A Simple Guide to Understanding Bollywood
Of the myriad ways of Indian cinema, and cultural stories.
Bollywood 101
A guide to understanding Bollywood
The myriad ways of Indian cinema
If you’re ready to embark on a captivating journey through Indian cinema, especially in its most prominent language, Hindi, I’ve got some essential pointers for you. Bollywood, the heart of the Hindi film industry, is renowned for its unique storytelling. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video now offer a plethora of titles with English subtitles, making it more accessible than ever.
But what’s the allure of Bollywood? If you’re curious about the enchanting world that has millions of fans flocking to theaters, turning on their TVs, or clicking through YouTube, this guide is your ticket.
If you’re seeking recommendations, drop a comment below!
The Backstory
Most movies will have a backstory introduced in the beginning, for 30 minutes. Sometimes, it can take the form of a flashback 15 minutes into the movie. It is to provide the audience with the background necessary to understand the story and the motivations of its characters. It is to explain why the hero is a criminal now. Or to emphasize the continued goodness of the hero despite his past misfortunes. In any case, it presents you with the ‘problem.’
The actions of the mostly male protagonists are driven by their intent to support their families, including their parents, grandparents, extended families, and anyone else in their immediate circle of love. This includes childhood friends. The hero’s entire life is devoted to ensuring wrongs are righted.
Evil will be undone by the hero or by karmic forces. If the wickedness is within the family, those wayward members are brought to their senses, taught a lesson, and everyone reconciles to great joy. Because, no matter what, family reigns supreme. One way or the other, people receives their due punishment, at the hand of the protagonist or karma or the system.
Movies often portray actions that the audience might not condone, such as the female protagonist engaging in behavior not yet socially acknowledged or accepted as unavoidable. For instance, becoming an unwed mother, marrying in secret, or being caught in a pre-marital intimate situation with the hero, etc. These actions are typically depicted as a response to some adverse event or pressure she faces, leaving her with no alternative.
Or she may be shown as being under extreme pressure from external forces, or misguided, she makes a mistake in the heat of the moment for which she will pay later in some fashion. The lesson here is that she has to be seen returning to core values of society. Despite the mistake, her good character will ensure that she is redeemed, after plenty of tears and heartache.
Tears are a staple element, and indulged in by almost all of main characters at some point in the film unless it is a comedy. Even then, the director may still sneak in an emotional scene somewhere in the 120–180 minutes of runtime, especially if he thinks some aspect of the script is weak. Emotion always wins the day.
Filmmakers go to great lengths to make you feel for the characters, and identify with the situation or the pain felt. When the situation is resolved, there is a feeling of relief, happiness, and a belief that you can conquer your daily troubles just like the hero or heroine.
Superstition and stereotypes are often reinforced, violence is accepted in many situations, while death is used to highlight the ultimate sacrifice.
If there is a situation that cannot be resolved through ‘normal’ means, the death of a character will be the answer. It is incredible how often, common relationship scenarios are resolved through the death of one of the characters, especially when young.
For instance, in a situation where the hero is married to another woman out of compulsion (sigh, this can also happen), she either dies or is killed accidentally in a fight leaving the hero free to marry his patient, all-suffering true love.
Divorce is an unavailable option for the plot. Bollywood rarely acknowledges real-life situations and instead opts for neatly tied-up solutions.
Bollywood movies have a strong emotional pull on audiences, who identify strongly with the characters in the film. People reflect on the protagonists’ journey, shed tears at the contrived hardships, and rejoice at their wins.
In theatres, sometimes, this joy will be expressed spontaneously showing the power of stories to move the human spirit.
The first film in Bollywood was released in 1946.
Here is my rundown of the decades in a nutshell:
A Glance at Bollywood Through the Decades
The 50s and 60s: Movies focused on nation-building as India was newly free as an independent country. Other theme were poverty, oppression, patriotic fervor, and rags-to-riches stories. Then there was romance, unrequited and requited. The decade is known for its haunting music, beautiful actresses, and incredible actors, with stories that had simplicity and fewer plot holes.
