Hooray for BOLLYWOOD

[SweetArse]

Isn't Bollywood supposed to be the biggest movie producer outside of Hollywood? How come the American mainstream hasn't caught wind of it yet? Are Indian flicks the next big thing? Does anyone know of any good Indian movies?

Granted, I've only caught brief glimpses of Indian movies on the International Channel but- is it me or are all their movies the same?! Lots of dancin' and singin' and fightin' and swinging off chandeliers.

[invictus]

Bollywood films are crazy. They're totally over the top productions, think along the lines of the big musicals of the 40's, but bigger and crazier. Not all of them, but most of them. Most have the same handful of actors and actresses in them and most have the same theme. A lot of Bollywood films borrow epic tales from the Gita, kinda part of the Hindu nationalist agenda, at least the way that this "cultural" reclamation has worked itself into the entertainment industry. The stories are simple, usually romantic comedies.

I can't think of any that I would recommend. I've never been able to sit through an entire film, and my introduction to Bollywood came after having to watch an Indian TV miniseries all about Hinduism (like all those really bad ones about Jesus, just about Hindu Gods instead). If I remember I'll try to look up some of the titles of the ones I saw. But yeah, I'm not calling that a reccomendation!

[YelloKitty]

are so hot.

[kamenriderv3]

Yeah they got some hotties. Some look like they are hapa.

I like the Indian movies that aren't corny or musicals. Right now I can only remember the title of one movie. Kama Sutra. The director made another film after that about lesbians. Haven't seen it in the video store yet. There's a few more Indian films that I like. There's one about an Indian family in England. The father remarried and his wife is English. They run a fish and chips shop. That was a good story.

[Zaius]

I believe in terms of ticket sales "Bollywood" is more successful than Hollywood which is also a reason that you don't hear about it much in the mainstream. There are almost no subtitled films because they are so successful they don't depend on any foreign distribution for income. There is really no need to show them outside of India. I believe it's also very heavily financed by Organized Crime. The top stars are under heavy bodyguard to protect them from fans and from rival crime organizations.

[spanky]

Just to sort out the Bolly from the Holly:

Kama Sutra was directed by Mira Nair, who also made Mississippi Masala among other films. I think Nair lives in NYC.

Fire, the film dealing with a lesbian relationship, was made by Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta. Mehta endured death threats and riots at screenings of this film in India because she dared to fuck with the status quo. Although it wasn't the greatest film ever (my humble opinion), I give her big props for serious cojones. Death threats, already! Chill, you guys.

East Is East is a britpic directed by Damien O'Donnell, dealing with a mixed family comprised of Pakistani dad and English mum who run a chippie together, and how the dad tries to enforce his cultural heritage on their kids. Kamen is right, it was a terrific story.

And yeah, most Bollywood pictures have a real sameness to them. I like invictus' characterization--that they're like 40's musicals, and totally over the top. Amusing at first, but it wears off pretty quick.

On a brighter note, did anyone else here catch The Terrorist? Actually made in India, it deals with a young woman's journey from being a resistance foot soldier (unspecified allegiance, but obviously none other than a Tamil Tiger) to a trained assassin, and how she grapples with the moral issues surrounding her vocation. Directed by a cinematographer making his directing debut (Santosh Sivan), it's chock full of breathtaking shots you'd expect to see when a camera guy gets his turn at the helm.

[kamenriderv3]

Oh different directors for Fire and Kama Sutra? Okay. I must have had a brain fart. Never checked with imdb. Just shot from the hip.

I also liked Bhaji on the Beach. One of my friends was crying by the time it ended. She's Indian and she had a crazy boyfriend like that guy in the movie. An interesting trivia. The video box cover is deceptive because it alludes to some sexy story but its nothing like that.

There was a trilogy or three movies that were made by an Indian director. I don't know if the stories are related in any way but the video box covers were very similar. I think one title included a boy's name. I have yet to see these movies but I saw the covers a few years back in a neighborhood video store that I no longer live near to.

[mpyre]

I read several reviews of "Moulin Rouge" that brought up the topic of Bollywood productions. I liked "Moulin" and I'd probably love Bollywood films.

My little sister starts school at Berkeley next semester and she's taking a class on Bollywood.

I bet we'll hear more about these films in the next 2 years. I'd like to see the original stuff and nothing remade by Hollywood.

[Zaius]

Originally posted by kamenriderv3
Oh different directors for Fire and Kama Sutra? Okay. I must have had a brain fart. Never checked with imdb. Just shot from the hip.

I also liked Bhaji on the Beach. One of my friends was crying by the time it ended. She's Indian and she had a crazy boyfriend like that guy in the movie. An interesting trivia. The video box cover is deceptive because it alludes to some sexy story but its nothing like that.

There was a trilogy or three movies that were made by an Indian director. I don't know if the stories are related in any way but the video box covers were very similar. I think one title included a boy's name. I have yet to see these movies but I saw the covers a few years back in a neighborhood video store that I no longer live near to.



I love that movie just for the Hindi version of "Summer Holiday".

[invictus]

Originally posted by mpyre
I read several reviews of "Moulin Rouge" that brought up the topic of Bollywood productions. I liked "Moulin" and I'd probably love Bollywood films.


Yep, most of the major dance sequences are very Bollywood-esque. I actually hated Moulin Rouge, thought their Bollywood rip-off was just one more reason why it sucked.

Like Spanky mentioned, I think that when the term Bollywood is used, it isn't referring to movies like Fire or East is East, it's kind of the same way we refer to Hollywood films. It's films that are characteristically formulaic, operate with the same directors, actors and themes. There's a distinction between independent and art house films made in India vs. the generally pure entertainment Bollywood films.

