I will be writing about the roots of Bollywood including where it came from, what it is and how it started. Also I will include a few of the main movements in Bollywood and how it has developed in the last 20 years.

Bollywood dancing is the commercial name for Indian dance that is a unique style including classical, folk dance and occasionally Latino and Arabic. Bollywood is the name for the Indian film industry that is based in Mumbai, Bombay.  It is considered to be the largest film industry in the world that produces the largest number of titles each year. In 1970’s the actual word ‘Bollywood’ came about, it is a mash up of the words Bombay and Hollywood; which is the centre of the film industry in the U.S.

The first Indian short film was screened in 1899 and just like Hollywood films they started off silent. This included Indian folk dance and was in black and white. Then the Father of Indian Cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke, realised a film called Raja Harishchandra in 1913. This was based on a mythological character and was India’s first full-length film, creating Bollywood. This caused a lot of excitement over the world and with the growth of technology India created its first talking and singing film- Alam Ara. This was made by Ardeshir Irani and screened in 1931 in Bombay. Being able to talk, sing, shout and cry made the Indian actors be able to finally show some emotion, which made the films more interesting. By the late 1940s, films would have religion as the dominant theme with many various Indian languages. In the 1950’s India struggled for independence, which made this historic period change the themes of Bollywood films to social issues. The movies were still entertaining but educating as well. The 1950s to 1960s were the Golden Age in Bollywood and it produced some of India’s most critically acclaimed films including memorable actors such as Balraj Sahani, Raj Kapoor and Meena Kumari. This was when colour got introduced which made everything more attractive and the audience could appreciate the dancing more. Around this time many Indians came to work in Britain and they brought their culture with them. In the 1970’s free styling was included instead of set movements. Bollywood saw the rise of female directors in the 1980’s such as Aparna Sen and Prema Karnath. The directors would release the soundtrack for there films onto music channels so the public would of heard songs included in the film first. Once they were overplayed the public became intrigued by the good music, which made them want to see the film; this was a clever way to advertise.