Earlier
this week, I watched my first ever full-fledged Bollywood movie. For those of
you who don’t know, Bollywood is the Hindi-language film industry that is based
in Mumbai. Many Bollywood movies, I’m told, usually run around 3-4 hours, and
are full of song-and-dance routines, as well as the portrayal of good values. I
first heard about Bollywood when I came to Franciscan, for I became good
friends with a few women who are fairly obsessed with that realm of movies. But
over these past few years, I just never got around to it. Finally, earlier this
summer, I saw Bride and Prejudice on
the library shelf and figured that would be a good starting point. B & P is the tale of—you guessed it—Pride and Prejudice, set in modern-day
India. The movie was made to be a blend of American and Indian cinema combined,
with a bit of British cinema influencing it. I greatly enjoyed the movie, and
found that I really, really liked the “Bollywood elements” to it. So, I wrote
one of my friends asking for recommendations, she sent a list of movies to
watch, and the library system happened to have nearly all of them.
And
this is how it came to be that Tuesday morning found me wearing my
Indian-elephant print wrap skirt and settling down (and jumping up to dance
occasionally) for nearly 4 hours, while watching the movie Lagaan. Set in the late 1800s, this movie covers the story of an
Indian village that is under the oppressive fist of the British military. Led
by a young man, Bhuvan, the villagers take on the British in a non-bloody, epic
combat. Within this whole plotline, the movie is full of saris, dancing,
singing, a super-sweet love story, sacrifice, and unity among people. There are
a couple stellar lines (though the movie has lots of great lines) that I have
to mention:
“He who has truth and courage in his
heart, it’s he who wins in the end.”
You
know, it is so downright easy to succumb to the pressures of the world and
society. Not just with behavior, but also with ideas. Society is pressuring us
to buy into the idea that anything and everything needs to be tolerated, except
that which Society doesn’t like. But if Society isn’t handing us the Truth—the
Truth that is given by God—then we don’t have any business buying into it. Like
the characters sing in Lagaan, we
have to remember that when we hold truth in our hearts with courage, we will
rise triumphant in the end. We may have to get through a lot of trials and
hardships along the way, but if we courageously hold true to God, we will
ultimately be fulfilled and live with Him in the glory of Heaven.
“Shame can’t even enter eyes that are
fully opened.”
When
I heard this line in the movie (well, when I read the subtitles, since the
movie’s in Hindi) I immediately thought of Theology of the Body, and how in that
original state of communion with God and each other in Eden, there was no
shame. Genesis 2:25, anyone? "The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame." Yeah, it's cool. When our
eyes are not clouded by sin or concupiscence, when they are fully opened to the
light of God’s truth and love in purity, we will not be covered in shame; rather, we will
be brought into deeper communion with God and others. Can you imagine how EPIC
Heaven will be? To have fully opened eyes, to be seeing God and others will
pure vision? I just can’t even handle this…
Another aspect of Lagaan that I enjoyed was the love story. I’ve been told
that in older Bollywood movies (sadly, newer movies are conforming to “modern
audiences” by throwing junk in) follow strict standards in the way of sexual
content that is portrayed on-screen. In this movie, not only were there no sex
scenes, but there weren’t any kissing scenes! But you know what? The love story
was cute, and you could really tell that the characters loved each other. They didn’t need to wrap themselves up in
the whole physical thing. I really, really appreciated seeing this on
screen, and brought back memories of my dating/courtship relationship with Jacob. The first kiss on the lips that we shared was on the church
steps immediately after our Nuptial Mass. And it was awesome, epic, and
beautiful! It was a special gift and
intimacy that we saved exclusively for each other. It was a sacrifice, but love
is sacrifice, and this sacrifice deepened our love for each other. You don’t
hear about “saving the first kiss for marriage” too much, and you definitely don’t see it in movies. So,
it was super refreshing to watch a romance on-screen that did not focus on
physical contact, but instead looked to the couple’s friendship and sacrifice with and for each other.
Another
super cool aspect of Lagaan involved
a crippled man. Following the caste system, the villagers labeled this man as
an “Untouchable,” and were repulsed at this man’s very presence. However,
Bhuvan admonishes them, explaining that this crippled man would be very
valuable in their fight against the British. And you know what? That man put
the British to shame. In 1 Cor 1:27, St. Paul writes, "God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong," which this part of the movie totally shows. It's so awesome!!!!
These
thoughts on Lagaan don’t include all
of the awesomeness of the movie, but I’ve been trying hard to not give any
spoilers J
I loved it, and I’ve already reserved my next Bollywood movie
from the library, so the fun is only beginning!
No comments:
Post a Comment