The sheer number of Indian movie-goers usually guarantees a fair return for most movies made there, and the inclusion of colorful and catchy dance numbers is a bonus most watchers of Indian films have come to expect as standard. Of late, the Bollywood industry has begun to spread its operations to other countries, especially with regard to famous actors in Hollywood, and to famous tourist locations such as Egypt’s pyramids, London, and the streets of New York. The fact that these locations usually have nothing to do with the plot, or indeed Indian culture, is no deterrent to the filming of long and complicated dance sequences in these places.

The term ‘Bollywood’ is a compound of Hollywood and Bombay, the older, more traditional name for the Indian city of Mumbai. Although 1896 was the first year that cinema and cinematography entered India, Bollywood was well-established by the 1970’s and 1980’s, and by 1990-2000 had entered global culture. However, the perception that Indian cinema is restricted to Bollywood is false – in fact, Indian cinema mostly produces Tamil-language movies, and many of Bollywood’s greatest stars were once Kollywood actors – Kollywood being the local name for the Tamil film industry. Telugu, Marathi, and Punjabi movies are also made in abundance each year.

Few local-dialect movies can match the budget and cast-allure of most of Bollywood’s productions, which are one reason for the massive interest in the latter. In addition, the spread of the Indian Diaspora, of Indians living in other countries, and the interest in these movies seen in neighboring Pakistan, all contribute to the increasing prominence of Bollywood globally. Also, most Bollywood movies are in Hindi, which is spoken by a large number of people outside India – much more so than the local dialect movies. These dialect movies are therefore mainly designed to cater to the speakers of those languages, while Bollywood is steadily aiming itself at the export market.

Because of this interest in the wider world, Bollywood movies have metamorphosed, and have seen massive budgets and star casts that could put many Hollywood productions to shame. The rise and dominance of Hollywood is a major inspiration to Bollywood producers and directors, and the reciprocal interest in Bollywood shown by Hollywood has led to interesting results. More and more, the products of Bollywood have come to resemble those of Hollywood, leading some to compare famous Indian actors to Hollywood actors in terms of fame and asking fees. In addition, the style of writing and script to be found in most Bollywood movies has come to resemble that of Hollywood blockbusters, with a typical formula going thus: boy and girl in love defeat great odds and tragicomic misunderstandings to live happily ever after. Audiences worldwide have embraced this format, and Bollywood has started to reciprocate this affection, making the Indian movie industry one of the most dynamic in the world.

Bollywood is, of course, based in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, which has over 13 million inhabitants, many of whom live in conditions as abject as those found in war-torn countries. Mumbai, notwithstanding this extreme poverty inequality, is one of the largest cities of the developing world, and is India’s largest. Its closest rival is the capital of India itself, New Delhi.

As the capital of the state of Maharashtra, India’s largest city and the centre of the Indian film industry all in one, Mumbai’s role in the rise of Bollywood cannot be ignored. It is also one of most convoluted and rambling cities in the world, and money and scandals that rock Mumbai also find their way into the Bollywood industry. The recent attempts by the movers and shakers of Bollywood to focus their products on the outside world, and to make movies aimed at expatriate and foreign audiences, is merely the culmination of a decades-long rise to prominence that deserves a movie all on its own.

The rise of Bollywood to global prominence has been contributed to by various factors. The first is size. Bollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world, making over 500 movies on average per year, not counting the thousands of ads and short films produced annually. The movie-going population of India is rising due to the increasing prominence of the middle class, and because of the increasing amount of people with disposable income to spend. Combine this large market with cheap ticket prices – Indian cinemas can often be nothing more than a projector and a screen – and you have a recipe for financial success.

The popularity of Bollywood continues to rise, and the casting, dance, and special effects budgets of its productions have kept pace. The demand for more exotic and far-flung locations to film on has become pressing, as the average Indian movie-goer seeks distraction from his or her movies, and wishes to see places they will be unlikely to travel to in their lifetimes. Therefore the filming of Bollywood movies in London, New York, and even Egypt has become commonplace and the use of international locations has become a major part of the Bollywood industry.

