Before the introduction of “Slumdog Millionaire,” many Americans lived largely unaware of the campy splendor of Bollywood movies. Bollywood, a name coined around the mid-30′s to early 40′s (as far as I can tell), refers not to one locale, but to the entire booming business of movie production in India. Although mostly overlooked in the United States, Bollywood’s influence reached far and wide across the Asia, Africa and Middle-East. My mother used to tell me stories of when she was a young girl in Thailand, anxiously lining up with her friends to see the latest Bollywood musical. She described complicated plot lines with doomed romances, disapproving parents, beautiful actresses, handsome leading men, and epic song and dance numbers. What’s not to love? Bollywood, for generations, upholds an undeniably successful track record of somehow fusing Western tastes and culture palatably with traditional Indian values – to the point where they grow to seem authentically Indian! Continue reading →