What are Hindi Movies?
Explosive. Dramatic. Musical. These are a few terms often associated with Hindi Movies. A few others included; Love Triangles, Heroic Triumph and Comedy. Perhaps, however, that isn’t what you meant. Well then, Hindi-Language Films is the politically-correct term for “Bollywood Movies”. There are also a few other titles for them, such as “Punjabi Movies”. They are one and the same. In fact, the name “Bollywood” only really caught on when the Hindi-Language film industry overtook Hollywood in the sheer number of films it produces every year. In fact, to this day, Bollywood still produces many more films per annum than its older brother, Hollywood.
The History of Hindi Film
It began with one single film.
The year was 1912 and the world at the time was growing increasingly unsettled with the First World War just around the corner. Meanwhile, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke had spent his early life studying the various arts from Painting and Sculpture to Engineering and Photography and, having traveled to Germany on a mission to explore the newest technologies available, came into contact with the film The Life of Christ (I will assume here that no explanation is necessary?) and become fixated on the idea of the India God’s brought to life by film. One year later= in May of 1913, the Silent Film, Raja Harishchandra, had been scripted, cast, filmed and released for public viewing.
The rest, as they say, is history. Over the next twenty years, film exploded in popularity throughout India from that first Black-and-White silent film until more than 200 films were being produced every year.
The first film with sound, Alma Ara, was released in 1931 and the first colour film, Kisan Kanya, was released a mere six years later in 1937.
However, despite what would seem like a revolutionary time in Indian Cinema, the 1930s were a very turbulent time for India – and the rest of the world – with the Great Depression marking a very black period of ongoing devastation. Following closely on the heels of the Depression was the Second World War, and India’s own personal hell in the form of Independence. This all had an impact on the film industry – A positive one, in fact, thanks to a intentionally escape-orientated genre emerging in the movies.
The 1940s to the 1960s, after India’s struggle for Independence, were marked as a very prolific period for the Hindi-Langauge film industry. They were also know as “the Golden Age” with some of the World’s greatest films being produced during this time, and India’s love of film skyrocketing to unprecedented levels.
This interest in film has continued through until the present day, where every day, some fourteen-million Indian’s will go to see Hindi or “Bollywood” films.
Another thing worth mentioning is the origin of the name “Bollywood”. It obviously came about as a play on Hollywood’s name, with the ‘B’ coming from the original Indian Film centre, Bombay (now known as Mumbai).
What Are Hindi Movies About?
Hindi Movies draw on the vast and complex culture that is India and its people. Some common elements are:
- Epics about the Hindu Gods and their interactions with mortal Indians.
- There is almost always song and dance integrated into the film’s narrative.
- Love Triangles and, in more recent years, the drama of arranged marriages (and falling in love with another man).
- They are very often long movies. 3-hour films are common in the Hindi-Language Film Tradition
- They often have a Hero and a Villain
- Strong family-orientated values are the norm
However, the fastest, simplest way to really understand Hindi Movies is to watch some! They are wonderful both in their drama and are pleasantly different to Hollywood-produced films in many respects making for a refreshing views experience. They are also great for the whole family as they are generally made to target a broad age-range.
How to Watch These Hindi Movies?
Unless you live in India and have access to Indian Cinemas, it can sometimes be difficult to get access to Hindi Movies. More western films and the most popular films from Bollywood do occasionally make it to Cinemas throughout the world, most typically in your art-movie cinemas. DVDs of these will sometimes even make it to local movie-rental stores.
As for places like iTunes, I can’t speak on behalf of the whole world, but in Australia iTunes has precious few films available to buy or rent and unless you know specifically what film you are looking for it can be tricky to find them.
Amazon seems to be easier to find DVDs of Bollywood films, but there still aren’t a lot to choose from even there. Don’t get me wrong, there are several great Hindi-films on Amazon, but there are still not many.
This isn’t particularly surprising as a large portion of Bollywood movies are never released on DVD. This has changed gradually in recent years, but it is still not as common place as it is with Hollywood films which are almost guaranteed to be released on DVD eventually.
So the question remains: How do I watch these Hindi Movies?
Well another common place that Hindi-films are being made available to the public is online. Many of these websites are Ad-powered so it can be a battle to actually get to the content you are after, but the internet is the media-centre of the future, so it is only a matter of time before this becomes the standard.
If you are desperate and can’t find that film you are looking for in any of the locations mentioned above (Local video store, Art-Cinemas, iTunes and Amazon) then these websites are probably your best option.
The best of a bad bunch is probably
I like this one because while there are still a lot of advertisements, they are embedded in the webpages so the don’t get in your way by popping up and all the usual tricks. It also gives you a lot of good quality videos which is nice.*
There are a few others and a quick Google Search for “Hindi Movies” of even “Bollywood Movies online” will likely bring up a list of possibilities.
I sincerely hope this has answered a few questions and that you have fun exploring this wonderful source of films. While they are possibly quite different to what you are used to, I don’t think for a second you will be dissapointed.
Enjoy and Happy Viewing!
(*By the way, I’m in no way affiliated with the website in question!)