What Is Bollywood?

Modern Cinema (Masala Films 1970s-Today)

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The word Bollywood was coined during the 1970s by a writer of a magazine gossip column.

The word Bollywood relates to Hindi Movie Industry based in Mumbai,India. It has derived its name from two words namely Hollywood (theAmericabased Film Industry) andBombay(now Mumbai), where the Bollywood is based.

Bollywood is usually termed as Indian Cinema but actually it is the largest part of it which makes films in the mother tongue of the nation i.e. Hindi. But today we even see Bollywood movies with a lot of English dialogues and even other foreign languages like Spanish (as in Kites).
  

This era changed the layout of a film completely. Bollywood invented new genres including action, comedy, melodrama served with atleast six songs and a peppy dance number, the structure followed even today.

Music and dance became an integral part of every film. Songs were pre-recorded by professional singers but certain main stream actors also tried their hand in singing during this time. Disco, Rock, Jazz and other International Music genres were incorporated in the movies.

The era of 70s was initially ruled by the First Superstar of Indian Cinema ‘Rajesh Khanna’ with his back to back superhits. He was later replaced by Amitabh Bachchan who was tagged as ‘angry young man’ of Bollywood because of the fierce roles he used to play.

1980s welcomed new stars like Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Jackie Shroff who are seen in certain films even today. Amonst actresses, Madhuri Dixit and Sreedevi were the most loved because of their exceptional beauty and the grace with which they used to dance.

1990s was a Khan Rule all the way. Shahrukh Khan, Amir Khan and Salman Khan shook the industry with their charm. Shahrukh Khan became the new Badshah (King) of Bollywood. His movie ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is still running in a theatre for the last 17 years. Amir Khan is known for his perfection and the way he takes care of every minute detail. Salman Khan is the Macho Man of the industry. He is the trendsetter for Six Packs in the country. Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapoor were some of the leading actresses during the decade.

2000s started off with the launch of two star kids Abhishek Bachchan and Hritik Roshan. Hritik could establish himself as an A-listed actor from his first movie Kaho na Pyaar Hai. Abhishek on the other hand is still trying to cement his place. Model turned actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta became quite popular.

Fresh faces including Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif were considered as the future of the industry. 3 Idiots (2009) became the first ever film to make collections of over Rs. 200 crore.

Nothing much has changed post 2010. Salman Khan has established himself as the Dabang Khan of the industry with his last 4 films Dabang, Ready, Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger all belonging to the 100 crore club.