Mania for Hindi films in Myanmar

By Lalit K. Jha

YANGON (MYANMAR), FEB. 28. They don't understand the language. But still the cinema houses are packed - this on a street near the Yangon Railway station with six cinema halls of which five run regular shows of popular Hindi movies, including `Dil to pagal hai', `Aarzoo', `Ghulam', `Baadshah' and `Teesra kaun'?.

These theatres are always packed to capacity with local Burmese and the large Chinese community. A recent Bollywood release, `Taal', after a houseful week, has moved to other cities. The talk of the town now is the latest blockbuster from India starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, `Phir bhi dil hai hindustani'.

``Fascination for the songs and the stunt action in these films attracts the people to the cinema halls,'' observed Mr. Kyaw Min Htun, Editor of The New Myanmar Journal, a Burmese weekly for the youth published from Yangon.

This fascination is evident not only in Yangon and other cities such as Mandalay - Burma's cultural capital - or the important hill station of Taunggyi, but also in the countryside and smaller towns. Yangon has over 30 cinema halls and over 50 per cent of them screen Bollywood films.

There is also a considerable build-up before the release of each film. Besides posters and paintings, cars move around blaring the film songs to announce the new arrival. Take, for instance, `Taal', which was publicised through its popular number, `Taal se taal mila....''

The craze for Hindi films here can be gauged from the fact that the distribution rights of this film for the entire country were reportedly sold at $10,000 - a relatively high amount by Burmese standards.

``Phir bhi dil hai hindustani'' has already caught the imagination of the Burmese youth. It is running to full house at various video halls in Yangon and other cities. ``Every day we are receiving requests for a re-run of this film,'' said a video hall operator in Mandalay, which has over 100 such halls.

``Any film that is released in India reaches here in less than a week,'' said the owner of a cinema hall in the hill resort Pyin Oo Lwin. Earlier, known as Myamyo, it was a favourite resting place for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It has two theatres, of which one regularly runs Hindi films.

Generally Hindi films run for a week but some go on for two weeks, the latest being the Shah Rukh-starrer ``Kuch kuch hota hai''. The same has been the case with ``Taal'' in some theatres.

By far the most popular actor is Shah Rukh Khan. His posters can be seen at a number of roadside shops along with other popular Indian stars.Among the other Hindi heroes popular here are Aamir Khan and Salmaan Khan, besides Ajay Devgan, Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar - again for their stunts. The popular heroines include Kajol, Aishwarya Rai and Mahima Choudhary.

``We like the stunt action, which is not generally seen in our films,'' says Mr. Thant Lwin Maung, a student.

Curiously enough, the Indian community seldom frequents cinema or video halls. Most prefer to see the films in their house.

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