which provides tons of goodwill. Is it because Bollywood is popular culture and our envoys are in the business of promoting high culture? Should our embassy in Cairo be showing Satyajit Ray or Karan Johar? It is a tough call. However, common sense and self-interest suggest a happy mix of the two. I would personally prefer 90 per cent of Karan Johar type films and 10 per cent Satyajit Ray. But I'd settle for 50-50.
