Cinema, or we can say movies, are not just a part of our lives but also our reflection in the society. Cinema (movies) and society are the reflection of each other, as well as interdependent on each other. Cinema takes inspiration from real life societal events.  Each movie is somehow reflecting the societal event of the society that takes place in our everyday life.

Bollywood has been a crucial part of our lives since our childhood. We have been growing up while watching them till today, it’s a global platform for India, which gets most of the recognition from all over the world; they have made several blockbusters. They have shown almost every culture, religion, region and language, but somehow they could not show our Northeast in their movies the way it is, and it’s not just about the Northeast, they have stereotypical portrayals of every culture in their mind, and they show that through their cinema on a global platform, which shows their lack of research and ignorance. Whether it’s South Indian culture or Northeast. 

Today, we are specifically going to talk about the northeast and its potrayal in Bollywood cinema. 

Bollywood hasn’t really shown interest in most of their films about northeast , and when they show it, it’s completely ignored, it’s totally different from what it is actually like, focusing on the violence or how the people look like, based on some fixed stereotype, which are not even true; their real life, culture, and experiences are rarely shown, especially in the earlier times. The people didn’t even know about the Northeast that exists in India. People from the Northeast are still considered outsiders and often called Korean or Chinese, but earlier, it was even worse. I’m not talking about the 90s or any other time—I’m talking about the time after 2000. People didn’t even know that Assam is a state and Guwahati is a city.

In my podcast, the portrayal of the Northeast in Bollywood, speakers and guests like Mrinal Deka, Parthajit Baruah, and Utpal Borpujari, who are filmmakers and film critics, have shared their opinions on these topics that their work shows what Bollywood is missing out on about the region; films like "Anek," which was about the Northeast, talk about political conflict, discrimination, and identity. 

It doesn’t go deep into the historical, ethnic, and sociopolitical diversity of the Northeast. It was very disappointing when they were showing the region as a single place, which is not wrong. Yes, I noticed it is considered a single identity, but with different cultures in different states, it really consists of eight different states with different distinct cultures. Despite their good intentions, whether I call it a lack of research or something else, some scenes fall into the stereotypical portrayals, like repeatedly showing violence, insurgency, and conflict. But in reality, it’s not only about that.

Everyday life, joy and culture of people were missing in these movies what they are forgetting about— what real Northeast actually is.

Films like "Jagga Jasoos" show a Bihu dance in their film, which is a traditional Assamese dance. But it was shown like it’s from Manipur. It’s a major cultural inaccuracy. It shows a lack of proper research and understanding of our Northeast diversity. In the movie “Axone,”which focuses on Nepali-speaking characters, especially the girl Upasana, who is portrayed as Nepali from the northeast, here is the issue: Axone(the fermented soybean dish) is from the Naga community, mostly associated with Nagaland and some parts of Manipur. However, in the film, the main character was Nepali, which gives the people the impression that it’s Nepal’s food culture, which is not, and the problem is because of this thing, it confuses two different ethnic and cultural identities, Nepali and Naga, both of which have their own languages, customs, and food. Again, their lack of research showed something which was not true. 

I also had people in my podcast who told me the same thing: from the audience’s point of view, the Northeast is a part of India, but still today it is not shown in the films what it actually is. It really hurts the sentiments of the people that they are still not considered a part of India today because of their thinking and lack of research even after having the internet sources shows that they still have not accepted the Northeast as a part of India, and it’s not about acceptance because the Northeast is a part of India. It’s their own stereotypical thinking. It is not the people; it is the place that leads to such misinterpretations.

The stereotypes shown in Bollywood about the Northeast are not actually from those places, but they come from the minds of the people who make these films and assume that they are doing something good. It’s not a part of people who are stereotypical. It’s the way they look at the problem; it’s in their limited thinking, which they still could not develop, not in the culture. It’s just that they showed it like that based on their own perspective, not the truth. Even in the era of the internet, they can make these types of mistakes.