World Bollywood Day

Ever tried dancing Bollywood style? On World Bollywood Day, September 24, it’s time to release your inner Shah Rukh Khan or Priyanka Chopra and celebrate this amazing dance style seen in movies that are loved not only in India but across the globe.

Bollywood is a famous dance-form used in Indian films and is revered throughout the desi world. A mixture of numerous styles including belly dancing, “kathak”, Indian folk, Western popular, and modern jazz, the dance moves go hand-in-hand with the commercial and artistic framework of the South Asian film world. Not to mention, at desi “shaadi’s” (weddings)!

HISTORY OF WORLD BOLLYWOOD DAY
Everybody has probably seen some form of Bollywood dance in their lifetimes, but it’s hard to pin down what it actually is. However, those desi dance moves are always recognizable, and Bollywood dance and movies have a long and rich cultural history in South Asia.

Let us begin by discussing the term “Bollywood”. In the strict sense, the term “Bollywood” refers to the Hindi culture, art, and film in­dus­try from Bombay. The other film centers of South Asia are often referred to by their own designations. For example, the old Pakistani movie industry is termed “Lollywood” — after Lahore, one of the capitals of Pakistan — and Tollywood, for Andra Pradesh in Bangladesh.

However, since the Bombay Hindi film in­dus­try dwarfs the other pro­duc­tion centers, the term “Bollywood” is generally extended to mean the en­tire South Asian film culture. The international ap­peal of Bollywood dancing is something that has been many decades in the making. Originally it was found only in places that had a significant consumption of In­dian films, such as the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.

During the 1930s, Bollywood films were made often to raise awareness of what filmmakers saw as the societal issues of the time. The industry was already booming, with several well-known filmmakers producing films with dialogue in most of India’s diverse language groups. The first color film, “Kisna Kanya,” was released during this era.

World War II and Indian independence from Britain did nothing to slow down India’s film industry. Bollywood was fast becoming known as India’s obsession and post-independence cinema gained wide recognition. The creation of the Film and Television Institute of India, FTII, a national cinema awards show, and India’s first International Film Festival rocketed Bollywood to the world stage.

But a few years ago it started to become popular in Europe, and today it is rising in popularity in the US, and Canada. Today, dance schools that teach this style can be found in most major cities!