A Passage to Hollywood Aki Naito Patrick Olds Kristin Partee Michael Stevenhagen

“Bollywood” It is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India People refer to “Bollywood” as the low- budget cousin of Hollywood Many “Bollywood” movies include sequences of song and dance

History of “Bollywood” Indian cinema has flourished since the 1930s. Indian filmmakers produced movies ranging from Indian mythology to romantic musicals Violent gangster movies and action films became popular in the 1960s and the 1970s Recently, the Indian film industry has leaned towards creating small independent films that feature unknown actors.

Coming to America Within the past few years, movies from “Bollywood” have made an impact in America. A recent example is the critically acclaimed movie, Slumdog Millionaire. V7on6Q V7on6Q

Crossover Films: Past “Saawariya” (2007) ◦ The first Bollywood movie released by a Hollywood studio “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) ◦ Shot in the slums of Mumbai ◦ 10 Academy Award nominations Chandni Chowk to China ◦ First Hindi film of Warner Bros. Picture

Crossover Films: Upcoming “Hisss” (Fall of 2009) ◦ A horror film based on the ancient myth of a snake goddess ◦ Produced by India’s Split Image Pictures studio ◦ Directed by American director, Jennifer Lynch ◦ Features American actor, Jeff Doucette and Bollywood actors, Mallika Sherawat and Irrfan Khan

Stars of Indian Film Three most sought-after actors ◦ Shahrukh Khan ◦ Abhishek Bachchan  Son of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan ◦ Aamir Khan Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan ◦ Married to Abhishek Bachchan Akshay Kumar ◦ Starring in “Chandni Chowk to China”

Why Bollywood? BollywoodHollywood $20 million for major films 1,200 movies released in 2007 $100 million for major films 600 movies released in 2007

Growing Indian Film Industry Growing at a rate of 15% annually Projected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2007 to $4 billion in 2012 Back in the US, attendance at movies fell 5% in 2008 and sales fell to $9.6 billion

Obstacles of Expanding Relationship Many films from “Bollywood” end up becoming a flop in America American films only account for about 5% of the movies watched in India There is a language barrier, with Americans speaking English and Indians speaking Hindi Different cinematic techniques are used in each country

Steps to a successful relationship For Indian movies, such as Hisss, to be released in America, it is imperative that an American distributor picks it up Patience is needed to deal with the language barrier American and Indian film-makers must be willing to compromise to create a film that both Americans and Indians will enjoy

Future of “Bollywood” films Sony is involved in six films set to be released in India in Disney is currently developing four films to be released in India. Warner Brothers is set to release four movies in India in Indian company Reliance recently purchased 240 movie screens in America.

Future, Continued… The Independent Film Channel plans to start showing Hindi films regularly this spring Saavn, a NY based company, is focused on bringing Indian movies to America One of Saavn’s employees said, “"This is the year. There's a lot of talent integration East and West."

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