All the Coldplay fans rejoiced when the band announced that their next video will be based in India. And the much-anticipated video was released on January 25. But as soon as people watched the video for “Hymn For The Weekend,” disappointment followed. It’s not the music or the lyrics, but the way the band chose to portray India. It’s just a summarized and edited snippet from “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Peacocks? Holi? Slums?
The video for “Hymn For the Weekend” opens with a shot of a beautiful white peacock. Ten seconds into the video, and you know that this is the same old saga with the same old pattern. You see temples, kids dressed as Lord Shiva, the same typical Holi colors, and too-happy-to-be-true slum children. It is basically a summary of “Slumdog Millionaire,” Iggy Azalea’s “Bounce,” and Diplo’s “Lean On” rolled into one. There are fireworks, typical brown people in a more typical frame, and the same old saga of the high on spirit, low on economy country.
Guess what, West. India has grown. Yes, the country is not as uber cool as America, but it’s not the 1970s, either. India is not the same land of snake charmers anymore. The country surely celebrates and the country still dances on streets, but that is not what exclusively encapsulates this country.
The India depicted in “Hymn For The Weekend” is not the real India. It is multi-faceted, and the two ends that comprise it are literally the extremes. The Indian Film Industry is one of the richest film industries in the world. There are huge studios, big production houses, and glossy posters unlike the video tries to depict. Neither do the theaters look like the ones shown in the Coldplay video, nor do the actresses look like Beyoncé. There are sadhus, but not everyone is involved in the age-old rope trick. If you want to stick to stereotypes, at least develop some new ones. The fandom should be a legitimate one.
Coldplay ’s video is culturally incomplete and technically wrong
Coldplay video is like an incomplete picture. This is not something they are doing for the first time. The band has been particularly known for repetitive cultural appropriation and misrepresentation. Coldplay’s 2011 video for “Princess of China” is a perfect example of this. They went a step further by conflicting Chinese and Japanese cultures.
The worst part about the “Hymn For The Weekend” video is the way they used Sonam Kapoor, an actual Bollywood actress, whose appearance comes off as trolling someone on purpose. You can bet that you will need to watch the video at least twice to catch her glimpse, and be sure you do not blink. In a video about India, why isn’t a Bollywood actress given as much space as Beyoncé? Also, you cannot show Kathakali and North Indian dances together. They are classical, but they are as different as Samba and Pasodoble. The video is disrespectful in a lot of places. The West needs to understand that there is more to India. It’s not all about the place where you come to visit the Himalayas and the desert and gain spirituality. The country has a range that is beyond encapsulation, so make wise choices. “Hymn For the Weekend” is more like a lesson of what not to do the next time you make a video on India.
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