'Insensitive' Bollywood film takes aim at AussiesYahoo!7 October 14, 2010, 7:10 pm Buzz up! Send
A Bollywood film depicting racial-related violence against an Indian living in Melbourne has been slammed as “insensitive” by critics in India.
The film, called Crook: It’s Good To Be Bad, was reportedly inspired by the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Victoria, and has been labeled as "venom that's spewed against Australians".
The movie is about an Indian who moves to Melbourne, a city depicted in the film as full of street violence between Australians and Indian students.
Local men are depicted as drunken louts, while women are portrayed as immoral, the Herald Sun reported.
"The film tries to pack in every sensational aspect of racism that is possible. There's a white woman who pole dances and sleeps with (the male lead) with equal fervour," a review in India Today said.
"Naturally she is blonde and has big you-know-whats. There is a Australian man, her brother, Russell, who goes around hitting and bullying Indians. There is no other word for it. It's terrible. More than that, it is badly directed."
"A country of ex-convicts. A country where they sleep with each other without marrying. A country where they don't take care of their families. Yes that's the sort of venom that's spewed against the Australians in Crook," another India Today reviewer wrote.
One reviewer on film website bollyspice.com said "Crook is far too insensitive a film".
Last year, a series of violent incidents involving Indian students in Melbourne received international attention, with tensions reaching a high point after students and cab drivers launched a protest in mid-2009.
Outlook magazine also issued a 10-page special titled: “Why Aussies Hate Us,” as part of intense Indian media coverage of the issue.
The idea for the film came from a visit to a convenience store in Melbourne, Director Mohit Suri said.
"As the news flashed 'Over 20 incidents of curry bashing have taken place in Sydney and Melbourne in the past 30 days', I found myself standing outside a 24-hour convenient store in the Sunshine district of Melbourne city in search of a story," he told an Indian entertainment website.
"Inside the very same store one of the most brutal racist attacks had taken place just a few months back. The events as told to me were horrifying, about how an Indian was brutally beaten up only because of his colour and religion."
However, an ad for accommodation made him realise there was racism in all societies, he said.
A Bollywood film depicting racial-related violence against an Indian living in Melbourne has been slammed as “insensitive” by critics in India.
The film, called Crook: It’s Good To Be Bad, was reportedly inspired by the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Victoria, and has been labeled as "venom that's spewed against Australians".
The movie is about an Indian who moves to Melbourne, a city depicted in the film as full of street violence between Australians and Indian students.
Local men are depicted as drunken louts, while women are portrayed as immoral, the Herald Sun reported.
"The film tries to pack in every sensational aspect of racism that is possible. There's a white woman who pole dances and sleeps with (the male lead) with equal fervour," a review in India Today said.
"Naturally she is blonde and has big you-know-whats. There is a Australian man, her brother, Russell, who goes around hitting and bullying Indians. There is no other word for it. It's terrible. More than that, it is badly directed."
"A country of ex-convicts. A country where they sleep with each other without marrying. A country where they don't take care of their families. Yes that's the sort of venom that's spewed against the Australians in Crook," another India Today reviewer wrote.
One reviewer on film website bollyspice.com said "Crook is far too insensitive a film".
Last year, a series of violent incidents involving Indian students in Melbourne received international attention, with tensions reaching a high point after students and cab drivers launched a protest in mid-2009.
Outlook magazine also issued a 10-page special titled: “Why Aussies Hate Us,” as part of intense Indian media coverage of the issue.
The idea for the film came from a visit to a convenience store in Melbourne, Director Mohit Suri said.
"As the news flashed 'Over 20 incidents of curry bashing have taken place in Sydney and Melbourne in the past 30 days', I found myself standing outside a 24-hour convenient store in the Sunshine district of Melbourne city in search of a story," he told an Indian entertainment website.
"Inside the very same store one of the most brutal racist attacks had taken place just a few months back. The events as told to me were horrifying, about how an Indian was brutally beaten up only because of his colour and religion."
However, an ad for accommodation made him realise there was racism in all societies, he said.
