What Bollywood taught me: Watch like an Egyptian

I was recently in Egypt on work, and as soon as I disembarked in Cairo I was asked by the tenth Egyptian I met, "India? Amitabh Bachchan?" I was a little flattered to think my female-vertically-challenged self was mistaken for Big B but then I remembered a friend had told me Amitabh was god there. It didn't help matter that I was actually there to interview him. Being accosted by strangers with the "Amitabh Bachchan?" question was bad enough, but people who knew I was in his media entourage really gave me a tough time with compliments. Just by virtue of knowing I was going to be in his vicinity I was called everything from Shakira to Cleopatra to Angelina Jolie (the surname always for Jolie) to Nefertiti (I basked in the attention I tell you, like a cat in languid sunshine).

Egypt loves Bollywood and this to me is as bizarre as Mumbai-loving Telugu cinema perhaps. Bollywood is Hindi and Hindi is not one of Egypt's 15 official or spoken languages even. However we are of the same sands, share values and are both developing countries that are trying for a better tomorrow. None of these reasons however plausibly explains why one of Amitabh's most loved films there is Mard. Now I haven't seen it but I am told it is by no measure a good film. As the saying goes: "Try, try, try again because you will succeed even if it's in some country thousands of miles away".

Also, sample this: I asked a girl why she liked Bollywood. She said, "Parampara" and I asked her what she meant by "parampara" and she said, "Shaadi"! The big bad Bollywood wedding has gone viral in the real world. (Also I think she got "parampara" from Mohabbatein's infamous "Parampara anushasan" monologue).

Not one person told me they loved the songs and the dances in Bollywood. I wish they had because it is such a nice answer. The answer to "Why do you love Bollywood?" was primarily Amitabh. His popularity in Egypt is second only to Omar Sharif. Tom Cruise if he were tanned would be asked if he was Indian, and yes, you know the next question, "Amitabh Bachchan?"

Now Bollywood to Egypt has expanded to Deepika Padukone and Aditya Roy Kapur. Aashiqui 2 is another much loved film there. Here's an actual Egyptian actually singing an actual Aashiqui 2 song that I haven't taught her (because I can't sing):

Moral of the story: You must visit Egypt because you'll be treated like a star there, thanks to Big B's reflected glory. So buy him a souvenir to say thanks.