Video Spotting

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If you have no social media accounts, you were one of those that missed all the hullabaloo about Coldplay’s latest video Hymn For The Weekend that was shot in India and features Beyonce and Sonam Kapoor.

While Queen Bey features more prominently in the video wearing an ornate Jani and Khosla gown and jacket, Sonam has more of a blink and you miss it appearance unfortunately.

Back to Beyonce, that gown must have needed a lot of double sided tape! 😛

You can catch the video below!

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Beyonce in Jani & Khosla in Coldplay’s Hymn For the Weekend


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Beyonce in Jani & Khosla in Coldplay’s Hymn For the Weekend


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Beyonce in Jani & Khosla in Coldplay’s Hymn For the Weekend



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55 Comments

  1. Ugh so stupid. What the hell is Beyonce doing? WHO is india dances like that? I usually dont scream culture appropriation at things but man. Especially since she’s so vocal about respecting black culture, she should have taken a token of her own advice.

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    • Oh yes can someone please !!! It was one of the highlights of the video for me?
      PS – People really need to stop being so hypocrite! The video was made by an Indian, the dresses are from Indian designers, the shots are authentic and believe me the majority of Bombay ( Yes, one of the city with richest Indians) looks like this specially during Holi! ). And frankly, I can’t remember the last time someone shot a music video so beautifully visually!

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  2. I know this isn’t the place for it, but I’m extremely disappointed in the video and how they’ve displayed India. We are more than slums, we have more to us. Also, people were saying Beyoncé wore indian clothing and jewelry better than Indians and oh how wrong are they. Culture appropriation.

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  3. At first glance at the images I thought it was Shakira. Beyonce’s skin colour looks lighter than usual. Also the blonde hair makes her look really different.

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  4. Sonam agreed to this? She’s not in it even for a sec. Disappointed,there’s no need to be a wannabe.And why is Beyoncé dressed up so weird.This video makes no sense,Kathakali bharatnatyam sadhus are all thrown in for no rhyme or reason

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  5. Its hilarious that people expect standards from Coldplay. LOL.

    Also when people “appropriate” culture, its not the culture but they who look ridic. So lets take a moment and laugh our guts out at these idiots, instead of fuming at the nostrils 😀

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  6. I mean REALLY! Why is India always painted as a poor country?? and Sonam – is she really there? just for a second and we give her so much of importance in this video by talking about it!! The song also sucks!

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  7. I hate these India Easy Exotic videos. One peacock- check, one levitating Sadhu-check, Holi- check, hennaed hands- check and on top of that shitty music. Stupid stupid stupid. What was SK doing??? Not even one full frontal shot?! Zero marks to her agents.

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  8. Come on people! This is not a NatGeo clip nor does it claim anthropological ( not the shop please) accuracy. It’s a kitschy colourful melange of ‘exotic’ moments! Not particularly new or interesting or inspired, but still a pretty, colourful albeit silly picture!
    Ok so they don’t have to show slums- ( erm, why not? have you done anything to eradicate poverty) shall they instead feature the $ bn travesty that stares at all the slums- the multi tiered Ambani abode? Or perhaps clips from our Rep Day parade showing military might. It’s not a documentary !!
    It’s a Coldplay video! Featuring ditsy Sonam! Please keep those standards in the bottom drawer.

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    • Sarah, I actually agree with you. I felt like the rest of the video was beautifully shoy and had awesome colors. It was just **Beyonce** that bugged that crap out if me. She just looks so silly.

      The thing is, portrayal of sadhus and slums are annoying but guess what, these things exist in India. The way Beyonce danced however looks so clownlike. Its like if someone shoots a video in Egypt and does the idiotic walk like an Egyptian dance. It just looks plain silly and plays into the stereotype as of indians who are “exotic” belly dancers in harems.

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    • “The kids and the stunning visuals were the stars for me.. Musically it was meh, but the video was super interesting (i vote for appreciation). “

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    • I completely agree. I watched again and again to see what I was missing, and perhaps I still am. I saw peacocks, they are beautiful and roam freely in the wild. In the west you have to see them in a zoo. The peacock is India’s national bird, so why be offended by it? I saw no sadhus dancing, and one was on a pedestal but not levitating. If those were slums, they weren’t too bad. And the kids were happy and dancing beautifully. Their non- traditional dances juxtaposed with the bharatnatyam and Kathak shows exactly what you want – India is a multitude of cultures, and has even made western cultures a part of its own. The final shot in the river with fireworks shows India in a beautiful light. Even Sonam – yes short, but beautiful. She is happy, colorful. Yes, Beyoncé is over the top, but that was the point. Bollywood can be over the top. If you want to be offended, be offended by the number of people in the country that have to rely on open defacation, the number of women raped on a daily basis, and the total disregard for the environment. Would you have much rather they showed lines of cars in traffic, corruption, smog, filthy rivers, and the people driving over people sleeping on the footpath?

