Mollywood Movies

Every so often a film comes along that everyone raves about. This time it is Slumdog Millionaire, which is about a boy winning big on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". He comes out of the slums of Bombay to win the coveted prize, then arouses suspicions and so on. Slight memories of the cheating major, etc.

The thing that interests me here, or things actually, is that this is not an Indian film as such, although it is filmed in India and the cast is almost exclusively Indian. It is a British film done in India. Bollywood films (Hollywood in Bombay) are seen as being in the cultural ownership of Indians. Very few people other than Indians watch them. However, these films make money and are seen by many people so that Bollywood has all the infrastructure and technical knowhow to take on Hollywood. This film, Slumdog, may well tip the Indian film industry into the world of "crossover" movies. Those that have an international audience. Then Hollywood would get real competition. With American actors playing in Oscar-nominated movies, the Indians could do very well indeed.

However, these new movies could not be Bollywood ones as they conjure up a very particular cultural ethos. Far better to move with the current name changing mania. I suggest Mollywood Movies made in Mumbai! After all Bollywood was Bombay's answer to imported cinematography. Mollywood will be the exported version that the whole world can enjoy.