BOLLYWOOD TURNS 100!

We are celebrating an anniversary in India. Bollywood celebrated its 100th birthday earlier this month. Bollywood is India’s main movie industry. And that is saying something because India produces more than 1,000 movies and sells three billion movie tickets each year. You probably know Bollywood films. The actors usually speak Hindi, and the movies often include a lot of singing and dancing. Many tell dramatic stories.

Bollywood began a century ago with a black and white film. It told a story about a king from Hindu mythology. Today, Bollywood is known for its singing and dancing. The movies often tell similar stories. Many times, they are romantic stories that have a happy ending.

Anupama Chopra, a film critic in Mumbai says that Bollywood’s image is changing now. New stories are replacing more traditional ones. And a different generation of filmmakers is making a difference. The new filmmakers are directors like Dibakar Banerjee, who tells one of the stories in Bombay Talkies, one of the most recent Bollywood films.

Mr Banerjee says Bollywood has space for new ideas. But he says it is not going to be easy. He says the stories of the new films are not as traditional as they used to be—and some audiences might not like this.

Movies are likely to remain popular in India -- even more popular than entertainment channels on television. The government has created laws to make it easier to raise money for film production. And, India has permitted foreign film studios, such as America’s Warner Brothers, to invest in the country.

But film critic Anupama Chopra believes it is the Indian love for movies that will keep Bollywood alive and popular. He says “My belief is that films are a religion in this country. This is sort of the second golden age of Bollywood.”

People in the Bollywood film industry hope that the movie industry will continue to grow in India. They want Bollywood to try new ideas but never lose their glamour.