Black and white movies ruled the screen. It was a golden age of Indian cinema. Many of the songs now considered evergreen classics in Hindi cinema belong to these two decades. Bollywood also drew inspiration from Hollywood, resulting in a heavy Western influence on music, fashion, character mannerisms, and romantic interactions between the male and female leads. This clip features an actress, widely regarded as the most beautiful (and talented) to ever grace the Indian screen.
The spirit of the hippie culture also found its way into Bollywood narratives. Hollywood classics like Clark Gable’s ‘It Happened One Night’ were adapted with a local twist, often surpassing the success of the originals.
The 70s: Movies became more about the male protagonist, and his revenge against the wrongs of society. Female actors were an adornment in the story, softening the hero’s image. The careers of actors who became legends and towering celebrities were launched in this decade.
The 80s: were entirely forgettable with stolen music, mediocre scripts, and uninspiring actors.
The 90s: Younger artists and directors, many of them children of established filmmakers, emerged, heralding the promise of a new, modern India. They delved into themes of romance set against foreign backdrops while preserving the cultural essence that underlies all Bollywood narratives. Audiences had grown weary of the violence prevalent in the 1970s and 80s and were receptive to something new and refreshing. Of course, there is always time for love.
The 2000s: These are a mixed bag. Movies had bigger budgets. Hollywood remakes, CGI, and local adaptations of successful Hollywood action flicks thrived. Some were a hit.
In parallel, across the decades, independent cinema and serious filmmakers would sneak in a few good movies that garnered attention and awards.
But entertainment is the real currency of Bollywood, not serious cinema. The masses, enduring oppressive reality daily, really don’t want to pay to watch it again on screen.
So, Bollywood has to offer escapism in the form of stories, songs, locales and beauty and that all satisfying conclusion.
The underlying theme is always the same: good wins over evil, truth will prevail, those who do good suffer but are made whole again in the end. Deviating from this would spell box office doom. In any Bollywood entertainment, these themes will show up, in some form or the other.
Rules to decode the magic of Bollywood
Given the above summary, here are some rules that will help you make sense of a Bollywood movie, in case you wish to find out what all the fuss is about. (Or wish to be entertained on a Sunday afternoon!)
Rule 1: The Epic Resolution
A movie will build its storyline for 2.5 hours and then resolve all of the issues in the last 10 minutes and cram every type of fight scene into the resolution. This will always leave you dissatisfied as several dots will remain disconnected.
Alas, the filmmaker has run out of budget, time, and patience as he was busy filming the songs, and left the connecting scenes out. He compromises by stuffing every dot he can remember into the actions and dialogues of the main characters after the fight sequence. Everyone hugs. Despite this brave attempt, there will always be those pesky plot holes that will bother you.
The key (title) song will repeat for a few seconds or minutes. Yes, every movies has a song that carries the tittle words in it. ‘The End’ will flash on the screen in bold text. This is so that people know they can safely leave the theatre — the good guy won. In case some dot is left disconnected, this scene transition conclusively puts to rest any expectation that it will be resolved.
Rule 2: The Misunderstanding
There will always be a misunderstanding between the protagonist and his love interest, especially after they have professed deep abiding love for each other. You have to just wait for it.
This results in their separation, hatred of each other, or the extreme reaction of immediately forming an intent to marry another — the nearest contender. Yes, there will always be marital intent between the main characters from the start.
A romance is not a real romance unless the two hate each other or misunderstand each other halfway through the movie.
The audience is engaged in the fight, asked to take sides implicitly, by using moral dilemmas. It is the equivalent of ‘What would you do?’ question or a ‘Dear Abby’ column. You can decide who was right in the fight, and celebrate when true love triumphs over all of the drama.
The two characters once deeply in love will be manipulated to believe the worst of each other.
‘Murderer!’ they will cry or ‘How could you’ or ‘I never want to see your face again’ but in the end, they magically forgive each other.
