Creating Film for Bollywood/Mumbai

India holds the distinction of making more films than all countries of Europe combined and roughly four times that of the U.S. 90% of these movies do not survive the box office. Bollywood has a global audience even larger than Hollywood's. It has been recognized to be a potentially lucrative new market from varying sources, but is globalization working for the quality or the number of films being produced and distributed today?

Feature films are produced in approximately 20 languages in India and there are multiple film industries whose total output makes India the largest feature film producing country in the world. Movie tickets in India are among the cheapest in the world. The average India cinema ticket costs $0.20; in comparison to the average ticket in the U.S. in 2009 that costs $8.41. "India accounts for 73% of Asia-Pacific movie admissions, currently estimated at US$2.9 billion."[i]

In the late 1970s, Bollywood became a term used by the English Language Press in India. Now it is the dominant global term to refer to the industry located in Bombay (renamed Mumbai in 1995). Over the nine decades of its existence, Indian Cinema has responded to various social, cultural and political contexts and challenges. All films were silent until 1931.[ii] Film emphasized costume, drama full of fantasy and with many melodious songs to intensify the audience's emotions. The introduction of sound generates an increasing emphasis on music and song. The how or why something happened is a more popular plot usually driven by family conflict.

Producing & Directing

There are two categories within Indian film: "popular" and "art cinema". An art cinema example is a recently released "Monsoon Wedding" by Mair Nair. Most of the films stay true to the myths, conventions, and iconography of Bollywood, Mythology: The aesthetics and narrative structure of the films are based on ancient, mythical texts of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The Filmmakers of India developed a total art form in which music, song and dance as a combination gives the audience entertainment. Sometimes it may seem that the movies are created just as an excuse to make music.

Contemporary filmmakers in India have little stomach for contentious issues. Unlike their predecessors of the 1950s, they do not examine traditional causes in Indian society.

Most popular Hindu films are melodramas and repeat themselves endlessly. The Hindi audiences reject unoriginal film music. Some people mistaken that Bollywood movies are musicals. American viewers of popular Hindu cinema are frequently confused, perplexed or frustrated mainly because the movies disrupt their expectation and anticipation based on the mixed up continuity of the story line and the camera placement that changes screen perspective.

It is not just the moviegoers who prefer to gloss over the contradictions of their society, but also the filmmakers themselves. With this in mind, horror films seem to be a promising genre. Not too many directors explore this genre, nor do they make many horror movies hits. Horror films are low budget quickies that combine the supernatural with a close understanding of the psychosis of fear.

The plot lines in older horror movies were made centered around classic ghost stories about reincarnated souls. In the late 1970's and 1980's, the plot lines in the films took a turn from spooky ghost stories to movies featuring serial killers and the like. This is also the time period where the most well known Hindi horror film directors, the Ramsay brothers, surfaced as the so-called "kings" of the horror genre.

Things began to change from the year 1992 when a young filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma ventured out to make his first horror flick Raat, which reinvented the genre on the big screen. Then after a decade, Vikram Bhatt made his horror debut Raaz in 2002, inspired by the Hollywood hit What Lies Beneath. A year later in 2003, Ram Gopal Varma came up with the scariest horror film to date - Bhoot, the first made without the use of any props and blood. In 2008, both Vikram Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma produced one hit a month which opened the eyes of the producers and directors in India. Their films 1920 and Phoonk terrified audiences - and delighted distributors worldwide with their takings at the box office. Both the films were instant hits.

"Despite having the world's largest film industry in terms of numbers employed and films produced, Indian cinema has failed to make inroads into some of the world's key markets, most notably Europe and North America. This failure is attributed to style and form issues, exhibition problems, marketing, and the massive difference in budgets between India and Hollywood. However, perhaps the core elements of music and dance and emphasis on the family will prove to be the key to the more complete globalization of Bollywood."[i]

Many people continue to ask "what is Bollywood?" The Oscars will raise the industry's visibility further. The Slumdog Millinoaire was the eighth movie ever to win Academy Awards from India. The Oscar wins for 'Slumdog' is a good indicator that there are good things to come for the Hollywood-Bollywood connection. Opportunities for industry professionals abroad can pursue the film project,Shantaram, a novel by author Gregory David Roberts. Warner Bros.won the rights to the film and Johnny Depp is the leading actor. This is a very complex book with layering and texturing of India's culture and about the life of the author. The director hired is in question now. The studio has an anticipated schedule for production to be for late 2009.[ii]

India has flaunted itself as a low-cost destination for Hollywood filmmakers, much like Canada has done, highlighting its lush locales, hi-tech studios and cheap labor costs. Now, with the entry of large corporations, institutional finance, and all are transforming the industry and drawing more foreign studios eager for a share of the pie.

Four classics of Indian cinema below:

Mughal-e Azam (1960),- The Bollywood view of Indian history with songs, dance, grand speeches, elephant processions, and palaces. The lavish production took nine years to finish. The film broke box office records in India when released and held the record for the highest grossing film ever until the 1975 film Sholay broke its record.

Pakeezah (1971)- the story of a courtesan in early 20^th century India, born in a graveyard, who falls in love with a nobleman. Pakeezah took nearly 14 years to shoot

Pyaasa (1957), The poet's lover rejects him to marry money; his family rejects him for his impracticality. HindiThirst in English) is a 1957Hindi film directed by Guru Dutt. The film tells the story of struggling poet, Vijay (Guru Dutt), trying to make his works known in post-independence India. Gulabo, eventually helps him get his poems published. The music was composed by S.D. Burman

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge(The Brave Lover Will Take the Bride). The film was directed by Aditya Chopra, and starred Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and Amrish Puri the film became the biggest Bollywood hit of the year,. In March 2009, the film set a record by completing 700 weeks of continuous play in Mumbai theatre.

[i] Rachel Dwyer, "Bollywoods New Dream" New Statesman, January 30, 2006.

[ii] Fleming, Michael (November 30, 2005). "Weir to steer Depp pic". Variety. Retrieved on April 5, 2008.

[i] Aruna Vasudev "IFilm Connections: Asia & Pacific."

[ii] Bernice Geoffroy-Schneiter, Indian Beauty/Bollywood Style. Pg. 20