Guest guest Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 I spoke to the elusive blueblackeyes (Chumki) via IM earlier today, and -- with her permission, of course (and minus emoticons, if we sound a little flat) -- I'd like to share some of her rather astute comments: devi_bhakta: hi chumki, hope i didn't feel like i was harassing you by pressing you to elaborate on your bollywood comment? blueblackeyes: not at all, you would never do that devi_bhakta i was just interested to hear your opinion blueblackeyes: well, as i was telling my daughter, when we used to visit the different puja "pandals" we would almost always overhear someone say that the goddess's facial features were of a certain actress! devi_bhakta: i understand, i think -- maybe the central face of the Tridevi looks a little too much like Madhuri Dixit? *lol* blueblackeyes: yes! i am glad u understand what i was trying to say devi_bhakta: so you would say the Bollywood thing is just kind of a "lowbrow" way of approaching the portrayal of Devi? blueblackeyes: it's my personal feelings, that's all devi_bhakta: yes, i understood that. it's just interesting to hear an opinion from a serious person like yourself blueblackeyes: you are right about tightly clad sarees and garish colours etc in your last post, that's what i was trying to say! "bhakti" goes out the window when one sees that. people are busy comparing Hema Malini to Durga! devi_bhakta: *lol* and the male gods too -- starting to look like a lot like Schwartzenegger lately! blueblackeyes: *lol* well, others may enjoy the tight-fitting clothes, but i do not devi_bhakta: and you think this tridevi group picture falls pretty hard into that category, huh? blueblackeyes: yes i do. the face is totally wrong, and the outfit. just having four hands doesn't do anything. devi_bhakta: what don't you like about the face? blueblackeyes: it is a movie star face. in the Shakti sadhana homepage you can see the classical face and that's what i like. especially one of them in the bengali style devi_bhakta: but it can be hard to define that line , don't you think? between a classical face and a movie-star face? blueblackeyes: yes, it's all a personal thing. devi_bhakta: which is to say, you know it when you see it? blueblackeyes: yes, but my generation is old school devi_bhakta: old school is not a bad thing blueblackeyes: it may not be bad, no. but it may not be acceptable to some people. devi_bhakta: everything is changing very quickly today – so it's all the more important to ensure that we don't lose what's of value in the old way in rushing to adopt something new. that's why i pursued this thread. blueblackeyes: true, but that is not so easy. saying something and doing it is totally different. devi_bhakta: yes, that is true. (FINIS) , "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote: > Namaste Chumki, Satish, and Kalipadma: > > Satish asked: *** What does "bollywood treatment" mean? Can you > elaborate or give some examples? *** > > This is not my original idea or anything. Studies of popular Hindu > art commonly mention the influence of popular cinema upon the > imagination of popular devotional artists. I just checked > Blurton's "Hindu Art" survey last night, and he identifies -- in the > case of goddess portrayals -- clinging, tightly fitted saris (as > seen in Bollywood films), as opposed to the more natural and modest > draping usually seen in real life; garish colors and ornamentation > detail (as opposed to the more subdued and austere classical > portrayals); fairer complexions and less "ethnic" facial features > (as is common in Bollywood actors and actresses. The same applies to > male deities, who are nowadays gifted with increasingly "pumped- up" > action-hero physiques. > > Chumki wrote, *** What I am trying to say is that what I grew up > with is what you referred to as clasical sculptures.These deities > evoked emotions that today's movie star inspired images do not, at > least for me. *** > > I think that pretty much sums up the issue. > > Len notes, *** I recall Devi Bhakta wrote about when Hindu > devotional posters started portraying most of the deities with > European complexions. There was an English-language book published > on the topic in India -- what was the title and author? *** > > Yes, I'd posted a detailed book review from the Times of India, I > think, but I can't find it in the archives. If anyone recalls, and > can find it, I'd appreciate it. I did find a more recent posting > along the same lines, though, called "The Aesthetic of Indian > Calendar Art": > > /message/8177 > > *** is there some way we Westerners can purchase the book? *** > > India Club (http://www.indiaclub.com) -- based in New Jersey, USA - - > can generally find just about any Indian book you can imagine, if > you just ask, then give them a few weeks to search. This is a fairly > recent book, so perhaps it's even in stock. > > DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 27, 2004 Report Share Posted February 27, 2004 Maybe we will soon have a non-bollywood vaaraahi. I sent my friend home with a professional photographer to take the pic