Gone are the days that Bollywood was known for its glitz and glamour. No, modern day Bollywood is very smart and knows that the millennials won’t buy the same cheesy romantic comedies or won’t appreciate the palaces that are slyly used as someone’s house. Today, the Hindi movie industry has learnt to understand the pulse of the audience that it needs to see a real mirror and not a shallow representation. So whether it is the small town boy-meets-girl story, the authentic locations, the costumes, the dynamics of a joint family or the occupations that they wish to portray, Bollywood is carefully choosing the elements that go in packaging a film. Whether it was Kajol playing a hairstylist in My Name is Khan (though not in a small town, and not in India) or Deepika Padukone playing an Art Restorer in Love Aaj Kal, the mainstream films have tried to show a diversity in the professions they choose.
Here is a list of occupations that Bollywood managed to put on the map beautifully:
- Letter Writer: When Shreyas Talpade playing Mahadev, an aspiring novel writer, in Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008) wrote and read letters for his village.
YouTube Screenshot: Welcome to Sajjanpur
- Tourist Guide: When Aamir Khan in Fanaa played a very amicable tourist guide who was a big time flirt and smooth talker.
YouTube Screenshot: Fanaa
3. Printer: Ayushmann Khurranna in Bareily Ki Barfi (2017) owns a printing shop that prints wedding cards and also does small errands like photocopy and colored printing for school kids.
YouTube Screenshot: Bareily ki Barfi
4. Salesman: And not just any salesman, Rajkummar Rao in Bareily ki Barfi (2017) works in a saree shop where he frequently drapes a sari over his shoulder to make a sale to his customers.
YouTube Screenshot: Bareily ki Barfi
5. Music Shop: Not the one that sells instruments, but the kind that helps to record your favorite songs on cassette tapes or your choice of movies on a tape for the VCR. Ayushmann Khurrana owns a similar shop in Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015).
YouTube Screenshot: Dum Laga Ke Haisha
6. Extra on a set: Nawazzudin Siddiqui played an unemployed and struggling actor, who finally gets a 2-minute role in a film.
YouTube Screenshot: Bombay Talkies
7. Cremation Ghat: Vicky Kaushal in Masaan (2015) played the small-town boy who conducts cremations and ensures that the funeral pyre is completely reduced to ashes.
YouTube Screenshot: Masaan
8. Election Observer: Rajkummar Rao plays a low-key election clerk in Newton (2017) who is sent to a naxal area to conduct fair elections.
YouTube Screenshot: Newton
9. Photographer: Vikrant Massey plays a small-town wedding photographer in Lipstick Under My Burkha.
YouTube Screenshot: Lipstick Under My Burkha
Also Read: Masaan to Ugly: 7 movies that have made India proud internationally
Which other professions do you think Bollywood should portray?
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