< sarcasm > Oh bravo. < /sarcasm >

Filmfare has just tweeted the cover of their "100 Years of Cinema" issue.

from https://twitter.com/filmfare/status/321993066003169280

from https://twitter.com/filmfare/status/321993066003169280/photo/1
There are no women depicted or named on this "collector's edition," "your ultimate guide to the 100 iconic Hindi films." And no one under 45, for that matter.

I don't know how much the cover of Filmfare really matters, but this is pathetic, especially after the films of 2012 that saw women making contributions and being depicted in some really interesting and, I think, important ways. I do know that whoever chose this is, whether willingly or not, just adding to, and reflecting, the concept that Hindi film culture is about heroes and very little else. And I do know that that makes me incredibly sad.

Comments

Ness said…
I think it's significant - regardless of what you (general you) think of Filmfare. Agree that it is deplorable. Parallel would be the annual, equally significant and sad state of affairs around Vanity Fair's fold out Hollywood Issue cover, which hides the (one or two, if lucky) people of colour on the inside.
That's a great parallel!

Sigh. I'm not going to fault them for going with north Indians (since they explicitly say "Hindi films" in the smaller text), or for not including a director or crew of any kind (since actors' faces are more recognizable, and a magazine cover does have to think of the visual concerns), and I don't have a particular problem with these folks all being over 45, since this is an issue that presumably focuses on history.

But one has to have a penis to be highlighted in the history of an industry that prides itself on (heterosexual) romance, dancing, and "glamour"? Please.

And yeah, I don't expect much from Filmfare. But I...it's somewhere between "hoped" and "expected" better than this.

Oh well. Just another good reason not to buy it. :D
sam said…
So they picked three guys who have had, at some point, indisputably held the moniker of "superstar".
That is the most worrying - that the three guys on the cover are those with the most box office clout. So merit or talent is not the face of 100 years of hindi cinema, but carefully crafted cult of personality is.

That's stupid.
Mette said…
I first saw the cover in a tweet too, with someone being really excited about it like really fangirling.
But my first thought was NO WOMEN. NO WOMEN! NO WOMEN!!!

Sometimes things like these make we want to hate Bollywood.
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