Either the hero solves the murder, or the police do. Or, the unfaithfulness is seen as a misunderstanding between the two. The female character is in reality, still as pure as driven snow and all is forgiven.
In real life, if your significant other believes you are capable of murder, then it is a worrying sign.
Rule 3: Tragic Backstories
People die of strange illnesses, especially when they are poor. The hero is usually away when this happens or is powerless to stop it. It then becomes the reason for the rest of his actions for the rest of the movie: revenge, getting rich, or doing charity works. This works for the female protagonist too. She is either thrown out of the house, is orphaned, penniless or some catastrophic event results in her separation from a stable environment.
Rule 4: Marvelous Coincidences
Every movie will have incredible coincidences — the protagonist will shop exactly where he may run into his romantic interest even in a city of 11 million people.
Enemies will find each other quite by accident. Children will grow up unrecognized in the same neighborhood. The hero and his long-lost mother will go to the shopping mall at the very same moment and see each other in a crowd of hundreds.
No coincidence is too small for the filmmakers to plug a hole in their script. No truth can be stranger than Bollywood fiction in its 100 years of filmmaking.
The audience is so prepped for this that they can predict within minutes of an event that the coincidence will occur at some point in the movie. If it doesn’t, it is a disappointment.
For those of you used to subway crowds and losing your friend in the tube station, it may appear wondrous indeed.
Rule 5: Public Confrontations
In Bollywood, some of the most pivotal climax scenes, brimming with confrontation, betrayal, and reconciliation, unfold consistently in front of others. Whether it’s a bustling crowd of strangers (‘extras’), lively partygoers, extended families, these scenarios are the quintessential trademarks of any movie.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the main characters lay bare their souls and expose closely guarded family secrets before these expansive gatherings, often amidst grand parties. Astonishingly, it seems that no one bats an eye or worries about the potential awkwardness of bumping into each other the next day.
The audience remains riveted, eagerly savoring every morsel of the drama: accusations, betrayals, murders, police visits, claims and counter-claims, and emotional quarrels between couples [See Rule 2]. This unflinching willingness to publicly shame one another, whether in the presence of strangers, family, or friends, is quite commonplace.
In the filmmaker’s view, the collective gaze of the onlookers serves to amplify the emotional intensity. If these scenes make you squirm, you may well find yourself in the minority.
Rule 6: Songs are the chief draw.
Songs reign supreme in nearly all movies. The marketing of a song begins on the radio, music channels and now, on YouTube. Often, the music is composed independently of the movie, and then, a scenario is crafted to accommodate the song and its lyrics. Whether or not it makes sense is beside the point.
Bollywood songs on youtube can easily clock 400–800 million views.
Rule 7: Overcoming the odds
The protagonist will face innumerable odds, and everything that can go wrong will go wrong with him. Murphy’s Law is ever present in his life. Yet, he will manage to have the most beautiful woman fall for him and swear eternal devotion to him.
Intelligence and Logic is for losers. No attempt will be made to mollify them too. In the 10% of the movies where attempts are made, the movie will fail to be a success. So, any hopes of other filmmakers following suit will be quickly quashed.
Nevertheless, when logic and sensibility do manage to find their place in Bollywood movies, they tend to receive recognition, including awards and accolades, often on the international stage. This creates a choice for filmmakers: pursue awards and accolades or prioritize a return on investment.
Unfortunately, like the stock market, movies are predominantly rewarded for their box office success.
Rule 8: Comedy is a must.
Most movies will have some form of comedy built-in. It can range from classic, subtle humor delivered through witty dialogue by the hero to the more robust, sometimes crude, physical comedy that targets anyone who can be made fun of. The last kind is aimed at the masses, but especially, in the past, ‘the front-benchers.’ These are low-priced ticket front-row audience members who are assumed to have the lowest expectations but a high level of enthusiasm for movie-watching.
Rule 9: Patriarchy is a given.
