Bollywood: the Hollywood of India

You might be surprised to learn that India produces about 800 movies a year, and that number continues to grow. Just as the movie Capital of the United States is Hollywood, the movie capital of India is Bombay (孟买), but it is usually called “Bollywood”, a combination (结合) of the words Bombay and Hollywood.

All Bollywood movies are thought complete with a few songs and dances. In fact, music is an important part of Bollywood movies. Even a bad movie can still do well if the music is good. Music directors are sometimes more popular than the film stars. A Bollywood movie has five to six songs with at least three songs to show what the dances mean.

Bollywood may be different from Hollywood in music, but it is very like Hollywood in several ways. If Tom Cruise can hold a gun, so can the Bollywood hero Sharukh Khan. Hollywood stars are followed by news reporters just as often as Hollywood stars. The personal lives of actors and actresses catch the headlines(头版头条), just as they do in the United States.

The Oscars are a very exciting time of the year for actors and actresses in America, Bollywood has its own form of the Oscars, and they are also very exciting.

Chang’an (《长安三万里》) is an animated film (动画电影) that tells the life of the Tang Dynasty, a great time in Chinese history.

Information from Douban

Li Bai and Gao Shi were real friends for a long time and they always helped each other. Their friendship made me feel the warmth. I gave five stars!

When I watched it, my daughter recited (背诵) poems. It’s really an educational film. Children may get interested in more Chinese poems after watching it.

Kunqu Opera is also called Kunju, Kunqiang and Kunshanqiang. It is one of the oldest dramas in China with a long history of over 600 years. Well-known for its beautiful lines (台词) from the classic poems and its graceful singing, Kunqu Opera is regarded as an orchid (兰花) in the garden of Chinese traditional culture and art. Also, this great art has been listed as one of the intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产) in the world.

Kunqu Opera started in Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and it became quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although performed in the Suzhou dialect (方言), Kunqu Opera is also popular in areas along the Yangtze River, including Shanghai and Hangzhou. It is also popular in Beijing. Regarded as the mother of other operas in China, it has a great influence on most Chinese operas and plays an important role in Chinese history.

Kunqu Opera has strict and complete rules for its singing, dancing and speaking. It is famous for its beautiful music and the actors’ soft and clear voice, poetic dialogues, perfect dance and acrobatic (杂技) performances.

Kunqu Opera is of very great value for its rich traditional plays. Most of them are about love. The greatest works are The Peony Pavilion (《牡丹亭》) and The Palace of Eternal Life (《长生殿》).