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How the Khans have killed Bollywood ...



The first 25 years of my life,  I grew up on a staple diet of Bollywood movies. Growing up in Mumbai ( or Bombay then), I used to believe that entertainment meant Bollywood. Given the variety and volume of content from Bollywood in the 1990s, there was never a need to look beyond Bollywood.

Then came the era of the Khans and Bollywood began to decay and decline. In 2005, when I moved to Bangalore, I realised that movies made in southern part of India were far superior than even the best from Bollywood. 

Bahubali made me realise about the rot that has set in Bollywood. As I look back, I can easily identify 3 reasons for this decline of Bollywood

1) Rise of Syndicates - Today Bollywood is organised in a manner which is very similar to the underworld mafia. Every 'Bhai' develops his own group/gang or syndicate which controls the entire ecosystem - from financing, production, actors, distribution. This syndicate dictates when any movie can be released and in how many theatres. Key dates like Eid/Diwali and Christmas are reserved for 'Bhai' releases. Anyone not aligned to the 'Bhai' is bullied into submission. Even established producers like Rakesh Roshan have struggled to release Kaabil. Kangana Renaut was being gracious when she termed the industry as full of 'nepotism' ...its ruled by a few gangs who only favour their own. 

2) Greed - The goal behind setting up the syndicates is to monopolise any gains - monetary and creative. Aamir Khan model of film making is very similar to that of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan hired the best of artisans to build the Taj Mahal. After using/abusing the talent of local artistes, Shah Jahan maimed them so that they could no longer build anything. Talent that works with Aamir rarely goes on to make any other movie. Just as Shah Jahan gets all the credit for building the Taj, so does Aamir for his movies. This unlimited greed of the syndicate leaves very little in terms of reward for true talent. Its no surprise that talent from Bollywood migrates down south. 

3) Hinduphobia - The Khan syndicate has very little understanding of Indian culture. SRK makes a movie called Chennai Express that mocks our rich Tamil culture. Saif names his kid after the House of Timurs whose deeds make Hitler look very innocent. The Khans just like Akbar, Shah Jahan marry one or more Hindu women but are so Hinduphobic that their content  often mocks the Hindu way of life. Social initiatives of the Khan syndicates only highlight the wrongs of the Hindus and seek to reform it. There will be a deafening silence on issue like Triple Talaq or human rights violations by Pakistan. 

The rein of Khans is no different than the rein of Mughals in India. Their greed drives away true talent and their Hinduphobic outlook limits their appeal ...

The rein of the Mughals was brought to an end by a Maratha who was inspired by Mahabharata and Ramayana .....the Khan syndicate will too meet a similar end and their legacy will be no different than that of Akbar or Aurangzeb.


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