Patriarchy rules in Bollywood. If you are a woman, be prepared to be delighted at the respect shown to female characters, and offended at their being treated like an object to be used, discarded, or protected excessively, within the same storyline.
Female characters sometimes adorn the script, at other times, add depth and a softer edge to the hero’s story. Yet, sooner or later, whether out of love, duty, or the influence of box-office pressures, the female characters tend to defer to the male counterparts in Bollywood movies. Deviating from this established pattern is rare, although there are exceptions in films with unique storylines and strong female leads.
On average though, the rule of patriarchy will hold.
Rule 10: Happily ever afters.
Forgiveness is a recurring theme of the movies. Characters will both forgive and seek forgiveness. Good always triumphs over evil and villains will be ‘punished’ (cue, Lucifer’s voice).
Wrongs are righted, martyrs are rewarded for their sacrifices, friends reunite, sinners find redemption, and enemies are brought to justice.
While some newer films, driven by a younger generation of filmmakers, have made efforts to promote women’s rights and empowerment in their scripts, you may still encounter instances of outdated behavior or dialogue.
You are forewarned. If it helps, remember that filmmakers primarily aim to provide entertainment and escapism, and their work doesn’t always serve as a reflection of real-life situations or a symbol of social progress.
Business of movies is thriving.
Bollywood, while smaller in size compared to Hollywood’s $50B industry, still generates substantial revenue. In 2022, it recorded a snapshot of $3-$4 billion in revenue. Here is its 2023 forecast. It produces between 300 and 500 movies annually, and has seen exceptional returns on some investments, reaching up to 800%. Notably, it sells a staggering 2.7 billion tickets annually.
Gender pay disparity is universal.
Gender pay disparity remains a widespread issue in the film industry. Female actors continue to be significantly underpaid when compared to their male counterparts. To illustrate this, consider one example where a male actor earned $58 million in a single year, while a female actor received a mere $202,000 per film.
This disparity is not limited to Bollywood alone. Even in Hollywood, a female actor earned $58 million in one year, whereas a male actor’s earnings reached a staggering $344 million. It’s important to note that these earnings are comprehensive figures, taking into account various sources of income within the industry.
However, even when considering per-film earnings, it becomes evident that gender pay disparity is a pervasive issue that transcends borders.
Conclusion
Bollywood cinema, while at times reinforcing stereotypes and superstitions, has evolved over the years to reflect changing cultural views.
The introduction of on-demand entertainment and increased investments in original content by studios have paved the way for more diverse and progressive narratives.
Whether you’re a seasoned fan of Indian cinema or a newcomer seeking a taste, Bollywood offers a world of entertainment that can transport you to a realm where coincidences are the norm, emotions run deep, and love prevails.
For discerning critics, Indian cinema’s golden era was in the 1950s and 1960s, with some notable successes in the 1970s, while subsequent years have struggled to maintain the heights of those decades in the quality of storytelling, filmmaking, talent, lyric writing, and music composition.
To many, Bollywood movies carry a unique charm that transcends cultural boundaries as even those who don’t understand Hindi appreciate its compelling stories.
Bollywood’s influences and actor fan bases extend far beyond India’s borders, captivating audiences in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
On one trip, we discovered that our cab driver in Los Angeles was from Eastern Europe, and he listened to a Bollywood legendary actor’s songs from the 1950s driving around LA.
It is indeed a mystery how a cinematic journey lasting 120–180 minutes, filled with laughter, tears, drama, romance, music, love, hate, luck, fate, karma, and a belief in the enduring power of good can become magical.
Storytelling expertly crafted by master filmmakers, with musical scores and dazzling array of characters, has become a beloved export of India.
If you are feeling low, most are feel-good stories that have an all’s well that ends well approach that may uplift your spirits. But only if you are selective in your choice.
So, if you’re willing to suspend your natural desire to think logically of what unfolds, and be open to being entertained, Bollywood can offer you an escape into a fantasy realm where anything is possible.
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