‘Aladdin’ Trailer Released! Why Is A Middle Eastern Story A Bollywood Flick?

March 12, 2019 Farid-ul-Haq

Aladdin official trailer bollywood film

The official trailer for Disney’s live-action Aladdin has been released. It turns out it isn’t only Jasmine who got a South Asian makeover, but the entire film is going to be a Bollywood flick. Why is Disney doing this to a movie which would have helped with Middle Eastern representation in Hollywood?

I have already talked about why I think actress Naomi Scott isn’t a good choice for Jasmine. From the first special look we recently received, it was clear Disney wasn’t interested in well-written Middle Eastern representation on the big screen. The official trailer only supports my opinion about how the upcoming live-action adaptation is going to be a Bollywood movie using the name Aladdin.

Here’s the trailer!

Why didn’t Disney work on introducing an actual Indian or South Asian princess instead of turning Jasmine into one?

Why did the writers of Aladdin think the Middle East and South Asia are the same?

What logic did they come up with to justify interchanging Middle Eastern culture and people with what South Asia offers?

I have grown more disappointed in the upcoming film. It doesn’t seem Middle Eastern at all. It looks like a Bollywood film set in the desert.

I guess the House of Mouse thought the movie would do well at the box office if it had Bollywood elements in it?

Disney could have decided to take a risk, like it did with Black Panther, and showed everyone how a film can do incredibly well even if it mainly represents a specific part of the world’s population.

Giving the Middle East a South Asian makeover as if the two are the same is just unfortunate and sad.

Aladdin is set to be released in the US on May 24, 2019.

Along with Scott as Jasmine, it stars Will Smith as the Genie and Mena Massoud as Aladdin.

What do you think? Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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2 thoughts on “‘Aladdin’ Trailer Released! Why Is A Middle Eastern Story A Bollywood Flick?”

  1. The story of Aladdin always took place in Asia, not the Middle East. The depiction in the cartoon movie was wrong. The story was in Arabian Nights, but it was a tale about a land to the East. So, it makes me wonder if this is the first adaptation of the Aladdin story set in the correct region…

  2. Pingback: Mena Massoud From "Aladdin" On Cultural Appropriation

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