The Bollywood has earned a name for itself for standing up for various causes. There are actors like Dia Mirza who have made (reinvigorated) their respective careers by taking up causes. Anurag Kashyap is another case in point who is trying to gain publicity through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Of course, the Bollywood only takes up causes which either suits their agenda or makes their pocket heavy. If that wasn’t the case, why does the liberal Bollywood not sign a single star from the Northeastern states of India?
India’s Northeast was perennially ignored by successive governments mainly because of their lack of political significance. The Indian National Congress continued to ignore the region despite the region electing successive Congress or Congress-backed governments.
The Modi-led BJP changed the status quo by sweeping the carpet from the INC and brought the region to the forefront as the Modi government increasingly focused to stabilise and develop the region. However, the Bollywood doesn’t find it worth their while to take up the cause of Northeast because neither it fits their agenda nor does it guarantee a fat pay check.
Case in point being Priyanka Chopra, a Punjabi, depicting Mary Kom in what was a cringe-worthy performance. Is there a dearth of acting talent in the Northeast? Certainly not. It is just that the Bollywood fails to recognise the region’s talent.
The biggest excuse that the Bollywood finds to not promote the region’s talent is the supposed language barrier. Language barrier is nothing but a myth, case in point being Katrina Kaif who became a film star in Bollywood without knowing any Hindi initially, and dubbing all her way through many of her films. More recently, Nora Fatehi, a Moroccan, has made her way through Bollywood by bagging lucrative projects like Batla House and Street Dancer 3.
Contemporary Bollywood is so deeply embroiled in activism – with the likes of Anurag Kashyaps and Zoya Akhtars of the world being the best examples, and surprisingly even the Aamir Khans of the world are yet to have done nothing for the youth of the Northeast.
People with mongoloid features from the Northeast of India, are confused as Chinese or Japanese people in India, often with no intent to discriminate or be racist, but instances of racism against them have been a topic of discussion in India for decades.
One brilliant way to promote awareness and acceptance for Northeastern people is by promoting them in Bollywood, but that has still not happened till date. Adil Hussain, Dipannita Sharma and Patralekha are carrying the region’s torch in the industry but have almost never got any lead role till date and let’s face it, Patralekha is known more for being Rajkummar Rao’s better half rather than being an actor par excellence.
There is no dearth of talent in the Northeast. Good looking, edgy and talented youths are just waiting for the exposure that they deserve. From musicians to models and other artists, the list is long but the exposure is lacking.
The advent of OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5 to name a few have ushered in an era of new-age shows, which intend to be intellectually stimulating, and which involve a mix of Hindi and English, and cater to a young and educated audience. Many OTT platforms are excessively focusing on regional content and the Indian audience is hungry for such content.
The Bollywood can’t make an excuse that no one will consume content which involves a Northeastern talent or focuses on the region. OTT platforms are acquiring Korean dramas because there’s a huge craze for Korean dramas in India. Surely, the Indian audience has appetite for a Northeastern talent.