Your First Bollywood Film

In our inaugural episode we discuss who we are and why we love Hindi cinema, aka. Bollywood. As well as dispelling some common misconceptions about Bollywood, we reveal some good picks for films to watch if you’re new to Bollywood and where to find them. 

Show notes: 

Erin lists her credentials  Matt failed to major in Bollywood in University  Shout out to The Pulp (where we first publicly exposed our respective interest in Bollywood)  First mention of Shah Rukh Khan  Mother India and Lootera Bollywood’s global popularity Dhoom 3, India’s The Fast and The Furious The open secret that is Hindi cinema   Misconceptions dispelled: 

Bollywood ≠ Indian Cinema How many movies come out of Bollywood every year? Medium, not genre All Hindi films are not musicals Not every movie is three hours long

The importance of marketable songs and a shout out to Will Smith Surprising Michael Bay analogy 

INTERVAL (“Gallan Goodiyaan” from Dil Dhadakne Do, note: the dance for this song is done in one 5 minute take)

Our picks for the best Hindi films for newcomers Using iTunes and other legal ways to watch your Hindi films So much drama Is there anything Farhan Akhtar can’t do? Matt lays down a fancy film studies term: “diegetic” Erin discusses feminism (take a drink?) Political controversies Canadians should launch a smear campaign against Argo Shirtless dudes, part one of an ongoing series at BIFL 

Reading list: 

Tejaswini Ganti’s Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema  Kush Varia’s Bollywood: Gods, Glamour, and Gossip  Mihir Bose’s Bollywood: A History 

Thanks to all our friends who encouraged us to do this! 

NEXT WEEK: The biggest and brightest stars in the Bollywood galaxy! 

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