[kamenriderv3]

Yeah. That's why I referred to them as Indian movies and not Bollywood.

[p_kusmin]

i used to love watching those movies when i was younger. you never knew when they would be on but when they were, they were just crazy. lots of ketchup blood, and so much action that it would make your head dizzy. i was pleasantly suprised when "guns, cars, & sitars" came out. the music was always super cool but hard to find unless you went to "little india" (ethnic neigborhood in town).

[cellout]

guns, cars, and sitars.

^c

[MazinKaizer]

this is stereotype of bollywood:

Poor but handsome guy

He love his mother so much

His mother allow him to do anything for what he want,
except leaving her alone

The guy met with rich girl

Her parents is stubborn and pushy

Then a bad guy and his group involved
It could be a guy who a friend of the girl parents and they plan a fixed marriage FOR the girl
Or evil landlord try to get the good guy land AND the girl
Or corrupt politician try to get "protection money" more AND the girl

The good guy can avoid better and punch harder

hundred bad guy shoot at the good guy and miss completely (even in open field)

The good guy can shoot opponent accurately despite how sluggish he handle the weapon

Unlimited ammo for the good guy

Standard 30 bullet magazen for bad guy (and always emptied out when they have the opportunity to shot the good guy in point blank)

Good guy win and GET the girl

song and singing, alot of it

[slackerbot]

got this from Slashdot..

http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-0092292.html

Digital revolution set to sweep India‘s Bollywood
Staff and agencies
28 October, 2005



By Narayanan Madhavan 53 minutes ago

BANGALORE - Digital cinema is about to take off in India, home of the world‘s most prolific film industry, but not without some twists and turns worthy of a "Bollywood" melodrama.

In the United States, a digital roll-out has stalled while Hollywood studios and theater owners fight over who pays for top-quality computer-based projection systems that cost $80,000 to $100,000 per screen.

But in the Mumbai-based film industry known as Bollywood, entrepreneurs are willing to settle for a bit less quality at one-third the cost. They use cheap digital cinema in remote towns to cash in on blockbusters -- and in the process, beat back video pirates, too.

"Piracy can be completely prevented when the entire industry goes digital," said Senthil Kumar of RealImage Media Technologies, a start-up in Chennai (Madras) that makes digital video players.

But as with mobile phones, India opts for value over top quality, a strategy that makes sense in an industry where only one in 12 movies has made a solid profit since 2001.

Industry officials say low-cost digital cinema, called "E-Cinema" in contrast to the top-quality "D-Cinema," is just what Bollywood needs. Though less than 2 percent of the country‘s 13,000 cinemas are digital, 2006 should see some big roll-outs in India.

"E-Cinema is what is going to be appropriate for countries like India," Kumar says.

India, led by Bollywood, produces about 1,000 films a year and Kumar calls the industry "pure Las Vegas" because producers often gamble on a single blockbuster to make up for several flops. But transporting celluloid prints to remote towns costs more and gives video pirates enough time to mint cheap copies, cutting into profits.

And that is where start up companies like RealImage come in.

Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Entertainment, an arm of India‘s biggest private group, Reliance, said digital cinema could help the industry make quick profits.

"The idea is saturation release. There is too much content chasing too many eyeballs," Khanna said.

While it takes around 70,000 rupees to make a celluloid print, RealImage rents out digital copies to cinema owners at less than 400 rupees.

Using inexpensive digital copies, a theater can run a movie for four weeks at less than 10 percent of the cost of a print, taking the edge off cinematic flops.

RealImage, which takes an upfront security deposit, but no equipment rentals from cinema owners, is now serving 40 screens in its home state of Tamil Nadu, and there are plans for 100 more across India by December, Kumar said.

Mumbai-based UFO Moviez, a service provider, uses satellites to download movies and last month ordered 500 projectors from U.S.-based Digital Projection International.

UFO now serves 50 cinemas and plans to reach 500 screens by March, a company official said.

Chennai-b - ) that give Bollywood a better trade-off between cost and quality.

But there are still doubters.

"I don‘t want to be a mover or shaker in this," Shravan Shroff, managing director of multiplex owner and distributor Shringar Cinemas Ltd. (SHRC.BO), which runs 22 screens.

"I would be a fence-sitter till someone else does it. I can always go and buy the technology later."

(Additional reporting by Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles)

[slackerbot]

this looks interesting. Bollywood movie with a sci-fi superhero touch.

http://www.krrishthemovie.com/

[fmstlr]

http://www.mynameiskhanthefilm.com/

Run Khan Run

Bollywood's comment on the paranoid anti-terrorism frenzy.

[Iago]

I saw this over my friend's place. Hot guy. It's essentially one long Calvin Klein commercial with singing and lots of man-distress and man-weep. Oh great title too.

https://ccit300-f06.wikispaces.com/file/view/jism.jpg/30246910/jism.jpg
http://worldoftimepass.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/jism-bipasha-basu.jpg

[SweetArse]

WTF? I started this thread??? It's been almost a decade and I still haven't seen a single Indian movie.

[noeruna]

I saw this over my friend's place. Hot guy. It's essentially one long Calvin Klein commercial with singing and lots of man-distress and man-weep. Oh great title too.

https://ccit300-f06.wikispaces.com/file/view/jism.jpg/30246910/jism.jpg
http://worldoftimepass.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/jism-bipasha-basu.jpg

I concur. He's hot. Last summer my sis and I watched the movie No Smoking. John Abraham played K, a man who tries out a new tobacco cessation program which goes well beyond nicotine patches/gum and behavior modification. There was even a lovely music and dance performance after the main story wraps up.