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Chronicle Of Clichés

A couple of days ago, I ran across this funny little piece & just had to share it– What we learn from the movies.
An excerpt:
-- It is always possible to park directly in front of any building you are visiting.
-- A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.
-- If you start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
And so on. It also got me thinking how many equivalent clichés would I be able to find in India Cinema, which to some people is like the mother lode of all clichés & stereotypes? So far here is a small list I’ve been ale to come up with. Of course it goes without saying that this is by no means a comprehensive guide, just something I could make up off the top of my head; I’m sure that others would be able to come up with better. This list is also not exclusive to just one language, having watched movies in not less than 4 Indian languages, I can assure you that almost all transcend boundaries of language. They are sprinkled in various degrees and forms throughout the history of cinema.

Answer to the Ultimate Questions of Life, Love, and Everything Else
-according to Indian Cinema: (forgive me for mangling a classic quote)
  • The poor little rich guy/gal always falls in love with the really poor guy/gal. Why? because apart from our hero or heroine, every other rich person in the movie is an ass, that’s why.
  • The best friend is always in love with the hero/heroine. The above holds true even if they don’t end up together.
  • The hero will never use weapons he could’ve got easily, he will discard them for hand to hand combat. Either that or he will run out of ammunition anyway.
  • The heroine’s dupatta/scarf/sometimes even the girl herself will always land on the hero, when knocked off by the wind/bad guys.
  • The hero/heroine will always choose family over love and by the end of the movie, of course will be rewarded for it.
  • Songs can interrupt the story at any time for any reason. Never mind that the grandmother is dead in the next room, we could always use a song.
  • No matter how bad the bullet wound is, the person will always survive to mumble a few words or till the hero arrives.
  • Poor people are always good and kind while their rich counterparts are always heartless, unless of course there are no poor in the film. Then the rich can be good.
  • Even though the majority of these clichés have appeared in countless movies so far, everyone in the film will pretend as if this an entirely new experience for them (don’t they watch movies in the movies? lol). This can be seen from the fact that the hero will never think to protect his family from being kidnapped and held to ransom or thoroughly investigate the guy in love with his sister.
Can you think of some others? Leave 'em in the comments.
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