- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Admin Super
Bollywood has become a universal cinematic language over the last 70 or so years. Since its origins in the early 20th century, its characteristic themes have become synonymous with epic story-telling, colourful and extravagant set pieces and, of course, tried and trusted plot formulas – with most Bollywood films focusing on the ‘triumph against adversity’ theme, performed against varying genre backdrops as explained on https://www.theodysseyonline.com/.
Of course, movies need heroes and heroines and Bollywood is no exception. As the massive Indian film industry has moved into the twenty-first century, the role of the’ Bollywood ‘Princess’ figure has been modernised as well. If we go back 50 years, the role of the female lead in Bollywood was to be the driving motive for the gung-ho and very masculine hero to transform his personality and attitude, or simply to provide beautiful relief from the constant action, fighting and general mayhem.
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But let’s face it. Everyone loves a princess, and what Bollywood brings, especially in its historical epics, are fairy tales with happy endings (after what can be a very long storyline to get there!). However, the princesses don’t just spend their time on screen as passive beauties in need of rescue anymore. The modern ‘Warrior Princess’ can get down and dirty with the best of them – fighting with the heart of a tiger, managing swordplay and generally acting most un-princess-like if we take the earlier Bollywood entries as a template.
However, it’s the lure of the princess narrative that draws people in. Many women have become massive stars following their princess performances, and the role itself has led to all sorts of offshoots across many industries, from television adaptations to even online gaming, with video slot titles at sites such as https://games.paddypower.com/c/slots like ‘Indian Princess’ and ‘Golden Goddess’, which could quite easily be lifted from a Bollywood plot. It only goes to show how the themes covered in this fascinating industry become universal, applicable to super-modern entertainment genres like online gaming.
When all’s said and done, you can’t argue with the numbers. This infographic about Bollywood’s money muscle at https://www.forbes.com/ shows what an iconic (and lucrative) status these films and stars have. The growth of more modern princess roles is a healthy reflection of changes in the way we look at women in society, but Bollywood producers know there’s still a tremendous demand for the traditional stories of ‘boy meets apparently unattainable girl, they both fight against the odds to be together, and finally, are thrust into each other’s arms, celebrating with a rousing duet (against a backdrop of hundreds of extras dancing in perfect formation)’.
Source: Pixabay
There’s even a certain kind of competitive artistic jostling between Hollywood and Bollywood. This article at https://www.boredpanda.com/ makes bold claims about how Indian versions of popular Disney princesses (and Princess-like characters) would have improved on the original!
What’s for sure is that Bollywood will last and last as an industry. How could it be otherwise? There’s an enormous audience and its allure will continue to spread well beyond the national boundaries of its country of origin.
