Moroccans: The Story of How We Fell in Love With India


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Last week, while I was chit-chatting with an Indian friend on the phone, he asked me “What do you know about India?” My response was very shocking to him yet overwhelming!

Like most Moroccans I know much about India, how is that? Well, let me tell you the story of how these people who live in the other corner of the world (North Africa) fall deeply in love with India and are able to tell you many things about its culture, traditions, religions, gastronomy and most importantly about Bollywood movies!


Indian Cinema: The Wide Window of Moroccans Toward the Bollywood Dream

Yes! You read it right! The Moroccan generation of the late 80th century and the early 90th century are still memorizing at least 50 Hindi words, as Moroccan families used to spend most of their time in front of the TV, watching Bollywood movies together, to the point that many young people were obsessed about Shahrukh Khan or Aishwarya Rai, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and many other Indian actors and actresses.

Growing up I used to watch these movies with my brother, who is 9 years older than me and we were pretty impacted by their appearance, drama, dances, songs and mostly love stories. It’s usually a story of conflicts between the conservative Indian family that values traditions and culture and at the other side, the innocent yet deep love between two love birds, who are often ready to face all the challenges and refuse any arranged marriage offer in order to be together with each other. Then comes that famous Bollywood ending when everybody is laughing and dancing for hours under the rain and the two lovers live happily ever after.

Bollywood movies were selling-out pretty fast from the Moroccan market, as they were the wide window that allowed us to take a closer look into India, and day-dream about all those romantic stories in a Bollywood style (with all the dancing and singing while it's raining).


Because of the popularity of Bollywood movies, Morocco has become a destination for some Indian filmmakers, even when it’s not on the usual itinerary of most Indians. But it provides some very interesting and exotic views, as well as all the love and attention that actors and actresses get from the Moroccan public, many movies are being shot in Morocco. “Agent Vinod” is considered as the first Bollywood movie that was shot in Morocco in 2012, in two of the most beautiful Moroccan cities “Tangiers” and “Marrakech”.

The director of this movie, Sriram Raghavan while asking about his time in Morocco said - 

“Surprisingly though, the Moroccans are pretty clued into Hindi cinema and one day, while I was sitting at a cafĂ©, a local boy walked up to me and started singing a song from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1996).”


Didn’t I tell you about all our attempts to sing Indian songs? Even when our linguistic skills aren’t at a high level (or even medium sometimes) however, that doesn't stop us from trying to sing some famous Indian songs that once touched our heart.

Have you heard of the film called “Marrakech Bombay… A Love Story” or “Karyane Bollywood”? Amazingly, they were both directed by Moroccan filmmakers, who also belong to the “golden” generation.


Clearly impacted by the Indian films, Aahd Bensouda in the first movie tried to combine the Moroccan and the Indian cultures, through a love story between a Moroccan and an Indian based in Mumbai. While the second is directed by Yassine Fennane, featuring a story of a young Moroccan who tries to impress his sweetheart by remaking “Disco Dancer” (a Bollywood classic from the 1980s).

Nowadays, Bollywood movies aren't popular anymore in Morocco, but still, you can always find some Moroccans still reminiscing parts of Bollywood movies, especially songs, dances along the famous endings (the Bollywood package).


Moroccans and India: Love, Mystery and Passion:



India remained a very exotic destination that many Moroccans would love to discover, because of its mixed cultures, traditions and most importantly the religions, beliefs and mystery. That’s why a vlogger in Morocco has become very popular since late 2019. Known as “Fayssal Vlog”, this Moroccan YouTuber is travelling India with millions of Moroccans following his journey with passion and curiosity. Fayssal is showing us the other side of India, that was never featured in the Bollywood movies, that is rather “exciting” and “exotic”, as he shed lights into some strange beliefs and legends in India.


We can not talk about the relation between Moroccans and India, without mentioning their passion for the Indian gastronomy. As Moroccan cuisine is known for its very tasty dishes and is considered as one of the most popular cuisines in the world, it is also very open to other foreign gastronomies, especially the Indian, as we love that spicy taste at biryani, masala or butter chicken and many other famous dishes. That’s one of the main reasons why a young cook also gained her popularity in Morocco, been married to an Indian man, and after spending some time in India as well as different corners of the world, Alia who’s also known by her social media and Youtube channel’s title “Cooking with Alia” is sharing her knowledge and various Indian dishes with her Moroccan fans; dishes that reflect the Indian culture, traditions as well as the passion and love of Moroccans to India. 



- Written by Yasmine Oubahi (EMN Community Member From Morocco)

- Edited by Mridul Goyal (EMN Community Member From New Delhi, India)