Cinema of India

India is a major regional center for cinema. The Indian film industry is the largest in the world (1200 movies released in the year 2002). The industry is supported mainly by a vast film-going Indian public, though Indian films have been gaining increasing popularity in the rest of the world — notably in countries with large numbers of expatriate Indians.

Indian cinema meets Hollywood

On the one hand, Indian cinema is becoming increasingly westernized. This trend is strongest in Bollywood, which is importing Western actors (such as Rachel Shelley in Lagaan), racing to meet Western production standards, filming overseas, and incorporating more and more English in movie dialogues. Bollywood is also making hit films (like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Kal Ho Na Ho) that deal with the overseas Indian experience.

Related Topics:
Lagaan - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge - Kal Ho Na Ho

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On the other hand, Western cinema is increasily interested in India. As Western audiences for Indian cinema grow, Western producers are anxious to take their cut of the profits and the audience.

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They are funding maverick Indian film-makers like Gurinder Chadha (Bride and Prejudice) and Mira Nair (Vanity Fair). Both Chadha and Nair made their names in Western indie films; they've been tapped to "interpret" the Indian cinematic tradition for Westerners.

Related Topics:
Gurinder Chadha - Bride and Prejudice - Mira Nair - Vanity Fair

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Indian cinema is also influencing the English and American musical; A.R. Rahman, India's star filmi composer, was recruited for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, and a musical version of Hum Aapke Hain Koun played in London's West End.

Related Topics:
A.R. Rahman - Filmi - Andrew Lloyd Webber - Bombay Dreams - Hum Aapke Hain Koun

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Some Indians have succeeded in the Western film industry purely on their own terms -- like the director Manoj Night Shyamalan. Indian actors like Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews are getting good roles.

Related Topics:
Manoj Night Shyamalan - Aishwarya Rai - Naveen Andrews

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Hollywood is also adopting some of the conventions of Indian cinema in otherwise Western-style films. The Guru features a number of Indian-style song-and-dance sequences. The 2005 hit movie The Forty Year Old Virgin not only features Indian actors, it ends with a song-and-dance sequence.

Related Topics:
The Guru - The Forty Year Old Virgin

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