Cliches revamped in Bollywood

Bollywood is almost synonymous with cliches and some have been existing right from the time Hindi films came into existence. It was in the silver era, in the 1980s that some of these cliches came alive on the big screen and the film industry was also booming at that time. While character artistes have paved way for ensemble casts today, villains have been transformed into grey characters. So here’s looking at a few cliches that no more exist in the new age Bollywood.

Maa
A Hindi film would be incomplete without an iconic character of the mother in the good old days. The famous dialogue ‘Mere paas maa hai’ justifies that. While a mother in the 80s would always be either grief stricken, blind, poor, widowed, clad in a white saree, on-screen mothers  today are more realistic, believable characters. Also they are no longer poor and the typical white saree to symbolise a widow doesn’t seem to exist anymore.

Thunder and lightening
The monsoons and the clouds played an integral part when any critical scene was being shot. The climax of most films would be shot with rains as the backdrop, when huge bolts of thunder and lightening were essential for effect. The loud, shrill background scores were also one of the most integral parts to add drama to a horror or thriller film.

Hero’s sister being raped
In most revenge films, the hero’s sister had to bear the brunt of her brother’s dare devil behaviour. Invariably, most films would see the pretty sister being raped by the villain and then the hero taking revenge. Or worse still, raping the sister and then killing his mother and finally getting killed by the hero.

Comic character
While earlier films were incomplete without at least one comic character, now with more films turning to ensemble casts, the onus lies on everyone. But back then, one comic character was always required to laugh and crack unnecessary jokes throughout the course of three hours.

Ramu Kaka
If there was a loyal servant in the film then his name just had to be Ramu Kaka. He could either be the family help, or the driver, the gardener or the caretaker of the house, but having a Ramu Kaka was essential to the script.

Evil family
In a love story, it was sort of a given that either of the families would be poor or against the match. The hero and heroine, deeply in love would run away to get married and encounter either of their family members on the way. It would either be a father-in-law, or an uncle who wants some property, the father, or the brother opposing the match. Try that in today’s times!

Villain
A quintessential villain was the cigarette smoking, filthy rich kid of a businessman, interested in the heroine, who does not reciprocate his feelings one bit. The hero is caught in between and ends up striking an enmity with the villain and thus ensues a never-ending battle to win the heroine’s heart.