tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post8297955679735092714..comments2024-02-01T13:13:31.933+02:00Comments on ..so they dance!: Ek main aur ek tu hai.. Random thoughts about hiphop.veracioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14437521137603205617noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-19672914005814079952011-07-26T21:08:43.100+03:002011-07-26T21:08:43.100+03:00Hi,
I hope you are well.
There is something I wa...Hi,<br /><br />I hope you are well.<br /><br />There is something I was looking to speak to you about, can you possibly email me at me@tuqirehussain.comtuqirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627572646746617694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-75442368387900181442011-07-26T21:07:21.974+03:002011-07-26T21:07:21.974+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.tuqirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627572646746617694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-86853137562978531122011-07-23T18:31:26.044+03:002011-07-23T18:31:26.044+03:00Until now I haven't seen the video after my lo...Until now I haven't seen the video after my longer vacation, and I won't have the possibility to watch it until next week. However, your post is spot on in many aspects. Actually, I don't know what to say... Ahm... Well, for example about Right Here Right Now... It's so cheesy, but done with love, really. And keeping in mind the genre/thing conflict. <br />Whatever - I can't think of something intelligent to say - you got it all perfectly right. <br />Wonderful!Mettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08094234448852441633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-7092480096582505172011-06-15T20:09:47.392+03:002011-06-15T20:09:47.392+03:00Nice post! And welcome back! My only two cents to ...Nice post! And welcome back! My only two cents to add to what you've already captured very well is that I find the hip-hop wannabe video to be caused not just by a need to be hip and cool a la Biggie and P Diddy, but also by the fact that we've seen a serious increase of hero-centric dance sequences. As opposed to the hero dancing with the heroine or doing some traditional dance steps. Now these heroes can't dance for the most part, which didn't matter before when all they had to do was run behind the heroine. But now they have to do something because they're alone in the video, so posing against some sort of badass blingy background was the logical choice. Of all the types of videos that were available, the blingy hip-hop style seems to have the most opportunity for standing around and looking like you're grooving but without actually doing any dance steps. <br /><br />Not that I'm disagreeing with everything that is completely wrong with importing hip-hop blindly into Bollywood, but I'm trying to think of what the other options were in this context of giving more space to the guys in songs and can't really picture much else. That said, I bet we would not be as appalled by the hip-hop videos if the guys could actually dance to it. For example I did not find any of Shahid's dances in Chance pe Dance out of place, but that's because he actually looks like he fits in that groove. Others... not so much... so parody is the only way out.Dolce and Namakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13403089235872528987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-34477135031255782652011-06-15T05:08:13.039+03:002011-06-15T05:08:13.039+03:00@bombay talkies I probably said mass audience whic...@bombay talkies I probably said <i>mass audience</i> which to my mind means the same as <i>mainstream</i>.Filmi Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16182245444783020664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-17176804295552799462011-06-15T05:02:41.883+03:002011-06-15T05:02:41.883+03:00Ah, my mistake. I took from reading a lot of your...Ah, my mistake. I took from reading a lot of your posts and comments on this topic that you thought they were the same thing.Bombay Talkieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15085252038295646746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-618552052408734832011-06-15T05:00:14.564+03:002011-06-15T05:00:14.564+03:00@bombay talkies I never said "the poor masses...@bombay talkies I never said "the poor masses" - I said <i>mainstream</i> audience. Two very different things.Filmi Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16182245444783020664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-23920859565205036702011-06-15T03:33:30.378+03:002011-06-15T03:33:30.378+03:00For what it's worth, "Switty" regist...For what it's worth, "Switty" registers about as high on the "I'm so offended" scale as "Pretty Fly for a White Guy." As in not at all offensive and essentially just a gentle ribbing of the source material.<br /><br />Re: classism, I agree with Veracious in that assuming these videos are marketed at merely "the poor masses" is rather offensive in and of itself. I get the feeling that they're marketed just as much, if not more, at the urban middle class film goers who ape American culture.