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      • I could not have put it better than Sarah or Katy..
        I mean people are now equating a Coldplay video to a wiki page on India?
        and Actors comments are national news and cause polarizing political situations.
        No wonder we’re raising a generation of dimwits.

        If someone wants to know what India is like, trust me, they won’t be hunting for this video. Chill. Like I said above, Watch (or don’t) and move on coz there are bigger, far more important things in life to fix.

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  9. I think it highly hypocritical for any Indian to call out anyone on cultural appropriation. India isn’t a single idea or culture. It’s a potpourri far to diverse to be appropriated by anyone or to be identified as ones own. The Indian identity itself is a remnant of colonial legacy and the modern Indian isn’t just an Indian. It is far too many things at once.
    People get offended for everything these days. Calm down, it’s a music video not a documentary on India.
    Her clothes are gorgeous! Her makeup flawless. Too bad SK was so desperate though.

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    • Thank you for putting things in perspective here. I don’t ever comment, but I feel compelled by the narrow view represented by some of the commentators. Why do we always cry foul when the slums are displayed in the international videos? These communities exist in vast majority and beautiful life exists amongst them and in my opinion the video did quite well showing just that. Why are so keen on hiding this reality?

      I am genuinely interested in hearing how the video could’ve been done differently. Which facets of India would the individuals with hurt sentiments have brought forth? Really I’m quite curious.

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      • I agree. To me there is beauty in the slums. Not beauty viewed through rose-tinted glasses, no one wants to their life to be such a struggle and I doubt anyone would choose that life if there was a choice in the matter. It is the beauty of human nature. The slums represent a resilience and tenacity. The people there, having been dealt a harsh hand by fate, adapt and build a life out of what they can. To see those kids dancing and playing with abandon is beautiful. So are the sadhus, holi colours and hennae, even though they’ve been done to the point of cliche. This is the beauty of Indian people and a part of the very fabric that makes up India.

        Sonam looks absolutely gorgeous but the 1 second appearance makes laughing stock of her. Beyonce looks ridiculous, they should have stopped with the AJSK outfit and not continued with the henna and headpiece etc. I wonder if this is how the Chinese felt about Rihanna in ‘Princess of China’? I didn’t give it a second thought when that video came out lol!

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      • So true.
        People probably want it filmed in malls with ladies toting designer bags and shoes by *foreign* designers.. Or show roads and infrastructure like some campaign from the PMO. 😛
        Maybe they aren’t proud of much else in India by that doesn’t make it less Indian.

        And it’s not like we don’t have a dozen stereotypes about the west.
        We love featuring white girls so much in our movies it doesn’t even strike as odd anymore.
        How many of those movies cast them in a role having any substance?
        Better question: how many times in India do you see white girls dancing on roads, colleges and parties, or throwing themselves at random guys (like they do on our bollywood heroes) actually?

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    • I do agree about the Indian cultural appropriateness. From the blouse to so many things, we follow what British thought was appropriate for us. I only found it weird that after these many years in 2016 we still see sadhus dancing randomly, showing poverty porn and the likes. And Beyonce talks so much about Black pride – culture. Then again we Indians are the most hypocritical people like you said. lol When SRK eats noodles & yogurt representing a “Madrasi” in RaOne. Chennai Express stereotyping South, we Indians should be the last peeps to be getting offended. 😛

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    • +1 I personally did not mind the video. Every society has their own biased version of the what makes other societies exotic and that is what interests them. I am sure we are guilty of the same both towards our countrymen and outside. It might not necessarily be a bad thing all the time.. I wish as an Indian I could see the artistic beauty in this side of India but I am glad some people do. It exists so why not acknowledge it. It helps me to not forget. Plus this is an art form, not a documentary as someone pointed out. I think it was tastefully done. Some of the scenes were stunning especially the one with the Kathakali dancer.

      Music was okay. I prefer Coldplay’s earlier albums. The costumes were befitting for a music video.

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      • I was offended initially but after reading many of the comments here somehow I find it less offensive. But there is more to India than holi and slums. Everything else in the video is acceptable except Beyonce. Downright hideous. And the second pic is scary!

