My fascination with Bollywood

 The early days of the cinema in India

Earlier today I was doing something on my cellphone, when I relised I know more about Bollywood films of the era 1940 - 1990, than I do modern films from India.

To many, this would appear odd, but not to readers of my blog. Regular readers, if there are any, would know that I have little regard for modern Indian cinema as it is sexist, and ran by the Kapoor family, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Salman Khan.

More good roles are going to ladies such as Raveena Tandon - Aranyak - Shefali Shah - Delhi Crime, but ladies are still only in as the love interest of the male leads usually.

In the beginning, ladies had if not an equal role, at least good acting roles. They were regarded almost as equals to their male leads, and in some cases it was the lady whose name carried the film more than the male.

During this time, ladies were billed as they were in Hollywood with the lead being seen as a double-lead as in Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.