The "e" word vs. the "f" factor

I and another Bollyblogger, were discussing the guilty pleasure of relishing in the "otherness" (although haters might use the "e" word) of Indian pop-cinema.

[The real question everyone should be asking is something more like, "Why is the 'e' word only applied to people from places of warm climates?" Allow me this conjecture. Pull out a world map and notice that a country's "e"-ism lessens in near direct proportion to its distance from the equator. Brazil? Dead on the money. 10 points. I mean, for all we know in the West, Brazil is a big rainforest/bikini dance party. Russia? Negative 1 points. Kenya? 10 points. For real, Kenya is like the only safari location outside of Busch Gardens Tampa. Obviously, Australia scores about the same as Argentina. Which brings us back to our friends in India whose rate on the "e" scale is right up there with Miami, FL.]

No, my friends, in truth it is not about the "e" word, it's about the "f" factor. A little something called "flair." Baz Luhrmann, who directed one the best films ever [Romeo + Juliet] explains it in his own maddening way:

[When a] story is comic tragedy it's quite complicated, even though its execution is simple, because it's high comedy and high tragedy. And that form exists in the theatre and in Shakespeare and it lives in Bollywood movies! They carry on high tragedy and then a musical number..." [Link]

How could that combination be anything less than endearing? Throw in some eyecandy as actors and you've got a hit! Bam, that's flair!