Im just saying

    Yesterday I found an old MTV International CD in my car.  A friend of mine went to live in Bulgaria for a while, and apparently Bulgarian Pop Music is just not a robust enough genre to warrant its own MTV station.  On the CD, which also included many American and British pop bands, a Spanish song, and some African techno, what really surprised me was the inclusion of two Indian songs, one an independent bhangra song and one an actual Bollywood song.  My friend told me that the Bollywood song (Dilbar Dilbar from the movie Sirf Tum) was actually so popular that he had grown accustomed to hearing it in random bars around the city.  This song, which was pretty popular,  was not a song I personally would expect to win over the hearts of many Eastern Europeaners.

    I guess I am still surprised by people who are not enamored with, or at least have a healthy appreciation, of Bollywood.  I mean, whatever the reasons are, whether you like the movies because you are actually just that romantic (sick), or you love to just sit back and three hours laughing at a usually over the top story line, or some other reason, most people I know at least "get it" in some way or another.  But every now and then I meet someone who just doesn't get it.  I used to have a very open mind about this.  Everyone has their own tastes right?  Maybe I'm using the term Bollywood to encompass too much, like a general rejection of Bollywood means a general rejection of most aspects of Indian culture, like bhangra, independent films, South Asian authors, etc. in general. 

    And while that may be a bit unfair, I also think it's a pretty gauge on a person's openness to Indian culture in general, even if it is an extreme way to gauge attitudes.In reality the truth is that movies that center around a simple story that centers around a simple truth, like you should be able to fall in love with who you want or you shouldn't judge people based on factors not within their control, told with as much color and theatrics as possible, with expected and extended breaks with reality to throw in a song and some dancing, does seems like a pretty good introduction to Indian culture.  I mean, India is the only country I've been to where EVERYONE I know has a mental registry of hundreds of songs that they can pull from, and often do, for any situation.  

    But more importantly, its basic formula has been appreciate around the world, literally.  My aunt was telling me that when she was studying in Russia in the 70s, the Russians would all ask her if she knew Indian movie stars.  A cute article by a Russian in America includes the following conversation the Russian author often has when attending Bollywood movies here:

Other person: Hi! Are you Indian? (despite the freckles and the red hair)
Me: No. *smile*
Other person: Is your husband Indian?
Me: No. I am a Russian and Bollywood movies are popular there.

    An article from the International Herald Tribunal talks about how no matter where you are in the world, from Malaysia to Japan to the Caribbean, people have jumped on the Bollywood wagon. My Persian friend's mother told me how she grew up watching Bollywood movies, and could sing multiple songs word for word without understanding a word of hindi.  The Afghani cab driver in San Diego who took my mom around had a healthy knowledge of Indian film too, even if he did also profess that most Bollwood actors were really Afghanis who had snuck into India and taken over the film industry.  When a co worker of mine was visiting the UAE, he mentioned to me that the "Casting Couch" video scandal was apparenrly not just headline news in India, but also across the Middle East.  

    But it's not just an openess to Bollywood either.  England's national food is Chicken Tikka Masala, and when I was in Tokyo last summer there was at least one Indian restaurant in about a 3 block radius, often more.  But with all good things come the ridiculous, and perhaps one of the most ridiculous things that seems to have won over the hearts of non Indians is Daler Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun" song.  While I had heard this song played at many grad parties (a phenomenon at least amongst the Richmond desis of throwing a huge party similar to a coming out party when your kid graduates from high school which are often over the top and also a lot of fun, at least for the first 20 you go to), I got the shock of my life when I visited the Rugby Road frats at UVA and heard it playing as a college freshman.  This song apparently didn't take over just frats across the country (I heard similar reports from Cornell, UF, Georgetown, Dartmouth, etc.), it has found fans across a wide range of groups.  But what makes this interesting is, unlike Punjabi MC which was remixed with rap and a legitimate Billboard top 20 hit here, this song really isn't a remix.  Below are some of the more amusing fans I've found.

5.  Holland Michingan's Christ in Youth Summer conference 2007- Because what better way to express your love for Christ than a large, hyper Punjabi guy?

OK I know I've already done a church group, but this other group uses the song as their Teen program promotional video, TNT- Teens Navigating Together, and it's hilarious (wait til the random guy comes on the screen):

4.  I know there are people who really get into Zombies, but Zombies and bhangra?  Hilarity ensues (once you get to the second minute).

 

3.  Random Americans at a school talent show (and even though they seem a little confused ont he difference between Arabs and Indian, they may actually be better than the original video)

 

 

2. In Warsaw Poland, the The AIESEC International Congress 2006.  

 

AIESEC seems to be a fan, and they have videos of random people around the world getting down to this song from Austria, Korea (and they actually even throw in a namaste for legitimacy), the UK and UAE (which looks scarily like some weird cult practice), and Hungary.

1.  And finally, World or Warcraft, because if people who spend most of their time in cyber-reality have gotten into this, it must have spread pretty far.

So yeah, it's taking over the world.  And of all the bhangra songs out there, i really really wish it was one I at least liked.

Below is the song with the English translation, and Dilbar Dilbar (discussed above).