The irony of the Mumbai film industry is that the term Bollywood has finally been legitimised by finding a place in the dictionary, but considering all that goes on here shouldn't we be calling it 'Follywood' instead?
Casting couch, hypocrisy and a star system with overarching influence, it is all happening here.
The casting couch is no myth. It truly exists, though its relevance and sheer power have been magnified beyond all decency. A lot of starlets fall onto the 'couch' and get signed repeatedly by one producer or the other.
It's another day, another dream... Bollywood is filled with two kinds of people, the dreamers and the dream-busters. That's why when two films of such glaringly contrasting qualities as "Dev" and "Girlfriend" are released on the same day, we sit up and notice once again of the democratic graph of Indian cinema.
From communal conflict to alternate sexuality, wow! No wonder India is regarded as a paradise for all kinds of impulse, from the perverse to the sublime.
But when "Girlfriend" gets a better opening than "Dev", then the very foundation of aesthetics in our country gets shaken.
In the meanwhile, there's a Mallika Sherawat with the lucky 'M' in her name and a hit film "Murder" to her credit. The darling of the press before her blockbuster, shocking the world with her quotes ("I live like a nun. I sleep alone. I'm a virgin"), Mallika changed from Ms Outrageous to Greta Garbo on the day her film released.
Yes, she's unavailable to the press.
Mallika represents the most distorted and subverted face of stardom in Bollywood. Here everything that's titillating gets noticed. The cheesecake is cheesy, even mildewed, but the shock value attached to a self-styled rebel never fails to click.
Will wonders ever cease in Bollywood?
"They keep talking about wanting something different. But when something different and yet aesthetic comes along, the cynics trash the product," says Govind Nihalani, not too pleased with the way some critics have ripped his "Dev".
Like it or not, Karan Razdan and "Girlfriend" made the distributors happier than Govind Nihalani and "Dev". Mr Bachchan has competition. Will Isha Koppiker please stand up?