Hollywood has long had an influence on Bollywood, down to the staple plot of most Indian movies – the lovers who succeed and live happily ever after despite immense odds. The influence of Bollywood on Hollywood is rather more recent, and major examples include Baz Luhrmann’s was being influenced by Indian dances and songs during the filming of Moulin Rouge, and of course, the multi-award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. The symbiosis between the two film industries continues apace, and shows no sign of stopping, and since the average Indian movie-goer has become more sophisticated and demanding in his or her tastes, Bollywood has reacted by making movies that resemble Hollywood blockbusters more and more.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the most abundant source of movies worldwide is India that has such a rich repository of culture and story-telling. Indeed, story-telling is the basis of the religion of the majority of Hindus, with epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata inspiring a billion Hindus around the world. Also, with movie industries covering such diverse dialects as Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Hindi, not to mention local dialects for different areas, it would have been obvious that a country like India would become a major worldwide source of filmic entertainment.

The first silent Indian films were produced by Lumiere Brothers, and were very short compared to longer movies that now come of out of Bollywood, which can cover upwards of 2 hours. Themes and motifs used in Indian movies cover the gamut from comedy, to tragedy, to science fiction, with a surprising number of movies being based on the tried and true formula of the love story that succeeds despite all odds. The rising interest in Indian movies from the outside world, with the work of such directors as Mira Nair and M. Night Shyamalan alerting Hollywood to the existence of superb Indian directors, has led to intense collaboration between Hollywood and Bollywood.

Bollywood has vastly transformed its infrastructure and movie-making process over the years, and has adapted to the growing demands of a steadily more global audience with considerable flair. The rise to power of Hollywood in the 1950’s has led to many Bollywood power-brokers and directors to consider working with Western stars, and with Western themes. Nevertheless, all Indian films contain some version of Indian cinema’s basic plot structures. These, as mentioned above, hardly ever vary, and almost always include a love story combined with any excuse to break into a song and dance. Even science fiction movies, ostensibly about robots and superpowers, deal with such issues as love and the nostalgia for home.

A major ingredient in the rise of Bollywood has been its reward structures for actors, technicians, choreographers, and sundry other movie industry workers. There are a multitude of Indian cinema award shows being held annually, including the IIFA Awards, Zee Cine Awards, and the Filmfare Awards. Gradually, these shows have come to resemble the Oscars – the premier awards show on the planet – in style and approach, and this is another indicator of the fact that Bollywood is gradually molding itself according to the pattern set by its US equivalent, Hollywood.

This phenomenon is not new, as Nigeria has its Nollywood, Pakistan its Lollywood, and India itself its various –woods, centered around the production of various dialect-based movies. Indeed, within India itself, the major film industry is not that centered in Mumbai, but the Tamil film industry, which caters to the lower-middle and lower classes of India, who primarily speak Tamil. Most of Bollywood’s workers – the actors, songwriters, technicians and dancers – have at one time or another worked in Kollywood, as Tamil language cinema are known in India. Still, Bollywood has become known, and in a sense has always been, India’s Hollywood, and now has its sights set on the global stage.

The story of Bollywood is centered around Mumbai, which used to be called Bombay, and which is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is home to over 13 million souls, and is thus the largest city in India. It is matched in prominence and global renown only by New Delhi, and among developing countries, is perhaps the best-known and most popular city in the world. The situation of Bollywood in Mumbai is therefore no coincidence. Its large populace – it is one of the world’s most populous cities – has led to large numbers of stories being centered on Mumbai.

This old and rambling city owes its prominence to a mix of local politics, industry, and of course, the glamour of being the “tinsel-town of India”. This, and many other such terms, seek to evoke an image of an Eastern, exotic Hollywood, making its ‘masala films’ and drawing in movie-watchers and filmgoers from non-Western audiences by the million. Indeed, Bollywood movies are watched in Dubai, New York, Hong Kong, Kabul, and a host of other cities which have very little to do with Indian culture as such. This is testament to the drawing-power of Bollywood, and of the quality and allure of its productions.

Part of this allure is due to the staple diet of most Bollywood films – the love story. This tried-and-true formula goes thus: boy and girl from utterly different and clashing social classes mix, fall in love, and must separate or fight for their love. However, the obstacles they must overcome are many, and their hope for victory small – despite which, due to fortuitous circumstances and changes-of-heart, usually accompanied by choreographed dancing and songs, they end up together. Even the movie that introduced Bollywood to the world, the multi-Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, does not divert from this formula.