Description of the movie, plot, characters, why you chose this, how is it appropriate for

cultural analysis

Description of the movie and plot

English Vinglish is one beautifully woven simple movie which everyone can identify
themselves with. The protagonist of English Vinglish is Mrs. Shashi Godvale, a typical
homemaker from an upper middle-class family whose life is focused on carrying out the
typical household chores. She began a small company preparing laddoos in the homely
setting while still maintaining her passion for cooking. Throughout the movie, she never gets
recognition from her daughter, who is ashamed of her mother's poor English language and
speaking skills, or her husband, who seems apathetic. Because she seems distant from her
husband, she builds a stronger bond with her young son and her loving mother-in-law. Later,
she unexpectedly finds herself in New York for her older niece's wedding and then later
enrolls in an English tutoring programme to master her language skills with the money she
had earned from her laddoo business. For Shashi, learning a new language is symbolic of a
key to regain her long lost confidence and self-esteem. Although Shashi's family joins her in
New York earlier than planned, to surprise her, Shashi tries to continue attending class but
decides to quit because of scheduling conflicts. The movie clearly highlights how the main
character back at home, was not considered as a human being in her own house, nobody
bothers about her feelings, everybody is just interested in getting their own things done, but
once she moves to America and finds herself her own family has to recognize her talent-
highlighting core morals of loving yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone.

Characters

Shashi Godbole who is the main character of the movie, gaining the most attention.
Shashi is a dedicated mother and gifted cook. Her laddoos earn raves and she even runs a
small catering business, but her family treats her like a servant.
Satish Godbole who is Shashi’s wife is a successful businessman. Although he is a
loving husband, we cannot be too sure to say that he is a loving husband. He never
acknowledges Shashi at all, he only criticizes and makes bad remarks about her.
Sapna Godbole as Shishi’s daughter is a rebel who never treats her mother with respect.
In the movie it is seen that she mocks her mother’s poor English skills and generally
treats her with disrespect, making Shashi feel negative and insecure.
Sagar Godbole who is Shashi’s son (not much in detail is given in the movie)
Manu who is Shashi’s sister is settled in Newyork and has her family there. It was with
Manu’s family that Shashi had stayed in Newyork
Radha who is Shashi's niece. Shashi travels all the way to New York in advance of the
rest of her family to help out with Radha's wedding.
Laurent, Shashi's classmate and great friend. They had a relationship formed based on
respect, love and cooking. Later in the movie it is also seen that Laurent did try to woo
Shashi.

 
Why we chose this movie

According to Cardon (2010), films are entertaining, engaging and in many cases, stimulate
curiosity towards other cultures. Films can be a very valuable intellectual exercise in
deciphering other cultures. As we watched the Bollywood film “English Vinglish'', we came
across some great examples of cultural dimensions being acted out which especially
resonated with the Indian audiences. This movie was a good option because it accurately
portrayed the independent and interdependent self-construal systems as viewed by the
characters of the two cultures, the clash between them, the various cultural specificities, and
the main character's entire process of cultural adjustment, which is important to study
because it aids in understanding and appreciating cultural differences across the globe. It also
deeply illustrates how the world has almost become a conjunction of culture, learned values,
languages, ethnicity and religion. This movie also taught all of us the importance of
appreciating our own Indian culture and its traditions.

How is it appropriate for cultural Analysis

The current popularity of Bollywood drama has given people new insight into the enigmatic
beauty of Indian culture. In movies like ‘english vinglish’, since the context of modern
society in both India and America are shown, it reflects a number of cultural aspects which
are evident to the viewers.  Most people who lack cultural awareness struggle with the
differences they encounter while interacting with people from other cultures (Napitupulu &
Shinoda, 2014). Cultural shock is defined as ‘any form of transition you might feel when you
are subject to a new way of living in a strange, unfamiliar setting around you’. One of the
films that illustrates the stages of culture shock is English Vinglish. Sashi, the main character
of this film, experiences culture shock because she is unfamiliar with the culture and situation
in the new country that she has visited.  This film also includes a few other cross-cultural
exchanges that illustrate the process of assimilating to a new culture in terms of language,
cuisine, and style.

With respect to Individualistic vs collectivistic cultural disparities, being from a collectivist

society, Shashi prioritizes the needs of her family over her own, and as a result, her individual
efforts are sometimes ignored or even criticized by her family at home. Later in the movie,
she also discovers the joys of individualism such as “me time,” personal growth". In addition
to this, with respect to self-construals, for the main character, Shashi moving from a culture
with interdependent self-construal to a culture with independent self-construal would have
been difficult. The difference in culture specific emotions and behaviors can also be
accurately seen. The emotions which are felt and expressed in the Indian context are
drastically different in America. In one culture, a certain attitude is acceptable but in other
cultures it is not. The following sections talk about the reasoning behind it in great detail.