{"id":8811,"date":"2020-10-01T01:10:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T05:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/?page_id=8811"},"modified":"2022-06-10T11:56:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T15:56:50","slug":"bollywood-for-beginners","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/bollywood-for-beginners","title":{"rendered":"Bollywood for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Podcast Episode on Bollywood For Beginners<\/strong> is here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever wanted a Guide To Bollywood? A Quick Primer on Bollywood – dishing out the essential need-to-knows and Movie Recommendations? Well, here it is – Bollywood 101! Let’s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Bollywood?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bollywood is the Hindi film industry from India. We get Bollywood by combining “Bombay” (the previous name of Mumbai city) with “Hollywood”. Bollywood films are perceived mostly as musicals – where actors spontaneously burst into song, with a hidden orchestra\/musicians somewhere off-screen. Yes, a lot of Hindi films have singing and dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are all Bollywood movies musicals?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Short answer: No. Bollywood films of the 80s and 90s were mostly romances or action-romances, but in the past 15 years or so, have diversified so that plots are not as cliched. Mainstream, massy, commercial Bollywood films still depend on “masala<\/em>” – which literally is “spice-mix”, but in this context means a combination of song-dance (hence musicals), romance, action, emotional drama with some humor thrown in. But there are also lesser-known, non-commercial films, often made on lower budgets, sans the fripperies of big-name actors, songs, dances, expensive sets and “masala<\/em>“, which generally do well and are often released only in India’s urban metros\/internationally\/on-line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s in it for me? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bollywood has something for everyone – from masala to art-house and stuff in-between. If you’re familiar with Bollywood and would d like to start digging in, look through the two below lists (curated lists of ~300 movies<\/strong>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Best Hindi Movies By Year<\/a><\/strong>
– Best Hindi Movies By Genre<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I get started?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consider this a crash course in Bollywood :). If you are new to Bollywood movies but don’t know where to start, this is your handy-dandy Guide to Bollywood. Also, here’s a list of 18 movies<\/strong> to ease you into it – these are grouped by most popular\/common genres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colorful, vibrant Bollywood romances:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n