Salaam Bollywood by Bhawana Somaaya. Spantech & Lancer, Spantech House, Lagham Road, South Godstone, Surrey RH9 8HB, England.      e-mail address: books@spantech.demon.co.uk. 250 pages. UK£8.95; US$14.95.

            The name of Bhawana Somaaya brings back memories of Somayya Vidya (Shishu) Vihar, Ghatkopar, Mumbai née Bombay (not Jaya Bhaduri née Bachchan as printed on page 69 of the book, it should be née Bhaduri) where, to silence gossipy girls, professors used to seal their lips with tapes. Those professors became notorious for imposing what could be called a primitive form of censorship.

            Ms. Somaaya is evidently a staunch defender of another form of censorship, prevalent in ‘star magazines’ produced by film journalists. Call it self-censorship. She started her career as a film journalist under Rauf Ahmed who, in the latter part of his journalistic career, chose to become one himself. Before branching off to film journalism, he was a copy editor on the news desk of Free Press Journal, Bombay, one of India’s leading English dailies. Somaaya now edits g magazine and is a columnist for The Hindustan Times and The Hindu, two other leading English dailies of India. She is also the author of Amitabh Bachchan--The Legend and Take 55.

            It cannot be disputed that the title of Salaam Bollywood is inspired by the film, Salaam Bombay, produced and directed by Mira Nair. The word ‘salaam’ has its generic origin in Arabic. It is derived from either ‘Islam’ or ‘salam,’ each standing for a different shade of meaning of the word peace. Ms. Nair’s film, however, is not about peace but about violence. It portrays violence in Bombay, especially against women, who had the misfortune of ending up as sex slaves in that metropolis.

            I have no doubt in my mind that, for the story for her film, Ms. Nair helped herself generously to the material in my book, A Portrait of Bombay’s Underworld, and my article, with illustrations, published by The Times Weekly (which at the time was part of the Sunday edition of The Times of India) in 1970/71. Both discuss how innocent Nepali girls are sold into the sex market of Bombay. It may be stated as an aside that, in reaction to the article, some from the media of Katmandu, the capital of Nepal, called me the "Miss Mayo of India." The reference was to Katherine Mayo, whose 1927 book, Mother India, depicted India as a place known for ‘sati’ (the ancient practice in some parts of India of Hindu widows immolating themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands), cowdung, filth, untouchability and so on, and not for anything good. Mahatma Gandhi had called the book a gutter inspector’s report.

            My article, front-paged by The Times Weekly, had a picture taken by me of a Nepali teenage girl from one of the ‘cages’ of Foras Road, the red-light district of Bombay. The picture shows her breasts being proudly plucked out of her blouse by a pimp to point out a mark made on one of the breasts. Etching such indelible marks on the breast was the slave traders’ way of subjugating the kidnapped girls and making them submit to the brothel-goers without any resistance.

            It needs emphasizing that Ms. Nair appropriated the material for her movie without the knowledge or permission of me or my publisher. She did not bother to acknowledge her indebtedness to us either. Following in the footsteps of Nair, Somaaya does not care to mention that the title of Salaam Bollywood was inspired by Salaam Bombay.

            As for the book itself, I give her credit for producing a well-written book. Unfortunately, there isn’t much else that I can say about the book that will be complimentary. The concept that man is only his "face," that Bollywood is nothing but "stars," is insulting to even average readers' intelligence. Ms. Somaaya herself reveals the primitive conditions of Bollywood studios, the most deplorable being the lack of toilet facilities. Prospective interviewers have to wait indefinitely, with no facilities around to attend to the call of nature. They wait and wait, forgoing food and drink, until the movie stars choose to show up for the interviews they promised.

            In order to get the stars’ cooperation, film journalists practice what I said at the very outset, self-censorship. Producers, directors and professionals specialized in various areas of film-making do not seem to exist. Also, most of the films portray only heroes and heroines and their mutual love on- and off-camera. Villains and their victims, especially female victims, are of secondary importance. Rape scenes are very difficult to capture on camera, but one seldom sees a Bollywood film without them. Hitting, meaning violence, and getting hit are very important features that these films rarely leave out.

            And what about the financing of films? It has been officially documented that 70% of the financing comes from the underworld. No wonder the underworld dons are a source of inspiration for Bollywood heroes. Even an intelligent actor like Kamal Haasan has no qualms about playing the role of Varadaraj Mudaliar, who is allegedly an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, India’s most wanted underworld figure. It is said that Dawood Ibrahim is also a supporter of former Taliban ruler of Afghanistan, Mullah Omar, who himself is running for his dear life from American soldiers, and of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

            Regrettably, star magazines find producers, film directors, music directors, editors, singers and others with special skills, without whom no film can be completed, insignificant--the same way the film studios consider public toilets on the premises unnecessary. Attacks and extortions are facts of life and occupational hazards, not something to worry about. Visuals, sex appeal and ‘chamchas’ (sycophants) are important in the film world of Bombay.

            This is the impression one gets reading Somaaya’s book. Nothing new to Bollywood, but the average reader’s sensitivities are different from those of Bollywood insiders. The author is silent or has resorted to self-censorship on matters about Bollywood that deserve to be exposed.

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            Kulamarva Balakrishna is a journalist and a social activist. After spending years of his journalistic career in Bombay, first as a reporter on Free Press Journal, a daily, and then as editor of Hi, a fortnightly, he left India in the mid-seventies. Those who closely followed his career do know that he left India only physically. His heart has always been in India. The physical departure from the country took place when the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties, and made it impossible for her political opponents, intellectuals and independent-minded journalists to function freely. Many of them were sent to jail.

            After traveling around Europe for some time, Mr. Balakrishna finally decided to settle down in Austria, adopting that country as his second home. Lately, he has been spending his time equally between India and Austria.

            Though he is 68 years old and had a pancreatic operation three years ago (he has been taking insulin shots five times a day since then), he continues his activities with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager determined to come up in life. He sums up the goal of his activities as: Democratization, Demilitarization and Disarmament, especially in the Indian subcontinent.

            In pursuance of this goal, he plans to undertake a peace march from Bombay’s Mani Bhavan Museum, where Mahatma Gandhi had an office during his campaign for India’s independence, to Rajghat, New Delhi, where he was cremated after being assassinated by a Hindu fanatic. He is determined to travel the entire 950-mile distance on foot. At every stop on the way, he intends to hold prayer meetings, the same way Gandhi did, "to educate people on the importance of brotherliness, communal peace and harmony." He has sent out an appeal to "one and all" seeking "participation, cooperation and support of whatever kind." Let us wish him Godspeed in this noble enterprise.

            Kulamarva Balakrishna can be contacted by e-mail at: bala@inode.at. He can also be reached at the organization he founded a few years ago to conduct his humane work: International Centre for Social & Environmental Engineering, Hohlweggasse 28-1-4-12, A. 1030 Wien, Austria. Phone: 00431-79887161.

--M.P. Prabhakaran

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