If you are not familiar with Bollywood movies yet, this article will open your eyes to a whole new world! So what is it you might ask?
To put it simply, when speaking about Bollywood, people are commonly referring to all India’s Hindi language films based in Mumbay (originally), although the industry is mostly famous for its Masala films: films with all the elements of films to appeal to a great audience: song, dance, action, romance, comedy, etc. like this (yes the first time it can be surprising):
Non Hindi movies are actually not included in this definition although they are big movie producers as well: Bollywood movies represent 43% of the net box office revenue, while Tamil and Telugu cinema represent 36%, and the rest of the regional cinema constitutes 21% as of 2014.
The Hindi film industry “Bollywood” is the world’s largest film production center (800 movies released each year) & one of the biggest film industries in the world in terms of the number of people employed. The first feature film (silent black-and-white) was produced in India in 1913 and besides some dark periods, since the 1960s the industry achieved major commercial success more regularly, and revenues have exploded ever since.
The actors
Contrary to what happens in the West, the pool of Bollywood stars is not that diversified and big movie stars are bound to release a certain number of movies each year. So you will obviously find the same actors and the same couples in many different movies over the years. And the major actors will also be featuring many commercials on TV and billboards (my absolute favorite is Shahrukh Kahn so I was delighted to see his face everywhere in the different cities I traveled through). It could seem repetitive but because they are “feel good” movies, well…it feels good to know you can count on something, like the fact that you will enjoy a nice moment watching a romantic movie with actors you already know are good together (so cheesy)!
The guys (they are allowed to get older as they become sexier with maturity):
The girls (more choice and younger than guys of course):
The movies
There is not much that I can say except give you a list of my, and people’s, favorite blockbusters. With this you should be fine for a while!
My favorites:
Best Hindi movies of all time I still have to watch (I did not include the very old ones):
Latest successes:
Bollywood dancing classes
What’s next on my mind? The success of the movies obviously relies on the energetic and cheerful songs that are the soundtrack of these simple yet good-hearted stories. I have already been dancing on some Bollywood songs on my Xbox Kinect as cardio training (on the Zumba Rush game) but now I want to try some collective classes outside of my apartment!
There are many different choices in big cities, in Paris dancing classes are easily found in large Fitness Gyms like “le Cercle de la Forme” or in private clubs where you can register for a trimester or more while paying according to your revenue:
- http://www.cerclesdelaforme.com/ – I attended this club for a year and I loved it although Bollywood classes were not tought yet at the time
- http://www.elephantpaname.com/fr/centre-danse/cours/bollywood
- http://bollydeewani.fr/ – price according to your revenue
- http://www.studiolenvol.com/cours/cours-danse-indienne-paris.html – you can pay for just one class to try!
From yearly registration to single classes, the choice is large and you have no excuses not to at least try it!!
52 Weeks Challenge 