<br /><br />You can never assume that certain types of films or music are solely the purview of a particular strata of society. They rarely ever are.Bombay Talkieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15085252038295646746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-77303274057672019522011-06-15T02:44:09.867+03:002011-06-15T02:44:09.867+03:00@veracious I'm drawing a lot on my experiences...@veracious I'm drawing a lot on my experiences watching mass market Sandalwood films, which often begin with a number like this before entering into the main story - which is usually about regular people. I don't like the idea of slick multiplex types mocking things that single screen types enjoy.<br /><br />We can agree to disagree on this and it's completely possible that I'm just coming at it from a strange perspective.Filmi Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16182245444783020664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-21219485967038945072011-06-15T01:51:26.553+03:002011-06-15T01:51:26.553+03:00Ness & maxqnz - Thanks. :)
FG - I do get your...Ness & maxqnz - Thanks. :)<br /><br />FG - I do get your point but this was kind of what I was trying to say in the section "who gets to perform and on whose terms". I don't feel I've any authority on the subject of hiphop stemming from experiences of oppressed people. I think reading those discussions are interesting but I can't really have a say in them, I feel.<br /><br />Similarly, in the Indian context, I think to say these picturizations are aimed at at the same kind of underprivileged people as the sort of glamour of nouveau rich is rather jumping to a conclusion. Do any of us understand Bollywood marketing to the extent that we know what portions of the audience they are aiming at? I think the hiphop picturizations may also be directed at those urban young audiences who dig American hiphop and don't mind listening to similar Indian tunes when they're getting down at the club.<br /><br />As far as examples of Bollywood classism goes, it's not an example I find easy to judge, hence I found your labelling of it as such rather strange.veracioushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14437521137603205617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-74610188964292508582011-06-14T23:14:11.649+03:002011-06-14T23:14:11.649+03:00" He is mocking a 'wannabe' who idoli..." He is mocking a 'wannabe' who idolises certain aspects of the hiphop "culture", and the fact that most aspects are rather superficial."<br /><br />Spot on! Thanks for a very thoughtful post. Like Ness, I could not have expressed it better, and am grateful that you posted this.mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042500344000182850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-9253786850859479112011-06-14T22:56:02.332+03:002011-06-14T22:56:02.332+03:00Great post! I have to emphasize that when I wrote ...Great post! I have to emphasize that when I wrote about the song in my post, I had yet to see the video and was going on the description of it, which referred to it as "hiphop." <br /><br />I should probably just write my own response on my own blog but I wanted to say that since seeing the song, I do understand that it's aping the "cool dude" vibe that is put forth in similarly-styled song picturizations.<br /><br />What I find distasteful about "Switty" is complicated and probably not easily debated on Twitter. Those bling-filled hiphip videos have their roots in an aspirational and underprivledged culture. A lot of those rappers came from nothing and to suddenly have cash... well, the more money you have the more successful you are. <br /><br />It's a nouveau riche low-brow flashing of wealth.<br /><br />When I think of those types of picturizations in Indian film, my first thought are those low budget, mass market films aimed at lower class audiences, which is exactly who goes to see things like <b>De Dana Dan</b>, which featured one of those songs, "Paisa Paisa." And it was exactly the audience of the hiphop videos.<br /><br />When I see a middle-brow film aimed at multiplex audiences starring the American-raised nephew of a major star making fun of something that those lower class single-screen audiences enjoy, it makes me uncomfortable.<br /><br />Is something like "Paisa Paisa" great art? No, of course not. But it just seems so <i>snobby</i> to make a picturization like "Switty" that mocks it.<br /><br />But is it mocking hiphop? No. <br /><br />(Am I taking this way too seriously? Of course, but what else is the Internet for.)Filmi Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16182245444783020664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1668731454857654821.post-72731048731945722922011-06-14T12:05:23.971+03:002011-06-14T12:05:23.971+03:00whoa! this is awesome, and totally deserves commen...whoa! this is awesome, and totally deserves comment - except I'm 100% in agreement with you. and I could never ever have put it this coherently. I'm in awe :)Nesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12107616228716988730noreply@blogger.com