Bollywood News, Movie Reviews, Features and Gossips

In bollywood movie review you will find that melodrama and music to be the key ingredients in most of the movies. Whether it is Hindi movie review or regional movie review, the case is similar. It is only those parallel movies that try to be different. The mainstream film makers always provide a good dose of ‘masala’ in their movies to attract masses. They cannot help it because the masses whose viewership determines the box office success of a movie loves this ‘masala’ stuff. If you go through bollywood reviews you will find that movies that have rightly positioned this ‘masala’ along with some melodramatic scenes and good catchy songs coupled with colorful dances have often turned out to be box office hits.

It’s true that most Hindi movies features song and dance sequences along with melodramatic scenes and even if some critics ridicule this trend yet mingling the two is indeed an art. There was a time when Hindi movies were made on some typical formulas like ‘lost and found’, ‘revenge’, ‘love triangles’ etc and some of these movies even became all time hits. Today even if these so called formulas does exist they alone cannot turn a movie into a box office hit unless blended with creativity and innovation. Filmmakers should have the talent to combine these elements into an attractive package that sells in the box office market. The art lies in the right mix and movies that have been able to do this well have become runaway hits while there have been many which could not even recover its production costs.

The success of a movie does not only depend on its formula or a director’s directional aptitude but also on the actors. Sometimes it is the actors who carry a film on their shoulders. Experienced and talented actors know how to do it right for a film’s success.

Again according to some bollywood previews sometimes celebrity gossip creates an aura about a film prior to its release. This may lead to an added interest amongst filmgoers to watch a movie in hordes on the day of its release resulting in astounding first day box office collections. This celeb gossip can indeed make a hit out of an average movie by virtue of the charisma of the leading actors. However this is not a dependable factor for filmmakers.

Bollywood movies have always been known for its larger than life characters, situations and fantasies. Adequately sprinkled with song and dance sequences filmmakers have always woven a world of dreams that have inspired filmmakers generation after generation. In a country like India these dreams sell like hot cakes because most of the people lead a monotonous life devoid of any zing or excitement and they find their release through these movies.

Songs too are an integral part of any Bollywood movie. There have been instances where a film has turned out to be huge hit because of its songs and music. Such movies have also created star singers overnight. Nowadays film buffs looks forward to music reviews of latest releases because the music is released much before the film’s release and if the music sounds promising then it creates interest amongst the people making them eagerly await its release. Music news provided by music companies gives the filmgoer or the Hindi music buff an idea about what to expect from the forthcoming release. There have been instances where a film with a great musical score has failed in the box office yet the music being the only saving grace of the film has enabled its producer to recover at least the production costs or in some cases even make a decent profit.

Bollywood cinema have been both criticized and praised for its typical style. Most of the criticism has been directed towards its depiction of larger than life unreal imagery. Even Hollywood has its share of larger than life characters. Some people also find the song and dance sequences very funny but at times these become necessary to provide relief from melodramatic sequences and also to make the movie enjoyable.

The ‘masala’ ingredient will always be there in Bollywood but film makers should strive to carve their own distinctive style to compete with world movies. They should experiment with other art forms and imaginations. Creativity and art should never remain constant.

Bollywood Movies and Music

Music is the main essence in all bollywood movies. The inclusion of song and dance sequences forms an integral part of every movie. Thus you get different types of songs which are either situational being part of the script or added as attractions. Nowadays apart from Hindi song or Indian song (here Indian song means a song that has a patriotic/Hindustani classical flavor) you have Pakistani song and Indian pop songs in bollywood movies. Ghazals and qawali too have their own hold in bollywood. In earlier years a bollywood movie was considered incomplete without a qawali. Similarly some of the movies towards the late 1980’s included ghazals in their original soundtracks. With the popularity of remix song in recent years the demand for the earlier song formats has somewhat dwindled. Nevertheless you still get to hear ghazals and qawali in some of the new bollywood releases. However the same has been formatted keeping in mind the present taste of bollywood music buffs.

Pakistani song was not that famous in bollywood in the earlier years though there were some famous Pakistani singers who used to come to India to render songs for bollywood movies. These singers were popular because of their talent rather than their country. The Indo-Pak wars was still fresh in the minds of the people hence it was unpatriotic to patronize Pakistani song in India at that time. The advent of some famous Pakistani music directors and bands towards the early part of 1990 brought in a radical change in the bollywood music industry. Before this a brother-sister duo from Pakistan did become famous worldwide and was also hugely popular in India but they were basically based out of Pakistan. With the introduction of ‘Sufi’ music by Pakistani music directors and singers bollywood woke up to a new beginning in fusion music. This trend was successful in blending terms like Hindi song, Indian song, and Pakistani song into one common genre.

