Welcome to Bollywood, where films are often repeatedly served with a generous side of Clich and stereotype. If you have ever seen a Hindi film and thought, “Wait a minute, every Bihari drinks not the same, every Punjabi whiskey, and every Goan drinks a guitar?” Congratulations, you have just unlocked Bollywood’s favorite travel package: the same state, separate film.

In the next few minutes, I will show you how Bollywood is always wrong. So Baksua, here is a step-by-step guide to make every mainstream Bollywood film about a state.

Stop 1: 1968 – Enter Master Pillai

The year 1968. Saira Banu moved to a new house in ‘Padosan’. Twist? Not his hand, Sunil Dutt, the neighbor of the hand, falls in love with him. A desi ‘Big Bang Theory’ looks like a set-up, isn’t it? But our story is not about Bindu (Saira’s character). It is about Master Pillai, which is played by Mehmood, who is a South Indian music teacher, in which dark skin, exaggerated accents and endless “Ayyo Ayyo“Gags.

The audience then laughed back, but today Pillai stands as one of the initial examples of Bollywood’s geography problem, flattening the entire communities in humor relief. Gag acted in 1968, but its shadow has become very long.

Stop 2: Bihar – Paan, Guns, and Hrithik Roshan’s pronunciation

In some decades, fast forward. When Bollywood shows Bihar, subtlety is usually left at the door.

Take ‘Super 30’ (2019), where Hrithik Roshan played the role of mathematician Anand Kumar, like “like” like “The king’s beta will be the king Nahi“(If the king’s son would not be the king) It was so forced to pronounce that it is talking, looking at the story.

Earlier, Ajay Devgan was announced by ‘Apharan’ (2005), “This is Bihar, Babu, Yahan System Kuch and Hi“(This is Bihar sir, the system here is somthinah), such as the only identity of the unrighteous state. Prakash Jha’s ‘Gangajal’ (2003) bowed to similar trops: Pan-Dag villain, rustic police and an endless cycle of crime.

For Bollywood, Bihar is a shorthand for poverty, corruption, and a dialect.

Stop 3: Punjab – Mustard Fields and Whiskey Shots

Now let’s go north. If Bihar is depicted as a gritty, Punjab Bollywood comfort zone, green fields, loud weddings and characters who speak.

When we remember Kareena Kapoor’s Geet in ‘Met’? ,Mainly your favorite hoon“(I am my favorite) cement bubbly Punjabi Kudi Arctype.Abhi Rahai has to put a picture?“, Who finally dared to show a deep truth about drug abuse, but the” Happy Punjab “faced political outrage to break the template.

And of course, ‘Dilwale Dulhiyaya Le Jaygate’ (1995), where Amrish Puri Ki ‘Ja Simran, live your life“(Go Simran Go, Live Your Life) played, you guess, mustard fields. Decades later, ‘Good News’ and ‘Jug Jug Jio’ are still doubled on Bhangra Beats, Whiskey Shots and Bale-Bale Humor.

For Bollywood, Punjab is not a state. This is a set piece.

Stop 4: Goa – Beach, Boz, and Band

If you feel that Bollywood can redeem yourself in the West, then think again. Goa is either the capital of the Bollywood party or drug hasn.

Shah Rukh Khan was a staunch Goan Catholic boy in a band in ‘Kabi Han Kabi Na’ (1994). By the time ‘Malang’ (2020) rolled, Goa was reduced to EDM, drugs and the secrets of murder.

The Goa of Bollywood is either heaven or a paraderedation, but always a tourist brochure, never a real thing.

Stop 5: Bengal – Rosogola and Stereotypes Sophistication

Bollywood often does not travel to Bengal, but when it happens, Clich flows. In ‘Rocky and Rani Keem Prem Kahani’ (2023), Alia Bhatt’s Bengali family was defined by Rabindra Music, RosogolaAnd intellectual wind.

From ‘Parineta’ (2005) to ‘Kahani’ (2012), Bengal has been painted as culturally rich, but also boxing in saris-thorns Nostalgia or Bayamkesh-Esk Mystery. Rarely we look at dirty, modern Kolkata which is beyond Howrah Bridge Shots.

Stop 6: South India – Lungi Dance from Pillai

Back to the south, where a slightly changed since ‘Padosan’. Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Chennai Express’ (2013) converted Tamil culture into a running gag, “Ana da Raskala“(Scraper head) jokes (a line is actually used in Tamil really).

‘2 States’ (2014) gave us Alia Bhatt’s Tamil father as strict patriarchy with filter coffee passion. Netflix’s ‘Meenakshi Sundareshwar’ (2021) threw it into lines like “Rajinikanth our God” for cheap cultural shorthand. And don’t forget ‘Lungi Dance’ (2013), Rajinikanth was marked as a tribute but reducing it Lungi For a comedy prop. How can we forget the latest addition of the list, ‘Param Sundari’, and a Malayali’s caricated depiction of Janhvi, now when he calls the northern stereotyping south, the irony still lies in the way he gave his dialogue.

From Mahmud’s Pillai to Deepika and SRK LungisCaricature has been updated only to new audiences.

Stop 7: The Northeast – Bollywood Blind Spot

For years, the Northeast was the largest blind place of Bollywood. When it appeared, it was often foreign. ‘rock on!! 2 ‘(2016) used Shillong as a background, but gave a small agency to the Northeast characters.

However, Shah Rukh’s ‘Jawan’ (2023) Arunachal actor Sangay Tseltrim’s casting progress, felt like the child’s footsteps, but still steps.

Why does Bollywood do this

So why Bollywood keeps falling back on lazy geography, with all its budgets and research access? Simple: Clich is convenient. They provide immediate recognition.

But in the era of Netflix, Youtube Vlogs, and Pan-India blockbusters, the audience know better. He has seen real Punjab on reel, real Kerala on Instagram, Real Shillong on Travel Blogs. Forced stereotypes now stick out like a bad wig.

As producer and film expert Girish Johar told Indiatoday.in, “The audience has developed. They are watching world cinema on the palm of their hand. If the representation feels forced, they reject it. If it is authentic, they resonate with it.”

When films get the right

And some are in films. Kiran Rao’s Oscar-Nominated ‘Missing Ladies’ (2023) saved his rural setting in soil knowledge and saved it from the “Bhole Rural” net. The author of the film Sneha Desai explained, “This idea was to be in his shoes and imagine what I would do in this situation. Once you reduce my knowledge, social awareness and knowledge of technology, what residue is the logic and analytics of the ground level. I moved forward with it”.

Ahead road

Bollywood has always been greater than life, but its lazy geography is thin. Not every state can be reduced to punchline or postcard. India is very large, very diverse, is very complex to be squeezed into a paan-dag smile or mustard area.

So next time a character shouts “Hor uncle, Twanu Samaj Ni Ara, Mai Pyaar Karta C Twadi Kudi Nal“(Uncle you can’t understand, I love your daughter?) Or takes out a dictionary that shouts”ESI left dictionary brought from Kahan“(Where do you get this ridiculous dictionary), maybe we should ask: is it representation, or just repetition?

Because Bollywood may still get stuck in the 60s. But its audience? They have moved forward.