Dyslexia and Bollywood

I started noticing a spate of articles on Dyslexia in various publications during this stay. I was pleasantly surprised and happy that it is being acknowledged as a problem in India. Most of the articles were rational and compassionate. This, in a nation where a few years back the Minister of Health said that AIDS was not a problem in India as we had better morals. It is now accepted that AIDS is an “epidemic” here.

This education on Dyslexia began with the hit Bollywood movie from last year called Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth). It is directed by Amir Khan, one of the few people in Bollywood who actually likes and understands the medium of cinema. I have not seen this movie yet, but there are special screenings almost every day with more people getting curious about this issue.

This has been one of my pet peeves when it comes to Bollywood. Its power and reach is something that could be put to good use from time to time. The Bollywood community is mostly a tightly knit, in-bred group which leads a life style that is vastly different from the values portrayed in the movies. There are divorces, couples living together before marriage, single moms and even bigamy. Most spend a lot of time living abroad while making movies frowning upon the heathen western lifestyle. It has become a propaganda machine for Indian values and this false propaganda is perpetuated by those who do not believe or practice it.

Cinema is primarily entertainment and most of the Bollywood movies supposedly offer an escape for the masses. But it is also arrogant to assume that your audience is stupid and just wants to see song and dance sequences and the same story line over and over again. Most of the Bollywood movies bomb and these geniuses are still trying to figure out why. I hope since a movie about dyslexia was a hit, more movies covering other issues are made from time to time in Bollywood.