From overly dramatic mothers to saccharine love stories, there’s a bunch of stereotypes in most Bollywood fares. Considering how important Holika Dahan is for burning all things evil, we drum up a list of filmy labels we want to burn…take a look:

Accented South Indian characters:

Just now Bollywood has been able to differentiate between the many communities of the South, but the makers are yet to work on the accent issue. Not every South Indian character speaks with an annoying accent. There are many, like yours truly, who can pack as much punch in Hindi as their mother tongue. Also, ‘aiyyayoo’ has to go. Right away.

Arm-candy heroine:

Even though many movies are accommodating women in meatier roles, there are many movies that portray women as mere arm-candies. They dance around the trees, offer maximum visual appeal and take a back-seat when the hero takes over the movie. Can this traditional feature go? Please!

The sidekick who helps the hero land his lady:

Countless number of desi films have this quintessential ‘dost’ character who’s a sidekick in every sense of the word. He takes punches for the hero, helps the lead get their love interest and mostly die or get injured in the course of the movie. Phew.

Mindless song-and-dance routine:

We are glad that recent releases are using more background numbers than random singing and dancing. But even a tightly scripted thriller in Bollywood breaks out into a mushy number. We might be all about gaana-bajaana, but there’s a way to introduce songs without steering the plot away from its trick.

Firang background dancers:

In the last decade or so, almost every other Hindi movie has a song sequence where a bunch of firang imports are gyrating suggestively. It’s said the white women have better figures are more willing to expose than their Indian counterparts. But what about the Indian youth? Won’t men and women consider foreigners to be easy?

Which stereotype would you like to burn today? Let us know!