Bollywood Postcards

Bollywood Dreams Postcards is a collection of the best images from the very popular Bollywood Dreams publication from Spring 2003. The images include lively and dynamic images from each of the four chapters in the book, `The Touring Cinema`, `The Set`, `The Characters` and `The Screening`, and show of a broad spectrum of the world-famous Bollywood industry. The images show: portraits of actors in costume and on the set; the touring cinema; action sequences; dances; devoted fans queuing up and in the movie theatres; the projectionists; images of Bollywood posters on the streets and in production. In Bollywood Dreams photographer Jonathan Torgovnik explores the beloved pastime of an Indian population of over 1 billion. As the largest film producer in the world with more than 800 films
made each year, the Indian movie industry is a cultural phenomenon. Paying tribute to the stars, filmmakers, technicians and moviegoers who make this possible, Bollywood Dreams puts a human face on the fantastical, spectacle-rich films that compel more than 14 million people to the cinema on a single day in India.Bollywood Dreams is both a behind-the-scenes personal diary of the magic and contagious excitement of Indian film and a discerning photo-essay on the film industry`s profound impact on Indian society. Singular in its conception, this book is unique in the way it introduces the general audience to the profound and spectacular way that Bollywood permeates everyday life in India. In this way Torgovnik`s Bollywood Dreams stands as an important testament to the power of cinema in
the twentieth century as both entertainment and social phenomenon. Deriving its name from its American equivalent, Bollywood is the highly successful Indian movie industry predominantly based in Bombay and Madras. Every day more than 14 million people go to the cinema across India to watch films produced by this massive and powerful industry. In India, movies are not just a form of entertainment, it is practically a religion. Streets in major Indian cities are lined with colourful posters of Indian movies and their stars. Movie stars are treated like demi-gods, no match even for American standards of celebrity obsession.More than any other cultural or political institution of the 20th century, the cinema has captured the hearts and minds of India`s growing population of almost one
billion even against the stark backdrop of the vast country`s struggle with poverty and hunger and often tense Muslim-Hindu relations. The experience of actually going to the movies in India is as much a part of the Bollywood phenomenon as are the stars themselves and Bollywood Dreams documents this important aspect of understanding the important role Bollywood plays in contemporary Indian culture. ”Going to the cinema, ” Torgovnik says ”is about going to see the actors larger-than-life. It is about living the glamorous life for a few hours and leaving your daily hardships behind.” Once inside the movie theatres, the audience can expect at least three hours of entertainment including several song and dance numbers, love scenes, action sequences, and most surely a happy ending.
Each film includes the necessary ingredients for success: action, violence, music, dance, romance, and morals.The themes of the movies are often social issues like communalism, ethnicity, religion, and caste, and the movie theatres themselves are often fill of lively interaction between viewer and star. Cheers and boos pervade the atmosphere: the audience becomes a part of the film, and likewise, the film becomes a part of them. Bollywood Dreams begins with a vignette of the touring caravans that bring Bollywood on the big screen to India`s villages in portable tents. We then follow the Indian film from its creation on the movie set, to the larger-than-life stars, directors, and character actors, to the editing chamber, to the city streets where ubiquitous promotional
posters abound, and finally, to the multitude of movie theatres that abound in India.