Bollywood – Then, Now and Forever | Since 75 years
- Cinema
- August 2, 2021
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Indian Cinema, popularly known as Bollywood, is one of the most profitable sources of entertainment in India. Right from the industry’s very first sound-less movie Raja Harishchandra in 1913 and the first sound movie Alam Ara in 1931, the popularity of Bollywood films has never seen a setback. The remarkable evolution over the decades in every area has only shown the Industry sky heights. Here are the 5 major areas where the striking change can be clearly noticed.
Bollywood Cinematography
From monochrome to color to digital, Bollywood movie’s cinematography has gone through a substantial evolution. Cinema is all about motion pictures be it black and white, colorful, or a work involving digital media. The camera works are more technical nowadays than they were before. The movies produced from the 1910s to the late 1930s were black and white. In 1937, with the release of Kisan Kanya, color motion pictures were introduced.The picture quality has improved manyfold as the decades passed. The visual effect brought a revolution when it was first introduced in 1988 in Ajay Devgan and Kajol starrer Pyar to hona hi tha. Now the movies are rarely produced without the touch of visual effects.
Choreography- Bollywood dance is considered the most popular form of dance and holds a special place in hearts of dance lovers. The latke, jhatke, thoomkas are an integral part of dance in Hindi Cinema. The dance in the movies before the golden era consisted of the subtle movement of different body parts. Slowly the intensity and speed of the moments increased. The Actors like Jeetendra, Mithun Daa, and Govinda introduced their own dance styles. Disco was introduced in the ’80s and free-style in the ’90s. Since then the Bollywood choreography has witnessed the introduction of various dance forms. Bollywood is now blessed to have talented choreographers like Remo Desouza, Farah Khan, Prabhu Deva, Ganesh Hegde, and the list is endless.
Costume: The clothing that the Bollywood actors wear in the movies becomes the latest fashion trend and is quickly adopted by their followers. It takes a lot of effort for the designers to come up with a style that will be loved by the audience. It’s rightly said that fashion and Bollywood go hand in hand. Costumes in Bollywood movies also have seen a major transformation. While the ’50s were about the dapper suits and sarees, the ’60s were about vibrant colors. Metallic colors were abundant during the 70s and 80s. The 90s was the era of fluctuating fashion. There were some iconic looks of various actors that left an everlasting impression. Mumtaz’ iconic orange drape in Bhramachari, Madhubala’ luxurious Anarkali attire, Sridevi’s Chiffon saree in Mr. India Shahrukh’s sweater on the shoulder in Mohabbatein which was inspired by Devanand’s look, Kajol, and Shahrukh’s casual sportswear in Kuch kuch Hota hai are just a few to name clothing styles in the vast ocean of ever- changing Bollywood clothing fashion. Trends were set again and again, styles come and go, the new is inspired from old but more often it’s incredibly unique and every time it has left an imperishable mark on our hearts.
Beauty Trends- From Devika Rani to Saira Banu to Zeenat Amaan to Madhuri Dixit to Kareena Kapoor, the Bollywood Idols have been the trendsetters when it comes to fashion and beauty. Hairstyle and makeup take the beauty of the limelight holders to another level. The simple look with kohl-rimmed eyes, mid parted hair tied in a simple bun in the initial day of Indian cinema is now replaced with a no-makeup look and has gone through several changes over the years. The infamous Sadhana cut in the ’50s still recognizes the actress after whom it was named. Winged eyeliner and puffed braided hair insinuated the craze in the ’60s. Wavy hairs, lined eyes, red or pink glossy lips were trendy in the ’70s and ’80s which was replaced by metallic and brown shades in the ’90s. The hair and makeup artists have come up with different styles in every movie ever since and we have always been crazily in love with each one of them. Needless to say, each look had been the talk of the town in the respective era and the beauty had always seemed to be incomplete without trendy hair and makeup.
Music and Songs- Movies and Music are two sides of one coin. No movie is complete without the magical melodies. From the happy scene to the Rona Dhona, from maar-dhaarh to lovey-dovey the background music is the soul of Indian movies. The lyrics need rhythm. We have seen how the soft melodious background music in movies before the ’90s changed its form and western-inspired melodies surfaced. The music is what makes the movies break all box-office records. From Mughal-e-Azam, Paakiza, Mother India, Awaara, Mera Naam Joker, to Aashiqui 1&2, Rockstar, Dil toh Pagal hai, Kabir Singh, etc. the list of theBollywood movies that will always be remembered for their enchanting songs and music would be endless. The evergreen classical music was the soul in the old movies which are now replaced with various forms of western music. No doubt that the old is gold but the film industry is still blessed with exemplary musicians and playback singers.
