Hurray for…BOLLYWOD?

The Musical in General• An American invention that combined a theatrical

play with songs to move the narrative along.• Originally used jazz only such as great American

standard composers like The Gershwin Brothers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, or Cole Porter

Masala- “It’s not just spicy food!”• Films are largely influenced by Hollywood stories and

techniques but translated into Indian culture and settings.

• Mostly musicals and oftentimes, film’s success relies entirely on the musical performances.

• Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills are all mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission.

Masala films cont.• Plots can be VERY melodramatic, with formulaic

“cliche” ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts-of-gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, ghosts and other supernatural interventions, and convenient coincidences.

Bollywood Film Conventions• Very dramatic cinematography such as rapid zooming to

introduce a villain or hero. Also lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups of actors’ faces because of an excess of emotional moments in the story.

• No kissing on the lips until the last 3 years.• Even for adults in Bollywood romantic comedies, strong

emphasis on honoring parents and elders.• Critics denounce that it unfairly promotes a lighter-

skinned, more Western looking standard for Indian beauty.

Bollywood Abroad• Bollywood is the informal term used for the Hindi-

language film industry based in Mumbai, India. Other regions of India also have their own industries, but Bollywood is the largest and most well-known, even producing more films per year than American Hollywood.

• Because of Indian diaspora throughout Europe and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Bollywood popularity and influence is also spreading overseas.

Bollywood Influences• American and British-made films like Slumdog

Millionaire, The 40-year-old Virgin, and Moulin Rouge have all included musical dance-numbers in Bollywood style as an homage to the genre.

• Bride and Prejudice is a film heavily influenced by Bollywood but critics denounce it as not “authentic Bollywood.”