Bollywood fanatic?

You don't have to be interested in Bollywood to actually enjoy it. I thought that one of the movies we had to watch for class (Lagaan) was going to be the death of me because I heard it was 3 and a half hours long in subtitles. That does not sound appealing, now does it? But I was proven wrong. I actually liked the film...a lot. It made me want to explore more into the history and objectives of Bollywood films.
Bollywood has become one of the world's largest film industries. It originated in the early twentieth century, which means it's pretty new to the film world. Their focus has always been to portray and reinforce Indian national identity which includes class, gender, religion, and other important aspects of the Indian culture. The more contemporary Bollywood films like to rely soley on "self-projection" of the individual star's physical and cultural desirability on screen. They like to show ideas of poverty, caste, and tradition that they practice day by day. They want their viewers to really see what their life is like. But they also take extreme pride in the ways that they live, they aren't ashamed.
Another aspect of Bollywood film that really caught my attention was the musical part of it all. Now, I know you're probably thinking, "how can you like their music? You can't even understand what they're saying!" But really, it's catchy! Now, I wouldn't go to the club (as my professor suggests) and bust out any of their moves, but the artform of their music is really interesting. It's neat because it's nothing like our musicals. They are influenced by American films, but, obviously, their music has a meaning towards their own film. It always plays a part in the storyline in some which way or form. They aren't all mushy gushy like American films are, so it's not awkward to watch. They are very modest and show their sense of morality through their films.
So, there ya go. That sums up some major points in Bollywood films. I highly suggest that you watch some of the films that we post as our favorites...they're pretty rad.

If you want to look up more about Bollywood, here's some great links that we found:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1211852?seq=9&Search=yes&term=Cinema&term=Indian&list=hide&resultsServiceName=showBasicSearch

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1213988?seq=2&Search=yes&term=Bollywood&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DBollywood%26wc%3Don&item=1&ttl=161&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060772?seq=3&Search=yes&term=Bollywood&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DBollywood%26wc%3Don&item=2&ttl=161&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle