Judwaa (1997), a film which tells the story of twin brothers who separate at birth, was inspired by Twin Dragons (1992) starring Jackie Chan. Judwaa 2 (2017) was released with the same theme. Judwaa 1 and Judwaa 2, like Twin Dragons, have action, comedy, romance, and other elements of a commercial Bollywood movie. Such films are colloquially called ‘masala movies.’
The term masala comes from the Arabic word salahah (صَلَحَ), which means being competent and usable. In Arabic, the word mathala (also pronounced as masala) means to be like something or someone. A similar word ‘mashala’ means to draw the sword (as a symbol of power). Mashala symbolises power and authority, while masala symbolises similarity. Salahah must have been used to describe Indian spice because, before the Greek and Roman civilisations came into being, India had trade relations with Arabia. It was during this time that Indian spices reached Arabian shores. They found the spices fit or competent for use.
The word salahah in Persian became masalih (مصلحت) meaning materials or spices. Masalih is the plural form of maslahat which means policy or affairs – as unrelated as that may sound. From masalih the word became masala (مسالا) in Urdu, which means spices. It retained its Urdu meaning in Hindi.
‘Masala’ in Bollywood broadly refers to ‘spicy’ movies, with action, drama, romance, and overall mindless entertainment. One need not bring their brains to the theatre to watch a masala film. But we do need to use our brains to examine what masala films reinforce in their stories.
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