Have you ever heard about Bollywood? Yes, I said
Bollywood, not Hollywood. No? Well, it’s time to talk about another cool thing
that happens on India.
Bollywood is the unofficial name that people gives to
the film industry that it’s based on Mumbai (before known like Bombay), it’s
not all the Indian film industry, but it’s the most important on the country.
Unknown for most of the Occidental world, Bollywood It’s the largest producer
of movies of the world.
First to known, India it’s the country with the
biggest attendance per year of the world, with 2.7 billions of tickets in 2010,
these numbers represents 1.6 billions of American dollars, the fourth place on
the rank, behind United States, Japan and France.
The Bollywood history starts around 1913 when the
first silent film (Raja Harishchandra) was made on India. In 1931 India
produced his first sound film Alam Ara (The Light of the World); in those years
Bollywood produced around 200 films per year. But the II World War, the Great
Depression of 1929 and the Indian independence affects the production and
dynamic of the movie industry.
Following the India’s independence, Bollywood had
their own Golden Age that lasts 20 years, between the decades of the 40’s and
the 60’s. The style of movies in these years were about a different kind of
topics, dramas about the urban Indian life, epic fantasies or dramatizations of
historic events, romantic comedies, between others. For the 50’s, a new trend
of cinema appears in the Parallel movement, that produces hyperrealist films that
competes in Cannes or the Academy Awards.
In the late sixties and seventies, the Parallel
Movement lost their energy and the Bollywood industry returns to romance and
action movies, also appears movies with a gritty touch, like gang and mafia
romances.
Since the beginnings of Bollywood, the musicals were a
vital part of the industry, but in the 80’s the musical phenomenon explodes, with
great titles like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (From Disaster to Disaster), Maine
Pyar Kiya (I Fell in Love), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (Who I am to You?)
and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The
Big Hearted will take the Bride), this titles were the breakout of the careers for
new stars like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla and Kajol.
The last decade represents a point of internationalization
of the Indian film industry; many titles had been seen around the world, with
titles like Lagaan (Land Tax), Devdas, Koi... Mil Gaya (I
Found Someone), Veer-Zaara (2004), Rang De Basanti (Color of
Sacrifice), Lage Raho Munnabhai (Carry on Munna Brother), Chak De
India (Come On! India), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (A Match Made by God), and My Name is Khan were a box
office success on India and abroad.
The musical films had been an important part of Bollywood
industry and unlike Hollywood where the genre had a decline in the 80’s and 90’s;
the musicals are still popular and important on India. The musicals of Bollywood
are known for their combination of the glamour and spectacular montage of the Broadway
musicals, with the Indian influences on the lyrics, the topics, and some
elements on stage.
This space is not enough to tell the many other wonderful
aspects of the Bollywood industry, is just a brief invitation to you, an
invitation to know another world, another industry, to know Bollywood!
Be their guest!