Though ghazals and qawali was mainly the trademark of Pakistani singers still it was well accepted by the bollywood music industry. The only difference is that now their demand has slightly dwindled due to the fact that new generation singers of this genre have not been able to live up to the expectations set so wonderfully by their talented predecessors. Still efforts are being made to create the same kind of magic again with a little help from technology. On the other hand ghazal and qawali fans still go for the masterpieces created in the earlier years though they sometimes experiment with the new stuff although a bit warily.

Indian pop songs made their entry into bollywood indirectly. A bevy of home-bred pop stars started crooning taking inspiration from their better off western counterparts. Surprisingly some of these made headlines and became a rage. A bandwagon followed and slowly singing sensations took birth overnight in every nook and corner of the country. One must admit here that some of the creations in the Indian pop songs category were indeed fabulous and have retained their appeal till date. The trend is still continuing except for the fact that competition has become more intense nowadays.

The remix song revolution in the country was started by a rooky Indian origin composer settled in a foreign country. He remixed one of the most popular and foot tapping songs of the 1970’s and turned it into a sort of cult. It brought into existence a parallel music industry in bollywood specializing in remixes. The rest is history. Off late however remixes of popular numbers of yesteryears has seen a reduced fan following because of blatant remixes of classics leading to a lot of criticism among music lovers. Still this trend can be seen in its new avatar of remixing some of the popular songs of today.

The popularity of bollywood movie songs has reached a crescendo with the advent of music download facility through the internet. It has given a new dimension to music as a whole as latest music can be downloaded almost instantly into PC’s, mobiles, i-pods etc.


The Popularity of Hindi Movies

Movies have long been a way to celebrate life in the Indian culture. Movies have been a popular entertainment option since the pre-colonial days. The Indian public enjoys Hindi movies because they allow them to enjoy the ambience of a world that is make believe. However, Hindi movies are just limited to India; they are also popular among nearby countries and other parts of the world, especially anywhere with a sizeable Indian population.

Hindi movies are often referred to as Bollywood movies. These movies first came to India in the late 1800s when the Watkins Hotel in downtown Bombay showed six silent movies by the Lumiere brothers. A quite revolution started after these silent films as directors started making their own films. Finally Dadasaheb Phalke made a feature length film about the life of Raja Hanschandra and was released in 1913. In India this was the period of the silent film era.

A gap of eighteen years occurred before you could watch Bollywood movies with sound. The first Bollywood video with sound was directed by Ardeshir Irani called Alam Ara in 1931. At this time Hindi video featured song and dance as the narrative tone. From this moment forward the Bollywood video industry began to move forward and never looked back.

When compared to other film industries, the Hindi video industry is quite large. In fact, more Bollywood videos are produced each year than any other type of film. The style of a Bollywood video has changed throughout the years and today technology is allowing individuals to watch Bollywood movies that are more realistic.

The Indian audience tends to watch Bollywood movies that feature a mix of genres such as drama, music, action, adventure and tragedy. In Hindi parlance this is referred to as a paisa vascol which means complete value for money. Every Friday a Hindi video is released that is three hours long with all the exasperating genre experiences in one. All the multiplexes and single cinema halls prepare for these films by showing hot clips two days before. These hot clips can lead to advanced booking sometimes three to four days in advanced of a movie’s release. This ensures the producers, distributors and exhibitors of a movies success. Many hot clips are starting to use the big names of Hollywood who want to take part in the success of Hindi movies. Hindi movies are even becoming more popular with western audiences because of the excellent sets, high emotions and well choreographed song and dance sequences. In fact, today's overseas market is a large source of profit for Hindi movies.

Since songs are a pivotal part in Hindi films it is easy to see why the music video is another popular choice in India. The music video provides an excellent option for the lyricist and music director to display their talents. The music video has changed drastically in Indian film as the new wave of modern music has changed what individuals and households are listening to. Music videos feature a combination of hip hop, rock and funk which have cooler lyrics and appear to a more youthful audience.

Online shopping has also changed how many watch Bollywood videos since they can buy their favorite movies from the comfort of their own home. The whole shopping process for Indian consumers has changed since online shopping occurred. Now you can easily order any type of Bollywood video you want without having to wait in long lines. You can also use the Internet to read movie reviews, see previews and watch hot clips before deciding which movie you want to see.

Indian movies are not only a way to depict the common life of the Indian individual, but they are also a medium that allows the nation to get a better glimpse of India as a country. Indian movies can certainly continue to grow if the economy stabilizes. Take a look online at the various Indian movies available and see what you've been missing.