The Desi in Pardes: Diaspora and Identity in Bollywood's Productions

Films in India are not just a source of entertainment, but a religion. Bollywood has such a hold on our lives that almost every little thing that goes on in our lives is inspired by it. When the girls dream of love, they want their love story to be a Raj-Simran love tale. When the boys dream of a life, they dream of Dil Chahta Hai or Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. These films influence our lives. The reason behind this influence is the sheer association we share with these movies. The directors pick up our dreams, our aspirations, our problems, our confusions, and put it in on the silver screen making them concrete. There is one such confusion, which a part of our society is struggling with; the immigrant status and the identity crisis that comes with it. In the past twenty years, Bollywood has come up with some fabulous movies which had focused on this crisis. This paper seeks to look into two such movies, Namastey London and English Vinglish. The paper focuses on the central characters and compares their struggle to carve their identities in a foreign land. The paper further analyses the confusion of cultural identities experienced by the characters of the film in a critical framework. "Mera Jootahai Japani, Yeh Patloon Englishtani SarPe Laal Topi Roosi Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" (Shree 420, 1955)