Nostalgia Sunday – Indian Movie

July 10, 2011 - 9:53 PM by Rachel Neiman

There is very exciting news this week on the film front. A delegation of India’s top Bollywood leaders (here under the auspices of Project Interchange/ American Jewish Committee, in cooperation with AIJAC,) have arrived in Israel to explore joint ventures and scout location sites as well as participate in a panel at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.

You might think that Israelis view Indian cinema as a form of exotica but you would be wrong. Israelis are long-time lovers of Indian movies. In the the 60s, 70s and on through the 80s, a high percentage of the movies shown in Israeli cinemas were in Arabic,Turkish or Hindi – particularly in towns whose populations originated in the Middle East and India.

According to a 2005 article about Israeli fans of Bollywood from the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), “A majority of the [70,000] Indian Jews here are Bene Israelis, who hail from Maharashtra. Then there are the Cochin Jews, the Kutchi Jews, the Baghdadi Jews and the recently discovered Bene Menashe, Jews from Mizoram and Manipur in northeastern India, believed to be descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel.”

They are, the author says, “a community whose religion brought them to the Promised Land, but whose hearts still throb to Bollywood beats.”

To serve this audience, there are two Indian channels available today: one for movies, the other for soap operas. Its this sort of fare that inspired Pop star Dana International when she paid homage to the genre in her 2009 duet with Idan Yaniv, “Seret Hodi” (Indian Movie).

But my sentiments lie farther back in time, with girl group trio Shokolad, Menta, Mastik and their song-skit, “Seret Hodi Nehedar” (Wonderful Indian Movie). A take-off on the three hour-long viewing experience that runs the emotional gamut from comedy to tragedy and back again, the parody brings together all elements of Indian-influenced pop culture in the early 70s: star-crossed lovers, a domineering, knife-wielding father and the Fab Four.

Unfortunately, there are no clips of this silly ditty in a live performance but someone has kindly posted the music and lyrics. A translation follows…

Indian Movie
Lyrics: Dan Almagor
Music: Sasha Argov

Rajkapuri Bodo – A very good young man is he.
Rajkapuri Bodo – Lived he there in India.
He lived comfortably there by Calcutta.
Near Calcutta lives also Barbuta.

Hi there, Barbuta.
With your dress made of jute.
Loveliest girl in the village.
Hey there, Barbuta.
Big as a mammoth.
What a great Indian movie …

“Be mine, Barbuta.
If not, I will die.”
“And if you don’t die, eh?”
“Then I’ll leave Calcutta.”
That’s how it goes in an Indian movie.
They sing for three hours.

“Wait for me … Wait for me …!”
Here is the father, Maharishi Baba
What a cruel man

“I saw everything!”
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
“Well, go inside already.”

“Daddy, where’s Mummy?”
“Where, oh where is Raji?”
“Raji’s in Karachi”
“Karachi is far,
But I will go there.
Karachi is far,
But I will go there.”

Rajkapuri Bodo – A very good young man is he.
Rajkapuri Bodo – Lived he there in India.
There goes weeping Barbuta, her heart has gone kaput.
Yes, she’s crying a lot. Now this is an Indian movie.

Says the father,
Maharishi Baba,
“With my hand I will rub out–”
“Maharishi!”
“Hand me my sword–”
And I’ll show him, that nobody!”
“No Baba, no!”

“Be mine, Barbuta,
If not, I will die.”
“You want to die, huh?
“Father, really…”
“Well, shut up, you worthless thing.
You will not marry.”
(She faints).

“What happened to her?
“Look up…
A helicopter is coming this way”

Who is that anyway?
The beat beat Beatles.
Coming with a toga.
Here to do some yoga.

Here are John and Yoko.
Both a little kooky.
Maharishi Baba.
This is Paul and Ringo Starr.
(“Nice to meet you, nice to meet you”).

Well come on in everyone.
There will be a wedding in the village.
There will be a wedding in the village.
That’s how an Indian movie ends.
That’s how an Indian movie ends.
Indian movie.
Enough already.
That’s how it ends.

Just for kicks, here’s Shokolad Menta Mastik at their peak, performing at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest.