ABOUT BOLLYWOOD

The Indian cinema, short "Bollywood" (a mixture of Bombay and Hollywood), is the biggest existing film industry. Every year, more than 600 are being shot and released, where as Hollywood only produces about 200.

Although the industry is so big, not many people in Europe and the USA know about it. It is, however, getting more successful, as the TV Channels have started to show the translated versions of some movies.

The most famous male stars in Bollywood are Amitabh Bachchan, Amrish Puri and Shahrukh Khan. Amitabh Bachchan has done more than 70 films in his career and is an idol for almost every new actor joining in the industry. Amrish Puri is one of the very few Indian stars who has managed to also act in Hollywood Movies, like Indiana Jones, where he plays a gangster. This is nothing unusual as most of his other parts had something evil with them. Unfortunately, Amrish Puri died in 2005, after long sickness. Now Shahrukh Khan. He is THE movie star in Bollywood, admired by probably every woman in India and another idol. He did his most successful movies together with the actress Kajol, including the blockbuster "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" which was the first production to be accepted in Europe. They also paired up in "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", a movie that even beat productions like "Zoolander" (with Ben Stiller) and entered the Top 3 in UK, although it was only played in 19 cinemas.

A lot of people think that Bollywood movies are "Boy meets Girl" and have a Happy End. Most of them have to admit that after having watched some of the more recent films, that they are wrong. It is tradition in India that every movie has to contain at least some sort of romance, but it doesn't always end in a Happy End. Nor it is true, that romance is the main element in every Bollywood movie. Until a couple of years ago, most of the Indian people believed, that their films should stay family movies, so violent and brutal scripts were rejected. Lately, however, there has been a change in this attitude. Many more productions treat the history and the conflicts of India; try to teach the people about the past of their country.