« On the road again | Main | Olfactory Overload »
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
'Seret Hodi'
The title of this post is Hebrew for 'Indian Film'. Aside from the literal translation, 'Seret Hodi' is an expression that is often used in Israel to describe a situation that is fraught with confusion, exaggerated emotion and/or poor planning.
Obviously there is some not-so-subtle bigotry in the way the expression is used... much the way Americans toss around the phrase 'Chinese Fire Drill' to describe similar situations, without a thought to whom it might offend.
Anyway, unlike its American cousin, 'Seret Hodi's origin is a bit more accessible.
Any non-Indian who has ever seen an Indian Film has probably been struck by how impenetrable some of the plots twists are and how many of the roles seem to be over-acted to the extreme. This seems to be a hallmark of 'Bollywood' productions, and seeing as the Indian film industry dwarfs Hollywood's output by a significant margin, one can't really argue with success.
As a foreigner in India, I am constantly struck by the confusion of bright colors, random traffic patters and impenetrable bureaucracy I encounter here. But since it seems to make sense to the locals, I'm obviously the one with the problem... not them.
But I must say that one place that I love the confusion is in the local newspapers. Each city has literally dozens of newspapers that are published throughout the day. They contain a jumble of local and International news printed side-by side with entertainment gossip, fashion dish and sports intrigue.
There are actual sections for each kind of news... but so far as I can tell, the editors seldom respect their own internal organization guidelines. And best of all, each article, whether about an International news item or a Bollywood star's off-screen romantic betrayal, is given the same dead-serious treatment by the writers.
Oh, and Israel could take a lesson from these Indian papers. While Israeli newspapers make it seem that everything outside our borders is of secondary interest/importance... the Indian newspapers provide an amazingly well-proportioned reporting of local and world events and seem genuinely interested in what happens outside their borders... even if it doesn't directly affect them.
More later (maybe).
Posted by David Bogner on November 11, 2008 | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c581e53ef010535e44ebe970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Seret Hodi':
Comments
India fascinates me, never been.
Posted by: Jack | Nov 11, 2008 8:25:33 AM
Hmmm... You're right. We also never worry about Mongolian feelings when we use the phrase "Mongolian cluster f*&%".
Posted by: Albert | Nov 11, 2008 8:33:48 AM
When I worked in India for four months, I used to get so frustrated by the bureaucracy. Then I realised it was my fault! Us British exported it during the Raj, and the Indians perfected it and made it their own.
That aside, I loved being there. I had a wonderful holiday in Goa with friends and miss the cheerfulness of the local people. And the two most terrifying phrases in India are "No problem" and "One size fits all". TRUST NEITHER!
Posted by: noa@swissmail.org | Nov 11, 2008 8:48:47 AM
And of course, there is the song with called Seret Hodi.
Posted by: M | Nov 11, 2008 10:45:26 AM
I had never heard of the expression 'seret hodi' before; thanks for the lesson.
You're right. It is very hard for a non-Indian to appreciate an Indian film.
Posted by: Ilana-Davita | Nov 11, 2008 11:15:58 AM
Hi. Am an Indian working in Bombay and have been reading your posts for a couple of years now. As in every film industry (incuding Hollywood), the Indian film industry will also typically produce 8 bad films and 2 good ones. Most foreigners will, probably due to unfamiliarity with Indian cinema, invariably choose or end up seeing the bad ones. It would take a little more regularity of viewing or some basic knowledge of the Indian cinema to know which film is a must-see and which are avoidable. Perhaps, the consistent nomination of Indian films at the Oscars (in the foreign language category) is an indication of the quality of the cinema. In fact, when I was studying abroad, I was often pleasntly surpised by British, Greeks and even Central Asians coming and telling me about their favoutite Indian film or actor.
Posted by: sonal | Nov 11, 2008 9:16:58 PM
I love Indian films, especially the telenovela types.
I now also love the saying "seret hodi," and will be working it into vast numbers of conversations from here on out, along with "Chinese fire drill" (okay, but not really bad), "Jap-flaps," "Dr. Frankenfurter," "smart as a 3rd-chair trombonist," and "Mexican stand-off." Also "Eurotrash." Thank you.
;o/ !!!1!
(not really. probably.)
Posted by: Wry Mouth | Nov 12, 2008 10:03:13 AM
PS as regards your "twitter" comment, the logical answer is "No; not if it is YELLOW curry."
Posted by: Wry Mouth | Nov 12, 2008 10:04:29 AM
Sure sounds like most Russian-language newspapers to me!
Posted by: Irina | Nov 12, 2008 10:37:42 PM
Sure sounds like most Russian-language newspapers to me!
Posted by: Irina | Nov 12, 2008 10:38:46 PM
Jack... Well worth the fascination. you should go.
Albert ... Thanks [cleans orange juice off keyboard]
noa@swissmail.org... Good advice. Thanks.
M... Great song. Thanks, I had never seen the video.
Ilana-Davita... I have been making a concerted effort to watch Indian films on TV since I've been here but I am totally lost. They are fun to watch, though.
sonal... First off, I hope I don't offend you when I offer my impressions as a foreigner here. I love the culture and am enjoying myself very much. As I pointed out, Bollywood is much bigger and more prolific than Hollywood so the problem is clearly mine, not Bollywood's. :-)
Wry Mouth... Luckily I was always first or second chair. :-)
Irina... Could be. It all looks Greek to me. :-)
Posted by: treppenwitz | Nov 13, 2008 8:03:36 AM
No worries, David. Here's recommending a few Bollywood films that you might enjoy:
1. Chak De, India (based on a true story);
2. Swades (about an Indian scientist working in NASA with a burdened conscience);
3. Jab we met (a highly entertaining romantic comedy);
4. Dor (about two women linked by a tragedy that happens in distant Saudi Arabia);
5. Taare Zameen Pe (an entertaining movie about a struggling dyslexic child);
6. Lakshya (about the transformation of an irresponsible young man into an army officer);
7. Roja (about a couple that gets caught in the terrorism in Kashmir); and
8. Khuda ke liye (a must see film on terrorism. Although its a Pakistani movie, its one of the important films coming out of South Asia).
All of the above should be available on the net or on DVDs with subtitles. Have fun!
Posted by: sonal | Nov 13, 2008 9:45:55 PM
What about Taal, starring that cute woman? I like that one -- at least the first 45 minutes or so (probably about 10% of the film)...
Posted by: Wry Mouth | Nov 14, 2008 4:03:55 AM
Grouping Indian cinema under one bracket would be like grouping "movies with white people" together and calling French and German movies Hollywood productions. India is a very diverse country with each region having its own culture, traditions, cuisine, language and of course pop culture. Bollywood exclusively refers to hindi language movies produced by the Mumbai(formerly Bombay) based film industry. Bollywood is to India what Hollywood is to the world. That means its neither the only film Industry nor (depending on the metrics) necessarily the best one in India.
Further, like Hollywood, Bollywood churns out a WHOLE lot of movies each year. A, B, C,... Z grade movies with more of them falling in the lower half of the grading scale. Also, like hollywood, each genre of movie from Bollywood has its own target audience and as they say "One man's food is another man's poison". Some like the Avatar kind, some prefer The Black Swan and there are many who'd rather watch Euro Trip or Mean Girls. My perception of hollywood would differ based on which specific movies I was exposed to (and thts the same with bollywood too).
I don't know what kind of movies you prefer so I will not try recommending any. However, just to illustrate my point, I would suggest waching "Devdas (2002, Starring Bollywood superstars Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devdas_(2002_film))" and "Dev D (2009 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dev.D ) ". They are 2 of the interpretations of the same 1917 Novel Devdaas by Bengali Novelist Sarat Chandra. Both are fairly recent. I think the novel has been filmed around 8 times till date in different languages....
Posted by: ashwin | Feb 3, 2011 7:46:22 PM
