Sridevi as Princess in Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja

Sridevi... really looks like a porcelain doll here. An incredible comic performance, lost in the haze of the film's disastrous box-office. There are several parts in the film that stand out for its comedic verve, action (the train scene), musical numbers... 

And this bit of cultural appropriation. And I'm going to straight up pilfer from my favourite YouTuber and deep diver, writer, Lindsay Ellis, who wrote, and I quote, "And yeah, this, this is a form of cultural appropriation... The fact that cultural appropriation is in theory a neutral term leads to a lot of false equivalencies, i.e. why is this form of cultural appropriation okay, but Gwen Stefani dressing as a sexy warrior is not okay. Well, it's a complex issue and there is a lot of intersection over race and class and gender, but here is a general rule of thumb: if it is a culture that was historically exploited by colonialism appropriating a historically colonizing culture, no harm, no foul. No one gets mad at Mexico for appropriating elements of German culture.... If it is a historically colonialist culture appropriating a culture that was exploited by colonialism, then people start to get a little cranky. Obviously there are intersections and complexities, but for simplicity's sake I'll leave it there for now. But I think most people would agree that unlike something like Pocahontas or even Slumdog Millionaire, a movie which pretty much every Indian I've ever talked to is not a fan of, this kind of cultural appropriation is basically harmless. This is what I mean by cultural appropriation being a neutral term. Not all cultural appropriation is created equal."

The character (one of several in Roop ki Rani Choron Ka Raja), Sridevi plays in the scene to steal the priceless artefact, while competing with fellow thief essayed by Anil Kapoor, is not in any way or measure making fun of or deriding anyone, any country, culture or its people. As royalty, in the most exquisite, painstakingly created makeup look created by the magician that is Mickey Contractor, Sridevi got the style, exquisite and expensive wardrobe (Neeta Lulla styled), mannerisms, tone and that cheeky giggle right, done to perfection for the sake of a genuinely funny scene. Comparing it to Mickey Rooney's Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's is a stretch, inaccurate and wildly out of place as intention is key here. No one had an agenda to punch down to the people of "Cheenchpokli," an entirely fictional state and, in the fictional Bollywooden realm of musical fantasy. No harm, no foul. 

All comedy is subjective and we've got to look back at the early 90s for what it was, pre-woke, pre self reflection and pre snowflake trigger response of getting offended at the drop of a hat. When the film was orignally released, no one was crying foul over the depiction of anyone in the movie - mostly because the film tanked and barely ran at the box-office. People couldn't be offended by things they didn't see! However, having found new lease in life on OTT platform, upon rewatch, some snowflakes have found just about everything in the film offensive. A trigger response with little thought or genuine empathy to a makeshift cause. We can't all weaponise our feelings and vomit it out on Twitter when the engagement online is low.... 

Take several seats. To quote Wendy Williams.