Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy loses girl. Boy comes up with a way to get girl back. They get married in a huge, lavish ceremony. In between, there's a trip to Europe or South America and about five or six songs with dance numbers, which often involve going round and round a tree. This is the cliched description of what a Bollywood film is comprised of, and it certainly is the case for a number of movies. Regardless of this, Bollywood is the main cinema watched in India, and the love and the worship the actors receive is unparalleled. If one were to ask a random person on the street to name a person from India, I can assure you that the name you'd be most likely to hear (aside from maybe Gandhi) is Shah Rukh Khan.
If we want to look at the stark differences between Bollywood and Hollywood, or at least what these differences used to be or were assumed to be, the first thing we'd look at would be the dances. A movie with people randomly breaking out into song and dance is either categorized specifically as a musical or as a Disney movie like "High School Musical" (2006). Due to the high incidence of musical numbers in Bollywood movies, many people believe they are all about them. While they are definitely important and are used to express feelings and emotions through a different medium, they do not define Bollywood.
Many perceive Bollywood movies to be simple, un−thought−provoking, sappy love stories, yet this is not necessarily the case anymore. With recent movies such as "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" (2001) — which concerns the land taxes of the British Raj framed through the device of a cricket match "Rang De Basanti" (2006) — which recounts the story of Bhagat Singh and remarks on the revolutionary potential of the youth today; and many regarding the sensitive political issue of Sept. 11 like "New York" (2009), "Kurbaan" (2009) and "My Name is Khan" (2010), Bollywood is truly coming into the 21st century with more serious films. These movies may have the same songs and dances that older ones did, but they still deal with serious issues quite ably.
In the past, Hollywood and Bollywood were two rather mutually exclusive industries. Bollywood was only Indian and only featured Indian actors and actresses, Indian playback singers and Indian directors. Hollywood, while being more open, did not necessarily cast Indians in roles that they'd be remembered for. It's been hard to find Indians who are widely known in the United States due to Hollywood, with some notable exceptions like that of Kal Penn. But that's changed as time has passed. Former Miss World 1994, AishwaryaRai, has become known around the world, and not just because of her good looks; her work in movies like "Mistress of Spices" (2005) and "Pink Panther 2" (2009) was watched by viewers around the world — not just the Indian communities of New York or New Jersey.
Movies in Hollywood have been made about India as well, most notably the 2009 multiple−Oscar−winning"SlumdogMillionaire." However this crossover works both ways — there has been a lot of English talent, both from movies and the music industry, utilized in Bollywood in the last few years. Starting with Snoop Dogg, who recorded the title song for "Singh is Kinng" (2008), various other entertainers have been involved, such as Kylie Minogue and, more recently, Akon. It's certainly strange to hear him crooning, in his ridiculously high voice, "Do you wanna be my ChamakChallo?" (a phrase that comes across as "sexy girl" to some, and a more abusive phrase to others). It's strange but definitely satisfying to see the gap between the two industries finally being bridged.
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