of the painting and hopefully within a week I will get a jpeg e-copy, which I hope would be posted here. Kochu Devi Bhakta <devi_bhakta wrote: I spoke to the elusive blueblackeyes (Chumki) via IM earlier today, and -- with her permission, of course (and minus emoticons, if we sound a little flat) -- I'd like to share some of her rather astute comments: devi_bhakta: hi chumki, hope i didn't feel like i was harassing you by pressing you to elaborate on your bollywood comment? blueblackeyes: not at all, you would never do that devi_bhakta i was just interested to hear your opinion blueblackeyes: well, as i was telling my daughter, when we used to visit the different puja "pandals" we would almost always overhear someone say that the goddess's facial features were of a certain actress! devi_bhakta: i understand, i think -- maybe the central face of the Tridevi looks a little too much like Madhuri Dixit? *lol* blueblackeyes: yes! i am glad u understand what i was trying to say devi_bhakta: so you would say the Bollywood thing is just kind of a "lowbrow" way of approaching the portrayal of Devi? blueblackeyes: it's my personal feelings, that's all devi_bhakta: yes, i understood that. it's just interesting to hear an opinion from a serious person like yourself blueblackeyes: you are right about tightly clad sarees and garish colours etc in your last post, that's what i was trying to say! "bhakti" goes out the window when one sees that. people are busy comparing Hema Malini to Durga! devi_bhakta: *lol* and the male gods too -- starting to look like a lot like Schwartzenegger lately! blueblackeyes: *lol* well, others may enjoy the tight-fitting clothes, but i do not devi_bhakta: and you think this tridevi group picture falls pretty hard into that category, huh? blueblackeyes: yes i do. the face is totally wrong, and the outfit. just having four hands doesn't do anything. devi_bhakta: what don't you like about the face? blueblackeyes: it is a movie star face. in the Shakti sadhana homepage you can see the classical face and that's what i like. especially one of them in the bengali style devi_bhakta: but it can be hard to define that line , don't you think? between a classical face and a movie-star face? blueblackeyes: yes, it's all a personal thing. devi_bhakta: which is to say, you know it when you see it? blueblackeyes: yes, but my generation is old school devi_bhakta: old school is not a bad thing blueblackeyes: it may not be bad, no. but it may not be acceptable to some people. devi_bhakta: everything is changing very quickly today – so it's all the more important to ensure that we don't lose what's of value in the old way in rushing to adopt something new. that's why i pursued this thread. blueblackeyes: true, but that is not so easy. saying something and doing it is totally different. devi_bhakta: yes, that is true. (FINIS) , "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote: > Namaste Chumki, Satish, and Kalipadma: > > Satish asked: *** What does "bollywood treatment" mean? Can you > elaborate or give some examples? *** > > This is not my original idea or anything. Studies of popular Hindu > art commonly mention the influence of popular cinema upon the > imagination of popular devotional artists. I just checked > Blurton's "Hindu Art" survey last night, and he identifies -- in the > case of goddess portrayals -- clinging, tightly fitted saris (as > seen in Bollywood films), as opposed to the more natural and modest > draping usually seen in real life; garish colors and ornamentation > detail (as opposed to the more subdued and austere classical > portrayals); fairer complexions and less "ethnic" facial features > (as is common in Bollywood actors and actresses. The same applies to > male deities, who are nowadays gifted with increasingly "pumped- up" > action-hero physiques. > > Chumki wrote, *** What I am trying to say is that what I grew up > with is what you referred to as clasical sculptures.These deities > evoked emotions that today's movie star inspired images do not, at > least for me. *** > > I think that pretty much sums up the issue. > > Len notes, *** I recall Devi Bhakta wrote about when Hindu > devotional posters started portraying most of the deities with > European complexions. There was an English-language book published > on the topic in India -- what was the title and author? *** > > Yes, I'd posted a detailed book review from the Times of India, I > think, but I can't find it in the archives. If anyone recalls, and > can find it, I'd appreciate it. I did find a more recent posting > along the same lines, though, called "The Aesthetic of Indian > Calendar Art": > > /message/8177 > > *** is there some way we Westerners can purchase the book? *** > > India Club (http://www.indiaclub.com) -- based in New Jersey, USA - - > can generally find just about any Indian book you can imagine, if > you just ask, then give them a few weeks to search. This is a fairly > recent book, so perhaps it's even in stock. > > DB / Get better spam protection with Mail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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