| be trying to discover how to learn Hindi in fun and | | | | annual film festival? Or a university with a foreign |
| different ways. Homework and practice is good | | | | film program? If so, you may be able to find |
| and helpful, but maybe you want a change of | | | | Bollywood films on the big screen, at least every |
| pace. Fortunately for all of us, there's Bollywood! | | | | once in a while. |
| Watching a Bollywood movie is an adventuresome | | | | Bollywood films are usually musicals. Whether a |
| exercise in how to learn Hindi. | | | | film succeeds at the box office or not can |
| Bollywood refers to the Hindi-language film | | | | depend on the audience's reception of the music |
| industry that is centered in Mumbai. The word is a | | | | and dance numbers. It is typical for a Bollywood |
| mix of "Bombay," as Mumbai was called until 1995, | | | | movie to use such plot devices as convenient |
| and, of course, "Hollywood." The term was first | | | | coincidences, the reunification of separated |
| used in the 1970's, when film production in India | | | | relatives, star-crossed lovers with disapproving |
| was so prolific that it exceeded even the United | | | | parents, love triangles, derring-do, and extreme |
| States. | | | | reversals of fortune. There are heroes and villains. |
| Bollywood is not to be confused with Tollywood, | | | | There is action, romance, comedy, farce and |
| another term used to describe part of the Indian | | | | melodrama. In fact, Bollywood movies are such a |
| film industry. Tollywood is centered in Tollygunge, | | | | mixture of so many elements that they are |
| an area of Kolkata, and produces films in Bengali. | | | | sometimes referred to a "masalas," the term |
| More broadly, Bollywood should not be confused | | | | used to describe the spice mixture that is such a |
| with the Indian film industry taken as a whole, as | | | | significant element in Indian cooking. Of course, it |
| there are other locations and languages in India in | | | | takes time for all those musical numbers, plot |
| which films are made. | | | | twists and complicated interpersonal relationships |
| Although Bollywood movies occasionally use some | | | | to unfold. A Bollywood film generally runs three |
| English and some Urdu poetic terms, it is a | | | | hours and has an intermission. |
| Hindi-language cinema. Many Bollywood movies are | | | | As time passes, Bollywood movies are |
| available on DVD and it is possible to get them | | | | incorporating more Western elements in their |
| through Netflix or Blockbuster. So almost anyone | | | | plots. For example, instead of depicting young |
| looking for an original way how to learn Hindi has | | | | adults entering into arranged marriages, some |
| this resource available. Does your community | | | | films are showing young singles dating and |
| have a large Indian or Pakistani population? An | | | | enjoying the nightlife. |