Lights. Camera. Action. Cue colorful song and dance.
The Hall Council of Gray College in Mendelsohn Quad held their second Bollywood Night Thursday, offering South Asian cuisine and showcasing a classic Bollywood movie.
After the movie the Hall Council raffled off a gift card to the Curry Club, who also catered the event. During the night attendees received temporary henna tattoos in designs of their choice.
Bollywood Night is meant to spread “cultural awareness, because not a lot of people know what Bollywood is,” said Melissa Nuruzzaman, president of Gray College Hall Council. “Bollywood night is a place where you can interact and talk about South Asian culture.”
In light of “Slumdog Millionaire” winning four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, the Western world has become more exposed to Bollywood and South Asian cinema. Shah Rukh Khan, an actor in South Asian cinema known as the “King of Bollywood,” spoke at the 66th annual Golden Globes Awards, signaling a merge of Bollywood and Hollywood. “Movies like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Bride and Prejudice’ and the newest ‘Pink Panther’ movie are slowly merging the two industries together,” said Nuruzzaman. “It’s a South Asian thing, it’s not just India. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, they all love Bollywood.”
The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry especially reserved for the phrase “Bollywood,” which is described as “the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry” and lists the populations of the various Asian countries above as the fan base of Bollywood movies.
It’s a melodrama musicale. South Asians don’t refer to Bollywood films as musicals, but music is an integral part of every movie.
“The song of a Bollywood movie is the emotion, tenfold,” said Nuruzzaman. “If they’re falling in love, bam, they’re in the Alps, expressing that love.”
“Bride and Prejudice,” an English movie with Bollywood actors and actresses that was released in the United States in 2006, showcased songs with scenes shot in various locations around the world.
Bollywood Night is the latest cultural element in a rush of South Asian festivities that have hit Stony Brook this semester. On Mar. 11, South Asian students celebrated the holiday Holi, the Festival of Colors.
Hindus believe that Prahlad, a devotee of the god Vishnu, was carried into a bonfire by a demoness named Holika, and escaped unharmed because of his belief and devotion.
Holi is usually celebrated with a free-for-all of color, where people throw bright colored powder at each other.
“In India there is a bonfire the night before you play with the colors,” said Meenakshi Srivastava, a senior at Stony Brook University. “In the morning everyone plays with colors, they eat sweets. Whether you’re Muslim, Hindu, Christian, everyone comes together to play in this festival, to enjoy it.”
“Theres a phrase ‘Don’t mind, it’s Holi!’ you can color anyone and no one will be upset,” said Srivastava.
