Bend It Like Beckham Analysis

734 Words2 Pages

“HOW IS INDIAN DIASPORA DEPICTED BY DIASPORIC FILM-MAKERS IN CROSSOVER INDIAN MOVIES?”
I remember watching the movie “Bend it like Beckham” by Gurinder Chaddha and how fascinated I was with the entire depiction of Indian diaspora and the process of negotiation and assertion of identity that is spun across the movie. In a similar fashion Mira Nair’s the namesake is the story of identity conflict and formation of two diasporic generations in the U.S. I was captivated by the idea of how the Diaspora film-makers themselves make films on the diaspora and the way they present it on the big screen. This kind of films compels me to look deeper into the question of how the diasporic filmmakers themselves imagine and portray the Indian society in the movies they make known by the term crossover cinema.
The term crossover itself is a new emerging trend in Indian cinema. It has emerged to encapsulate the new brand of cinema that crosses cultural borders at the stage of conceptualization and production and thus manifests a hybrid cinematic grammar at the textual level as well as crossing over in terms of distribution and reception. It is both situated and global. Situated in the sense that it depicts the cultural aspect of a particular society but global by the fact that it has the ability to go beyond genre, audience and cultural borders. In that sense it is not relegated to one cultural border. Moreover, the term crossover for this genre of movie comes from the fact that it appeals to a wide variety of audience, cross-cultural conceptualization, production and reception. This lends cultural hybridity to the cinematic text. As, also the fact that it is grounded in a multiple of national, cultural and generic source. In such type of films as i...

... middle of paper ...

...al layer intertwined with the original layer that makes it so fascinating to watch for audience all over.
The diaspora film makers in their own essence brings home the trial and triumph of being an immigrant Indian in a foreign land as was also depicted in the movies like Mississippi Masala, Namesake, Bend it like Beckham, Monsoon Wedding etc.this films are not only works about the feeling of loss and alienation but rather as Gurinder Chaddha’s film portrays, they are also about transplantation and personal growth. It is to their creative genius that there is a feeling of loss and alienation along with hope and grandeur. It is about living that goes beyond existence and survival. It is about grappling with the issues of identity, tradition, culture and modernity which intrigue me whenever I watch a crossover movie from the diaspora on the diaspora.
By-
Pooja Kalita

Open Document