A Learning Experience... we hope

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about my hopes for Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, and how great it was that such major actors, a director, and the producers were making a film about the growing number of small town women in India who move to a big city, and because of the difficulties in getting an education and finding a job, often resort to prostitution.

I thought this film, which loosely means "a stain on character," would portray the hardships on these women, would openly talk about prostitution, and would also express how families and society perceive these women.

But no, the film included a trip to Europe (of course, Yash Raj Films produced it), songs and dances with the actresses singing about her new found love, and at the end, the female lead (the hooker) is "accepted" by the man she loves, whom she met for a couple of hours.

The film, which had so much going for it, failed-- both with critics and in the box office-- because it tried to fit into formulaic Bollywood cinema. If the film was bold and actually dealt with prostitution in a much more clear and distinctive fashion, without the melodrama and the lame love stories, the Yash Chopra camp would have had a clear winner in their hands.

Hopefully, they will learn!