My own experience of a Bollywood film
came as a result of a trip to India and a visit to the local cinema in Jaipur,
one evening. Treated to a fantastical spectacle in a cinema decorated with
incredible opulence, I enjoyed a film, which was totally contradictory to the
harsh realities of life in India.
Named after a combination of the name
of the city Bombay (now known as Mumbai) and Hollywood, this is the Hindi film
industry. Featuring a cast of thousands these musical glitz and glamour
productions, often with a ‘boy meets girl’, storyline are perfect in their use
of opulence and total escapism.
Starting with the first screening in
1899, Bollywood as an industry has grown to such an extent that it makes up to
800 films per year, with 14 million Indian people visiting the cinema every day
in India alone. The same popular actors are featured in most of the films,
which results in an actor/actress often being busy filming for more than one
film at a time.
Seemingly, Bollywood’s appeal is on
the increase as this has led to big US film companies, such as Warner Bros and
Twentieth Century Fox setting up offices in India with obviously an idea for
future collaboration.
With an Oscar nomination for ‘Lagaan’,
in 2002 Bollywood films have been gathering momentum and have managed to cross
over to the extent that they are now not just viewed by Indian families alone,
but are also being shown in cinemas throughout the United Kingdom. Here, in
Groningen at the Noorderzon Festival, a performing arts festival (and shortly
to be seen at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival), the ‘Bollywood Mysterie’ was to
be seen. A musical and visual feast of Indian music and film as portrayed by
Gerry Arling with support from The Mondriaan Quartet, traditional Indian
musicians and the spiritual music of the Californian composer, Terry Riley.
It is also possible that if you like the
idea, you can sign up for Bollywood dancing lessons.
