Last night I was out watching a movie and before the movie started there was a preview for an Indian movie. Something about cricket and over-throwing the British oppressors. The preview started out with a very serious introduction and then half way through the lead actor broke out into song. The audience started laughing. The singing seemed totally out of place.

But it reminded me that half a world away in India there's a massive movie-making industry churning out over-the-top, big budget Indian musicals. That's Bollywood! It reminded me of how one-way our culture is...we produce stuff and distribute it all over the world...movies, fast food restaurants, I mean in France you can see dubbed or subtitled versions of nearly every American movie, even the really crappy ones. Where's our dubbed Bollywood movies?

Baz Lurhmann who directed Moulin Rouge is a big fan of Bollywood movies and he mentioned Bollywood as one of the big influences on Moulin Rouge and the grande finale of that movie set in India makes it obvious. He wondered, "Could a Bollywood-like movie work in a Western vernacular?" or in normal English, "would Americans get it?" I guess the critical and financial success of Moulin Rouge suggests that we (Americans) will.

I spent a little time checking out Bollywood websites to try and figure it out. Looking through the photo galleries was a particularly strange experience. I know these people must be extremely famous actors and actresses on a par with our own, but without any sense of who they are it's like looking at a bunch of very attractive people...like looking through stacks of head shots. It's like I'm a casting agent doing auditions.

Anyways, I'm going to see if I can find some Bollywood movies to rent.

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