Replication of Art: "Jai Ho"

Included in the Academy Award winning film “Slumdog Millionaire” was a dance scene based on contemporary style East Indian music and dance. This particular style, often seen in Bollywood films, has a unique history based on traditional performance customs as well as the incorporation of Westernized popular culture influences. This mixing of cultures has resulted in a distinctive and well-known performance style. The particular scene from this film involves a group dance routine to the Oscar winning song entitled “Jai Ho”, written in Hindi, by A.R Rahman. After its release, the song became widely admired worldwide and was very quickly copied and reproduced by others, based on their own interpretations.

Soon after its appearance in the film, the song “Jai Ho” was translated into English and remade by the group “The Pussycat Dolls”, who also took elements of the original dance routine and incorporated them into their video. This song quickly made it onto the pop charts in many countries. While the original song corresponds to the film for which it was specifically written, the adopted version done by the Pussycat Dolls works to appeal to a general, Western audience. Rather than incorporating the Indian cultural aspects upon which the film is centered around, the newer version of this video disregards these crucial features of the original and creates a highly sexualized mimic that is void of any real cultural elements. In his article regarding the mechanical reproduction of art, Benjamin argues that original pieces of art are linked to a unique history and contain an “aura” that cannot be replicated. He states that “the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition” (Benjamin, 1936). This is highly evident in the reproductions of “Jai Ho” which tend to diminish the sense of cultural heritage that is so prominent in the original piece. Not only are the associated images from the film taken away, but the costumes, as well as the music are changed in order to suit a different audience. What has made this constant cultural borrowing possible is the spread of mass media that has allowed cultures worldwide to be readily accessible to each other. According to Benjamin, this is a result of “the desire of contemporary masses to bring things “closer” spatially and humanly” (Benjamin, 1936) that encourages the technological advancements aimed at creating a global culture. Media outlets including live television, film, websites, instant messaging and so on, permit the sharing of ideas or practices, which is arguably geared towards “overcoming the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction” (Benjamin, 1936). Benjamin also states that through these processes of exchange, and the creation of something new, the irreplaceable aura of the art is reduced. The art is detached from tradition and ritual and its specific underlying value is ultimately diminished. Mass media has allowed a major change in the nature of art overall. Not only has it become more political, as stated by Benjamin, but it has also become geared towards a potential display for the world to view. It has essentially become difficult for art pieces to remain unique and original, tied to its foundations. This is evident from the number of reproductions of the “Jai Ho” videos, which end up taking on their own stylistic forms.