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The changing face of Bollywood
Preity Zinta - February 8th, 2004

Bollywood star Preity Zinta begins a series of columns for BBC News Online with an upbeat assessment of the coming months.

If you are a Bollywood buff, put your seat belts on.

This is because 2004 promises to be India's mainstream film industry's biggest year.

Some of our main filmmakers are releasing movies with themes varying from the Raj, the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan as well as the usual love stories.

From the veteran director Yash Chopra to young one-film-old Farhan Akhtar, 2004 will showcase Bollywood's best and brightest.

It is going to be an exciting year because our young filmmakers are challenging the older order. They are instrumental in sculpting Bollywood's new, changing face.

Finesse and simplicity

We used to make amazing movies in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Remember Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mother India, Pakeezah, Half Ticket or Padosan? They were pure magic.

The performances were powerful, music flowed like poetry, the comedy was effortless and the filming style had technical finesse yet simplicity.

It was Bollywood's golden era. But then came the 1980s and the "action era".

The Bollywood heroine lost her strength and space to the hero.

She was reduced to being a glamorous prop, or to dancing around trees or to getting kidnapped, raped or killed.

Whatever happened - the hero would avenge her.

It was a formula which worked - most of the time.

The heroine would get the sympathy, the hero his revenge and God save the villain.

Madness

Only a few films, such as Umrao Jaan, Nikah, Ahista Ahista, managed to break free of the mould.

It was Bollywood's worst period.

Anything and everything was possible. The hero could fight 50 villains, jump out of the 10th floor, get hit by a couple of volleys of gunfire and still manage to save his mother or girlfriend.

It was madness.

Even by the 1990s we were still making these formulaic films. The thinking was: "Get in some big stars, record some good music, pray to the gods and the films will work."

The only problem was they didn't.

The formula syndrome led to a string of flops and much of the industry going bankrupt.

I remember early in my career filmmakers would offer me a film by saying, "You are the solo heroine opposite this hero, you have five songs."

In those days actors signed up for eight to 10 films and worked simultaneously in all of them. They worked double shifts - each shift being an eight hour-day. A film would usually take one to two years to complete.

The result was routine films churned out for the masses.

Luxury of choice

The big change came when television in India opened up.

Suddenly, we no longer had one state-owned channel. There was cable and satellite TV. Then the internet came to help shape a whole new public perception.

Finally, people had the luxury to choose their entertainment - and they chose ruthlessly.

Films flopped left, right and centre. Star power was no longer enough to persuade the audience to sit through a bad film.

The winds of change were blowing over the industry. It was the perfect time for our new generation of filmmakers to strike.

Even the demographics and character of the movie market in India changed.

The opening up of the overseas market, with more Bollywood releases abroad, and the explosion of multiplexes in our cities meant that film makers could now make interesting new, niche films.

2001 saw the release of Dil Chahta Hai (Do Your Thing). This film gave birth to contemporary Bollywood.

Sync sound (where the sound is recorded on set as it happens, rather than dubbed later in the studio) was reintroduced.

Dubbing became a thing of the past.

Bollywood elan

Today, when I'm approached about starring in a film, I get a full bound script.

The script is more important than the director or the actor.

It feels good to be a part of a changing industry. Now actors and directors prefer to do one film at a time which is usually filmed in three-four months.

That allows for consistency in your performance and continuity.

There's one film I remember where the hero's in a fight. He gets hit in his face and falls down. When he gets up, he's had a haircut - and everybody in the audience is screaming, "Hey, he's cut his hair!".

I am proud to be a part of today's Bollywood. I love dancing and lip syncing (miming) to our songs. I love our dream sequences and I love the costume changes.

Only Bollywood can pull it all off with elan.

Film almost killed me

This year I am looking forward to my film Lakshya (Aim), which releases mid-2004.

It is based on the India-Pakistan fighting in Kargil, Kashmir in 1999. Lakshya is close to my heart because it shows how young people experience and are affected by war. It's not just about people screaming and killing each other.

I believe people blend better than governments anyway. My sister-in-law is half-American and half-Pakistani. We don't look at boundaries.

Lakshya also exemplifies new Bollywood. It was the toughest film of my career.

We went up to 17,800 feet altitude in the mountains to shoot.

We made a world record, putting up the highest camera crane in the world.

Men and women crew members worked in the freezing cold at -15 degrees Celsius.

I am looking forward to it because the film almost killed me - and what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

Just like Bollywood beating back the bad times and coming back with a bang to cinemas near you.

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