Rise, Fall and Rise of Bollywood.

I would say 95% of "Bollywood" films are beyond simply mediocre - the sort of things that leaves you bored and wonder why didn't listen to your better judgement ten minutes into the film and press 'stop'....but actively, painful-to-watch- squirm-in-your seat viewing experiences.

I found one of the better of the 'bad' on Youtube- an early film of Tabu which illustrates all the reasons for the popular impression of Indian cinema:



Horrible audio, bad lighting that makes the film look more like a consumer video camera than film, corny hockey, sophomoric 'choreography' the list goes on....this is the sort of bad bollywood I stumbled on flicking cable channels one Saturday morning in the mid 90s which led me to conclude Indian cinema left a lot to be desired. Yet somehow the tune is catchy and we know at least Tabu, for example is a talented intelligent actress (not the impression one would get here).

That film was in 1994...observe a few years later "Devdas"

the quality of this youtube video is horrible - i would urge getting a DVD - but all the sudden we have rich pallet, top notch production values, succinct, brilliant precise editing, stunning choreography and camera work that intoxicates the viewer and pulls you into the dance.

Granted Ash Rai and Madhuri Dixit are far more talented dancers than Tabu, but the change in production value and film quality should be obvious. Dixit's prime years in the 90s were all but wasted in films of a similar caliber of the Tabu example - it wasn't until she was 35 and co-starred in this, that she finally got to play in a film worthy of her talent. I am glad that after two kids and turning 40 she's going to give it another go. Indian cinema "bollywood' before the term existed, had some great filmmakers in the 50s - Guru Dutt - Payasia for example, and starting in the late 60s took a horrible dive which it finally pulled out of in the late 90s.