Country Western fails

Indian talent wins Oscars. So why does Hollywood still see us through the same old clichés when it tells Asian stories?

- Arshia Dhar

Dev Patel isn't White. But the UK-born actor's directorial debut (inset) Monkey Man, still ends up looking like the India that only exists on screen. Even in The Darjeeling Limited (below), the whole country is reduced to a backdrop for theraputic effect.

What does India look like inside a White man's head? A land of tired tropes: Sleepy small towns that hide murderous, incestuous secrets; a spunky village belle; sloppy cops; a gruff tapori; general lawlessness and that one earworm of a bhangra tune. Dev Patel isn't White. But the UK-born actor's directorial debut, Monkey Man, still ends up looking like the India that only exists on screen.