Bollywood films are popular because Asian has a large population therefore it appeals to all Asians around the world and has no certification so all ages can watch it. Younger audiences are able to watch Bollywood films as the violence is made unrealistic and so they can tell it is not real therefore they are made to be an active audience. In India there is an average of 7 million cinema audiences per week with 12,284 cinemas around India. For the film, “Armaan”, it received, £111,124 (UK) (18 May 2003) showing on 27 screens, so this just goes to show that Asian movies do get a response in England, or this just because a huge population of East London are Asian, most likely.
There is a religious aspect to Bollywood films, as most Asians are very religious so they will keep interest and can relate to the film more than English people.
There are a number of recognizable genres, and most films use the “masala” format this means that there is a mix of all the genres rolled into one. The earliest genre used in Bollywood was the mythological film; these films are based on ancient mythological stories from the Hindu epics, “Ramayana.” Other genres are Historicals, Socials, Romances, and Action Thrillers.
The Hindi popular films usually last for two and a half or three hours. The films are have Indian values, culture and lifestyle in but have some elements from other cultures. The characters in the films are clearly defined and usually stereotypical. The narrative is usually episodic with loose casual connections rather than linear with strong cause and effect relationship as in Hollywood films. As in Hollywood films, the use of stars in Hindi films is important for attracting audiences; there are also many other similarities with Hollywood films. For example, some of the scenes in “Sholay” owe much to elements in Sergio Leones’s Spaghetti Westerns such as “A fistful of Dollars (Italy, 1964.”
In Bollywood film the narrative has a distinctive structure. Although the narrative starts with a problem and works it way to a resolution, and the main character does carry the story forward, the way this is done is very different from Hollywood films. The narrative is often dependant upon fate or luck, rather than on specific characters development.
The dance sequences depend upon colourful and exciting presentations that have developed and changed over time. Exotic locations are often used which can change from place to place during one song and dance sequence.
The term “Asian Diaspora” denotes communities of Asian origin, which in the UK refers to people who are originally from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Indian films did not become widely available in Britain till the 1940s.
Hindi films have so far failed to appeal to mainstream white British audiences. This is partly due to the nature of the films’ conventions: their length, high melodrama, the frequent use of song sequences and meaningless narratives which don’t interest white audiences.
High concept films in Hollywood are films such as “Godfather”, “Titanic”, “Home Alone” and “Star wars.” Most blockbuster films are high concept and have A list actors.
In the well known film, “Natural Born Killers”, there are actors of which we are familiar with (Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Howard) this attracts the audience to the film if they know what to expect from the actors.
Natural Born Killers has been distributed worldwide and sold a huge number of copies everywhere especially America, unlike the Bollywood film, “Armaan,” which, although was distributed around the world, only Asian audiences are really going to want to buy and watch this film, whereas people from all different cultures who can speak English are going to want to watch NBK, therefore has a mass audience worldwide.
Natural Born Killers was made with a high budget, $50,000,000 (estimated), (unlike Bollywood films, made with a low budget) therefore we can expect some dramatic effects that Quentin Tarantino has used, such as different colours to represent different emotions (red=evil, green=envy). NBK also uses a lot of audience perception, when they are about to choose the person to kill and also at the end when Mickey and Mallory are about to kill Wayne. This gets us more involved in the film, whereas in Bollywood we are not as actively involved.
Natural Born Killers is a highbrid film (similar to Bollywood) as the genre ranges, including love, romance, action, thriller and crime, so is suitable for everyone.
The sound in NBK helps us to keep interest as it builds up tension and we don’t know what to expect, then when it’s over we feel relieve but wonder what’s going to happen next, whereas in Bollywood this doesn’t happen as much.
Natural Born Killers has influenced passive audiences to go out and copy them; this is called the copycat crime. Natural Born Killers is reported to be responsible for a spree killing in Germany; 'Reservoir Dogs' has been blamed for attacks against the police; the hardly artistically valid 'Childs Play' was even linked to the murder of British toddler James Bulger. Although the media has blamed violent films for these incidents, there has been no evidence to suggest that violent films were responsible for them. “In the case of the murders in Germany, it was discovered on inspection by more reputable broadsheet newspapers, that the couple in question, so apparently similar to Stones crazed Bonnie and Clyde, merely owned a poster of 'Natural Born Killers'.” – taken from http://www.dbspin.com/academic/violence.htm. So this just shows how media can influence audiences, whereas Bollywood films do not portray this information, instead they are more melodramatic and only concentrate on influencing audience’s to take care of family and religion.
In conclusion I believe that Bollywood films are not similar to American films because they are not made on a high budget or no don’t attract a mass audience. Although Bollywood films do attract mass audiences of India they do not manage to be able to attract any audiences outside India. Whereas NBK has attracted many audiences from different cultures, mostly America.
The only similarities which I can see are that they both attract audiences of their own country/culture, both have a good Vs evil aspect, are both highbrid and produce a lot of movies each year.
