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The Rise of the Bollywood Movie Industry

divya

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The Bollywood movie industry is the second largest in the world, second only to Hollywood. It is based at India’s financial centre, Mumbai. Each year, hundreds of movies are produced under the linage of Bollywood, and the movies are in turn viewed by tens of millions of people.

In recent months, I have witnessed an amazing seismic change in the trend of Bollywood movies – the movies are now of much a more greater quality and are distinct in style as well as substance.

I remember that as recent as 2007/2008, Bollywood movies used to be centred on two main elements – romance and comedy whilst to a lesser extent, there used to be action films too and also the occasional movie depicting social struggles.

Firstly, the romance and love themed movies lacked contrasting variations and gripping emotional storylines. Films such as Kal Ho Na Ho, Devdas and Om Shanti Om were good to watch, but not entirely great!

Besides that, the sense of humour in comedy-genred films seemed to be clichéd and abhorrent to say the least, though I did have a good laugh at times. The similarity of plots is very evident in movies of this genre such as Gol Maal, Phir Hera Pheri and The Maal.

Speaking of action films, the likes of Dhoom and Krrish were short on explosive and dynamic features that usually define an action film. Needless to say, this only confirmed the inferiority of Bollywood compared to Hollywood in making appealing action flicks.

The one element that was least exploited by the movie makers and producers were films based on moral virtues, social hardships and our day-to-day practical lives. However, that fact has been rectified, and that too with a rousing success as directors have started to convey these messages with efficiency.

To start with, I watched 3 Idiots. Truth be told, the movie is anything but about 3 idiots. Instead, it is on the sheer intelligence of Rancho, who prefers practicality to theory. The movie has a glaring stroke of originality, and touched on the many social defuncts that envelope our community today.

paa_movie_amitabh_abhishek_bachchan.jpg



Next, there was Paa. Though this movie did not get much reception, but it is another meaningful and touching movie that is centred on a 12 year old boy suffering from Progeria, an age-accelerating disease. The movie also had elements on how to win politics using a non-dirty path.

Presently, I hear from my friends that My Name Is Khan is another must-watch movie as it portrays the racial inequality that had to be endured by Muslims in the West post-9/11. And the lead character in this movie also has some sort of disorder.

So, why the sudden shift? Is it a coincidence or a gradual increase in the intellectual ability of the Bollywood filmmakers? My two-cents is that the Bollywood landscape has undergone a positive makeover, for it has matured, therefore delivering excellent quality films for viewers.

For instance, the movies are closer to the hearts of the people as they see it to be related to their everyday lives, and the growing number of disabilities, diseases and disorders that are being portrayed in Bollywood films give more awareness to the public and at the same time hope to those afflicted with these defects.


If this trend continues, then there is a good chance that Bollywood films would be able to successfully penetrate the Western markets, as the way in which these films are represented is far better than how Hollywood would produce a similar movie.

More importantly, the jokes and slapstick comedy that make up this new generation movies are fresh, and they have a more cerebral value to it, not at all like the lame old comedy-genred Bollywood films.

No doubt Bollywood is far away as compared to Hollywood in producing seat-edging action films, but by focusing more of its energy on creating even better new-generation films that touch the hearts of the masses would consolidate the rise of the Bollywood filmmaking industry.

The Rise of the Bollywood Movie Industry | My Space. My Thoughts.
 
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I used to hate Bollywood films but then I started watching films like 'Rang De Basanti', '3 Idiots', 'My name is Khan' etc. The trend is definitely changing. One thing Bollywood movies have always lacked and still do to some extent is subtlety. The author is right, Bollwood should focus on making more films along the lines of "moral values". A Rom-com is nice every now and then but after a while it gets boring. As for action movies... let's just say that 'Krissh', 'Dhoom 2' looked like something I threw together for my school project. There's definitely a niche in the market in the West for more international films, at least in the UK and US. People like watching films like 'Rang De Basanti' / 'Terrorist' etc. Make more films like this and Bollywood will surely make it's way onto the international scene.
 
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Ah Schux!!! Bollywood is the lowest common denominator of Indian Cinema, when viewed through artistic prism Malayalam and Bengali cinema are heads and shoulders above Bollywood. Creativity goes Tamil movies are more edgy and technically intensive, I could even argue Telugu movies have better standards.

Bottom line, Bollywood has "European looking" Indians piled around glitzed and glamourized and pump the volume with stolen "hit list" from US or UK. Sometimes, I feel better about the Chinese made Gucci bag, than the way they killed one of my favorite movie Mometo by remaking in the name of Ghanjani. Amir Khan on your knees and beg for forgiveness.

Lately, much of the "alpha" movies on Bollywood charts are made in "european/australian/American" backdrop.

my request to Bollywood producers/directors, Please do not remake "Inception" and ruin my day.
 
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I used to hate Bollywood films but then I started watching films like 'Rang De Basanti', '3 Idiots', 'My name is Khan' etc. The trend is definitely changing. One thing Bollywood movies have always lacked and still do to some extent is subtlety. The author is right, Bollwood should focus on making more films along the lines of "moral values". A Rom-com is nice every now and then but after a while it gets boring. As for action movies... let's just say that 'Krissh', 'Dhoom 2' looked like something I threw together for my school project. There's definitely a niche in the market in the West for more international films, at least in the UK and US. People like watching films like 'Rang De Basanti' / 'Terrorist' etc. Make more films like this and Bollywood will surely make it's way onto the international scene.


