B  O  L  L  Y  W  O  O  D

THE CITY OF DREAM

(PART I)

The word “BOLLYWOOD” is popularly used for the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry in India. I think Bollywood is one of the biggest film industry in the world and the largest in terms of number of films produced only in India. In my opinion Bollywood is often used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; but I think that it is only a part of the Indian film industry.  Bollywood is commonly referred to as Hindi cinema. Now a days there is a growing number of films made entirely in English.

Raja Harishchandra was the first silent feature film made in India in the year 1913.  It was produced by the grandfather of Indian Cinema ‘DADASAHEB PHALKE’. By the year 1930, the Indian film Industry was producing above 100 movies per annum. The first Indian sound film ‘Alam Ara’ was produced in 1931 was a hit movie, which was appreciated by the audience.  There is a long list of successful actors of India i.e. Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Ashok Kumar, and Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan etc. etc. and actresses like Nargis, Meena Kumari, Nutan and Madhubala, Rekha, Hema Malini etc. etc..

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, romance movies and action films starred actors like Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra. In the mid-1970s, the position of romantic movies was captured by action movies.   This was the era of action movies. With the entrance of AMITABH BACHCHAN, the scene of Indian Cinema has totally changed. He is famous for his "angry young man" image and till now when he is aged about 65 years of old he is still doing different  kinds of roles in movies. There is a long list of his fans all over the world.  

The films of Bollywood are mostly musicals, and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers written and added into the script. Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills — all are mixed up in a three-hour-long duration with interval. Such movies are called masala movies. These movies are also a mixture of many things such as action, comedy, romance etc. Today a film's success depends on the quality of such musical numbers. Now a days a film's music (both audio and video) is often released before the movie itself and helps increase the number of audience. The Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as paisa vasool.

Bollywood employs people from all parts of India. It attracts thousands of new aspiring actors and actresses, who are hoping for a break in the industry. Models and beauty contestants, television actors, theatre actors and even common people come to Mumbai with the hope and dream of becoming a star. But it is bitter truth that very few of them succeed and others lost in the mob of people.

Stardom in the entertainment industry is very temporary, and Bollywood is no exception. The popularity of the stars can rise and fall rapidly. Directors compete to hire the most popular stars of the day, who are believed to guarantee the success of a movie (but this belief is not always right). It is bitter truth that many stars make the most of their fame, once they become popular, by making several movies simultaneously.

Bollywood films are watched with great love and enthusiasm in foreign countries, such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia, China, Canada, Japan,  Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Most Pakistanis watch Bollywood films (despite Government ban on Indian films), because the Pakistanis speak or at least understand Hindi. Instead of Government ban, few Bollywood films have been released there, such as Taj Mahal, Awarapan and recently super hit Emran Hashmi’s Jannat. Besides this there is a huge market for Bollywood movies in local video stores too.

….Contd…