Beginning Bollywood - Part 1 - Quick Context

This midterm season I've taken a break from my usual movie watching to relax into some of my favorite Indian films. So far I've only gotten through Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham (2001) a 3.5 hour long family drama that holds a special place in my heart despite this only being the second time I've watched the whole thing. See, growing up my parents had this DVD called 'Shah Rukh Khan Golden Collection' (or as we affectionately call it, '100 Years of Shah Rukh Khan') which is basically a compilation of all of his most famous dance numbers from across his filmography. I have watched this DVD a hundred times, mostly during road trips and family gatherings.

Bollywood isn't something personal to me, it is a much larger industry with much larger fans. The first time I watched many Masala Era films was with a classmate during our senior year of high school. But still I find myself drawn to Bollywood movies often in the Autumn. Maybe it's the years of high school theater, maybe it's in my blood (my parents are also big bollywood fans) but Indian Cinema is one of my favorite topics, mostly because I learned most people don't know much about it!

What is Bollywood?

Despite popular belief, term 'bollywood' refers specifically to Hindi-Language films made in India.

What does that mean exactly?

Well Oscar award winning film RRR (2022) is NOT a Bollywood movie (it's original language is Telugu) and neither is Dev Patel's Monkey Man (2024) which was mostly shot in Indonesia and is American produced.

So what makes a film a Bollywood film?

Personally I have a few criteria:

1) Made by an Indian Production Company

2) Predominantly in Hindi

Now there are all sorts of technicalities and exceptions out there but I think these are some of the more important ones. You may wonder why the language is so important, well that's because Indian film industries are determined by language. Mollywood, Tollywood, Bollywood, etc,etc. My overall point is not all movies made in India are Bollywood, and Bollywood is not just Masala films that are well known in America, there is an extensive history of both serious and fun films, and both types are still being made today if you know where to look.

Eras

Silent: 1913-1930

Spanning from the first silent Indian film Raja Harishchandra (1913) to the first 'talkie' or sound film Alam Ara (which has since been lost). This era was mostly laying the foundations, as well as existing in a pre-partition British India.

Golden: 1931-1960s

During this era, the first color film was made, Kisan Kanya (1937) but color did not become mainstream until the 1950s. This era saw the development of Bollywood that would eventually land it into the top 3 largest film industries. Also during this time was the development of the 'parallel cinema' movement which referred to films with more realistic and natural setting and story, contrasting the usual 'epic tale' theme of the wider industry.

Masala: 1970s-1990s

The Masala Era is named mostly after the genre of films that are now quintessential to Bollywood. A Masala film is comprised of a blend of numerous film genres, taking it's name from the staple spice mix from local cuisine, Masala. Genres range from romance, action, comedy, drama, and quite commonly, musical. Another staple of the Masala era is dance numbers where the characters will burst into dance that may or may not have any impact on the story. Personally I love the dance numbers but some argue they take away from the film itself.

Modern - 1990s-Now

The last "era" isn't really an era yet because it is still unfolding. Usually eras are defined in retrospect, so there is currently not much to say about it. In my opinion, the current era is quite similar to what we are seeing from Hollywood, a lot of big budget projects that range from mediocre to brilliant. (see: Pathaan vs Rocky aur Rani )

The Romantics

Now there is obviously so much more to Bollywood than what I have covered, and I just wanted to quickly recommend a docu-series on Netflix called The Romantics. It concerns the history of one of the biggest production film studios in Bollywood, Yash Raj Films. It has interviews with like every big name in the industry (who was alive) and it contains a lot of films both well and lesser known.

Stay tuned for a playlist + recommendations list in the coming weeks, meanwhile I will be writing half decent reviews on Letterboxd if that is of interest to you.