Bollywood movies crack me up. Every now and again a friend will send me a clip, a highlight, from one of the Bollywood blockbusters, and inevitably the scene is utterly preposterous. Many of these films are known for their far-too-long and over-the-top fight scenes where the mighty hero defies all the laws of physics and all the constraints of the human body to conquer an entire army of enemies—inevitably with fists a-flying.

I suppose that people who enjoy Bollywood accept a certain level of unrealism. Implicit in the genre is a very different understanding of how the human body functions, not unlike all the superhero movies that are so popular today. Just like the flowery dialog in the movies of the 60’s or the “aw shucks mister” way of speaking in the films of the 50’s, there is a level of unrealism that is deemed acceptable. Why shouldn’t one man stop a train with his fists? Who is to say that a hero can’t pick up an entire jeep and throw it off a jetty? The genre allows it.

At the suggestion of a friend, I recently laughed my way through another of these corny scenes. But as I watched Singham commit another great feat of strength, I saw a bit of a parallel between Bollywood and its big brother Hollywood. Hollywood allows its own version of unrealism in the movies we enjoy. We just take our fantasy on a different level.

If the Bollywood fantasy is all about physical strength, the Hollywood fantasy is about emotional connection that quickly works its way into sexual intimacy. The Bollywood fantasy tells us that a man can single-handedly intercept and destroy an army, and when he does this, the woman will swoon and he will have earned his right to marry her. The Hollywood fantasy tells us that we can meet a soul-mate, feel a powerful relational connection, and experience perfect, regret-free sexual intimacy all in the span of just a few scenes.

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