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  10. Hey Coldplay, why are there no snake charmers and elephants on the street! I’m ok with all the stereotypes considering this is how many people in the West view India, but the worst thing about this video is definitely Beyonce.

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  11. Loved d songs…d colours…. Sonam looks great too… I guess instead of being desperate she tried being a part of smthng DATs connected to her country..niceeee <3

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  12. I’m not Indian, I’ve never been to India. As a small kid i got interested in indian culture – due to colors and clothes. I know how India looks like. Mix of rich and poor – as all the countires all over the world. Plus slums, which are as well in Brazil, China or SA.
    Do you know why we, the western (stupid) people, like this video? Because it is COLORFUL. Shows NATURE. Shows the part of india, which we cannot find in our own places. Why would we give a s*** for watching your modern buildings? Wide roads? Elegant businessmen and women? Hi-tech valleys? New cars?
    We want to watch what we do not have here: colorful saris, anarkalis and kurtas, holi powders, happy kids in the streeets, monkeys, peacocks and holy cows, old temples and old cars, rikshaws, mehndi and bold jewelry. This is beautiful, eye-catching, exotic. Do you know how happy we feel when we can watch colors of India? Do you know how much these pictures affect our souls? I bet you have no idea. But still, you will judge us, westerns, as stupid.
    This video is supposed to bring us entertainment, not educate us about India. It doesn’t stereotype anyone.

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    • Oh if you like colors, you should see Telugu movies. They are very entertaining, relaxing, colorful,
      reflects culture and not hollywoodized. Watch movies like Athadu, Murari, Varsham, Mirchi, bahubali, dookudu, aagadu, magadheera etc. If you like it I can recommend you more. 😀 I love watching these and many more. It’s pleasure. 😀

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    • I am Indian and grew up in India. And very honestly the comments of some people here offend me more than the video.
      I completely agree with you when you say what’s depicted in the video is what people want to see about india.
      Yes India is more than what is shown in the video but so what?! This is a certain facet of India and that’s what is shown. When people think of India, they think of the unique rich culture and heritage the land brings, not of the various modern day developments that are seen all over the globe. Why would anyone want to portray anything thats available everywhere? What would be the point of the video?
      And why are people getting offended by the slums?! Because you want to deny their existence to the outside world?! The slums/ not so wealthy housing are very much part of every city/ town in india. It’s reality. It’s beautiful in its own way (because of how the people there work hard and live respectable lives within their means).
      The holi, the sadhus, the dances.. This is very very reflective of our culture so why not flaunt it?
      That said, Beyonce looks ridiculous with her over the top styling and presentation.

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    • I don’t mean to generalize but the west, at large ,is ignorant. They tend to mix up Arabs and Indians. And I have seen this mix in many of the movies

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    • I’m Indian, and I agree with you Anna. What galls me more that Beyonce could’ve taken a bit more effort to get her Indian “look” right. I really don’t know where she got that armour-style necklace+headpiece from. it doesn’t look like anything a woman from any ethnic community in India wears.

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    • Thanks Anna! Was cringing while reading some of the comments earlier..the same sort of people who hated Slumdog Millionnaire for showing mumbai’s slums. It only shows our inherent ugly racism when we use words like ‘stupid’ as a generic term for anyone non coloured who has served up a kitschy exotic fun visual cocktail of snakes and sadhus. Beyoncé is a fail but who cares- it’s a visually appealing song and so well shot.
      And yes we are still waiting to know where Chris’ eccentric Holi jacket is from!

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  13. The video is gimmicky, i don’t see what to get offended in it. Mundane Indian things would be boring to watch. Every Country gets stereotyped, like Egypt and pyramids and mummy.

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  14. Why does Beyonce have barnacles on her face? Her outfits and styling are ridiculous. I don’t really see what so offensive about what they show in India. obviously they’ll be interested in the more “exotic”, “colourful” aspects, whatever appeals them. One needs to adjust expectations from music videos.

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  15. All those screaming culture appropriation need to step out of their bubble and live in India. If you feel Holi, sadhus, slums, etc are not the India you want to see then go watch a Bollywood Karan Johar movie and be happy. It’s a part of India whether you like it or not. So if it doesn’t appeal to your sensibility I suggest dont watch it. Also, for those of crying abt sonam’s blink appearance I suggest you take that fight up with her coz she certainly knew what she was signing up for I am sure.

    Beyoncé looked silly and I think Coldplay could have done without her. But I like the jacket Martin was wearing. Overall I liked the colours too!

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