Actually bollywood has a high count of total number of movies of which its very hard to sort out the quality from the quantity... there are decent flicks in between but hard to find flicks of some international value....

Movies FALTU are good one time watch and are intended for just domestic audience.
 
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Ah Schux!!! Bollywood is the lowest common denominator of Indian Cinema, when viewed through artistic prism Malayalam and Bengali cinema are heads and shoulders above Bollywood. Creativity goes Tamil movies are more edgy and technically intensive, I could even argue Telugu movies have better standards.

Bottom line, Bollywood has "European looking" Indians piled around glitzed and glamourized and pump the volume with stolen "hit list" from US or UK. Sometimes, I feel better about the Chinese made Gucci bag, than the way they killed one of my favorite movie Mometo by remaking in the name of Ghanjani. Amir Khan on your knees and beg for forgiveness.

Lately, much of the "alpha" movies on Bollywood charts are made in "european/australian/American" backdrop.

my request to Bollywood producers/directors, Please do not remake "Inception" and ruin my day.

Or remember how they butchered one of my all time favourites 'Old-Boy' by making 'Zinda'?
 
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Original

Rip-off

They even copied the shots and soundtrack for God's sake!
 
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Ah Schux!!! Bollywood is the lowest common denominator of Indian Cinema, when viewed through artistic prism Malayalam and Bengali cinema are heads and shoulders above Bollywood. Creativity goes Tamil movies are more edgy and technically intensive, I could even argue Telugu movies have better standards.

Bottom line, Bollywood has "European looking" Indians piled around glitzed and glamourized and pump the volume with stolen "hit list" from US or UK. Sometimes, I feel better about the Chinese made Gucci bag, than the way they killed one of my favorite movie Mometo by remaking in the name of Ghanjani. Amir Khan on your knees and beg for forgiveness.

Lately, much of the "alpha" movies on Bollywood charts are made in "european/australian/American" backdrop.

my request to Bollywood producers/directors, Please do not remake "Inception" and ruin my day.

Actually it is about sorting out quality from quantity. majority of the bolly flicks are useless but at the same time there are time less classics. Same goes for south cinema which has a better cinematography but at the same time they have their own share of nut movies like that of a bullet flying off from the chest of a man or the train rolling back with hand and thigh action....

Though i do agree with your post that we are well known for copying movies but at the same time there are many movies which have crossed the barriers which include the likes of chak de India, swades, Lagaan....

Then more over it is about preferences....
 
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^^^

Yes, for Bollywood it seems to be more about how many movies they can churn out in a year rather than focussing on the quality of them. It all comes down to money at the end of the day. Ethics or reputation hardly seem to matter when you can make money.
 
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^^^

Yes, for Bollywood it seems to be more about how many movies they can churn out in a year rather than focussing on the quality of them. It all comes down to money at the end of the day. Ethics or reputation hardly seem to matter when you can make money.

well for a newbie what matters is the chance to act in bollywood. no one can actually think of quality for a startup because of competetion...


Along with that Bollywood is famous for casting couch. I know a friend of mine was asked to sleep with 3 guys of around 55 age when she was only 22 for a small ad film which threw waters all her plans for making big when she was quite talented.
 
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these days even being a male doesn't help much in this casting couch case. :argh:
 
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Divya,

I have a netflix account, with which I have streaming video and access to a good library of Hollywood and international cinema. There are french movies like Un Prophete, and Italian movies like Gumorah, South Korean movies like 9Iron and a lot more. Indian cinema really lags in quality, and among Indian Cinema Bollywood really lags. Lagaan or 3 Idiots are relatively good (if you only consider Indian movies).

I like Pushpak. It is wicked!!!
 
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^^^^^
these days even being a male doesn't help much in this casting couch case. :argh:

yeah but just think of a 55 year old men craving for a 22 year old girl, just about the age of her daughter, it shows what kind of perverted society we live in....
 
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yeah but just think of a 55 year old men craving for a 22 year old girl, just about the age of her daughter, it shows what kind of perverted society we live in....

Nothing new, it traces back to the beginning of bollywood.
 
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yeah but just think of a 55 year old men craving for a 22 year old girl, just about the age of her daughter, it shows what kind of perverted society we live in....

I disagree, it is completely fine for a man to be sexually active at the age of 55. Do not cover the acts of nature under the rug of shame and perversion.
 
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Divya,

I have a netflix account, with which I have streaming video and access to a good library of Hollywood and international cinema. There are french movies like Un Prophete, and Italian movies like Gumorah, South Korean movies like 9Iron and a lot more. Indian cinema really lags in quality, and among Indian Cinema Bollywood really lags. Lagaan or 3 Idiots are relatively good (if you only consider Indian movies).

'Un Prophete' was good. Check out 'Old-Boy' if you haven't seen it yet. It's South Korean as well.
 
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