D&R: Breaking out of Bollywood
Bose, Derek. “How to Become a Bollywood Actor or Actress.” Backstage, Backstage, 26 Mar. 2019, 5:15.
India Week. “Bollywood: Facts and History.” Foreign Students, Foreign Students, 3 June 2012.
“Bollywood and Beyond.” A Brief History of India, by Judith E. Walsh, 2nd ed., Checkmark Books, 2011, pp. 277–282.
The name Bollywood is a play on words from the U.S. film industry, Hollywood. The B comes from the city of Bombay (modern-day Mumbai), which is the center of the Indian film world.
From 1920 – 1945, most films that were released in India were either mythological or historical. The film Alam Ara was the first to feature sound in 1931, causing the number of films being made to skyrocket, increasing by hundreds as years went by. With the release of Kisan Kanya, the first color film in 1937, animation started to come to the big screen along with a rise in ticket sells. Between 1947 – 1950, filmmakers started to focus on social issues since as; lower classes, the dowry system, polygamy and, prostitution.
In the 1960s, director Manmohan Desai brought in a new wave of movies called Masala films, which are a mixture of action, comedy, romance, and drama or melodrama. These films are musicals and have five to six song sequences and at least three dance numbers still used in contemporary films today. The songs and dances make the films popular outside of the Hindi language for all Indian viewers. The music was seen as studio art and performed by “playback singers” who did vocals while the actors mouthed the words on screen.
Only a small number of musicians work on film songs. Bollywood’s “star system” keeps a small number of producers, directors, and singers, from working on films. Fewer than 70 “stars,” have been involved in films since the 1940s. Because of this lack of featured actors, creators, and the amount of fees it costs to make a film, it can sometimes take up to three years to produce a single film. Each star can be working on up to 50 films at a time.
Ali, Nayare. “’I Wish Deepika Had Put Her Foot down’: Bhansali Slammed for Padmaavat’s Jauhar Scene.” Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Chronicle, 30 Jan. 2018.
