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India
Bombay India's Hollywood
Mumbai, perhaps more well known by its former name, Bombay, is the capital
city of India's Maharashtra state. In this article, we shall use the names
Bombay and Mumbai interchangeably.
Mumbai is home to a population of about 13 million people and it is the
largest metropolis in India. It is also one of the most populous cities in the
world. Some people refer to Bombay as the tinsel town of India akin to
Hollywood because Bombay is the centre of the Hindi movie industry.
Because of this association with Hollywood, Hindi movies are referred to
as Bollywood made movies. The recipe for success in Bollywood is the usual
poor boy meets rich girl theme interspersed with plenty of singing, dancing
and costume changes. However this successful formula may have to be changed.
While this formula is still a staple Bollywood fare, an increasing number of
movies are experimenting with diverse story lines, from gritty dramas to
horror flicks.
Changing face of Bollywood
Industry observers say is the changes are related to, ironically, India's
booming economy, which has produced a better educated middle class that
demands more sophisticated and more complex plots.
In a strange twist of events, the transformation is happening
at a time when Bollywood's visual focused style of filmmaking is infiltrating
into Hollywood, influencing movies like Moulin Rouge. Indian filmmakers in the
United States are infusing Hollywood made movies with the colors and lavish
aesthetics, Bollywood style.
Moulin Rouge was reportedly
influenced by a trip the film's director Baz Luhrmann made to India and his
fascination with Bollywood style movies. The movie even featured a closing
number based on the Hindi song "Chamma Chamma".
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Because of the popularity of Bollywood made movies, Mumbai is attracting
tourists from all over the world and also domestic tourists, just like its
counterpart, Hollywood. To satisfy the estimated 14 million or so Indians who
troop to the cinema every day, the Bollywood churns out more than a thousand
movies a year. This is at least twice as many movies as Hollywood produce in a
year.
The Bollywood actors and actresses will break out into songs and dance
routine anytime, something which often leaves Western movie goers somewhat
perplexed and puzzled. Earlier made movies may even include up to 40 songs per
movie. However, these days, the song and dance segment has watered down to
about seven or eight per film. Location shoots in the movies often take place
in beautiful foreign locations, something industry sources believe is made to
appeal to the poor.
Mumbai escapades
"A lot of people go to the cinema purely for escape. When there are characters
singing and dancing in beautiful locations in Europe, say, like Switzerland
and that, for most Indians is the only way they will ever get to see those
places" said Ramchandran.
However, with India's booming economy, millions of people have moved out
of poverty trap into a the middle class and film productions seem to be moving
in tandem from pure escapism to more sophisticated stories and plots.
How much changes are to be made to Bollywood style of film making will
be seen from the years to come. In the meantime, Bollywood has certainly made
Bombay famous as a holiday vacation destination for tourists
visiting India. - Bollywood Bombay article posted on Oct
2007.
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