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I chose the recently released Bollywood Queen because it is a good example of how reviewers have to make explicit and implicit assumptions about their readers. Bollywood Queen is a cross cultural film which blends independent British making with the Bollywood style of film making. Already while writing this essay I’m making implicit assumptions that you the reader knows what independent British cinema and Bollywood cinema are. ...
Bollywood Queen is set in London’s East End. It is a reworking of West Side Story and before that Romeo and Juliet but with Bollywood songs and traditions. ...
Both reviews assume that their readers have seen Bollywood films before or at least know what they are like. Sight and Sound assumes that the reader knows what ‘indie grit and Bollywood flash’ mean. ... Film Reviewer assumes that the reader knows what ‘Bollywood’s potent traditions’ are which assumes that the reader has an understanding of Bollywood culture and so can make judgements. ... It clearly shows the reader that Bollywood films, which this movie is paying homage to, don’t usually have normal plots because they are just escapism for their audience. This idea is also explicitly assumed by the Sight and Sound reviewer when he says ‘an homage to Bollywood musicals, the film fails on both fronts’. ... They also assume that the reader will know what a ‘playback queen’ is and be able to make a decision about the film with that in mind.
The BBCi and Channel 4 contrast to the other reviews in their positive opinions of Bollywood Queen. Their comments include ‘bursting with energy and enthusiasm’ and ‘blending Bollywood tradition with modern London life to create a lightweight, fun romp’. ... Channel 4, especially, has experimented with combining the Bollywood and British cinematic traditions before with East and East and Second Generation which both deal with Asian culture in the UK. ... It implicitly assumes that the reader would have an understanding of Bollywood clichés, saying the film regurgitates them rather than celebrating them. ... But surely a film paying homage to Bollywood cinema would use the most popular scenario to make the homage explicit and not difficult for an unfamiliar audience to understand in an hour and a half?
The Sight and Sound review, written by Naman Ramachandran, seems suspiciously like prejudice against white filmmakers making a Bollywood movie. ‘Bollywood Queen started life as a short… it should have stayed one’. Sight and Sound very rarely praises a film, but his comments about recent Bollywood cinema make it seem as if he doesn’t think British film makers should be experimenting with this genre. ... The Sight and Sound review is more critical because it judges the film against other Indian films and the Bombay Dreams musical, which also uses Bollywood cinema as its inspiration.
Approximate Word count = 2283
Approximate Pages = 9.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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