Hooray for Bollywood: Crossover audience samples Indian movies, music

With the opening of "Bollywood/Hollywood," a spoofy film tribute to Indian movies that's set in the West, mainstream audiences will know: Bollywood has arrived.

This may not be news to the 16,000 or so East Indians who live in King County. But others are just discovering the appeal of movies and music from "Bollywood" — a nickname for the Indian film industry, centered in Bombay, which churns out approximately 800 movies a year.

This crossover audience can be found dancing on I Heart Shiva nights (Mondays) at the Baltic Room on Capitol Hill, renting videos from Tukwila's Bollywood Video, singing along to Indian movies at Kirkland's Totem Lake Cinemas and crunching popcorn at "Bollywood/Hollywood," which opened Sept. 5 at Metro Cinemas.

Bollywood's charms, it seems, are universal: colorful costumes, rhythmic music and unabashedly emotional stories that celebrate family ties and true romance.

At the movies

The film "Bollywood/Hollywood" made its Seattle debut at the Seattle International Film Festival, where it was a hit with critics and audiences.

Although set in the western city of Toronto, it follows a typical Bollywood plotline: A young man is pressured by his well-to-do family to find a suitable bride. His mother threatens to cancel his sister's wedding if he doesn't make a proper match. But instead of finding a "nice Indian girl," the son pays an escort to pose as his fiancée.

Eamonn Bowles, of Magnolia Pictures, the film's distributor, called the film "Bollywood 101."

"It's a great primer for a Bollywood film," he said. "It's English language, very Western, no cultural things to get through. At an hour and 45 minutes, its also considerably shorter than many Indian epics, which commonly run three hours.

"Every film festival we've played, it's gotten tremendous reception. I think there's some curiosity of Bollywood films. People know about them, but I don't think a lot of people have actually seen them," Bowles said.

The real thing shows nightly at Totem Lake Cinema in Kirkland, a theater devoted entirely to Indian movies. Some are in English, some subtitled, and screenings have become somewhat of a gathering spot for the Indian community on the Eastside.

The director of "Bollywood/Hollywood" said current events have brought people all over the world closer together, and Americans are becoming increasingly interested in other cultures. "The world's becoming a smaller place. People are becoming more aware of what's happening around the world," director Deepa Mehta said.

Mehta, who is from India and moved to Toronto 20 years ago, said she was surprised her movie was a hit in Canada when it was released there in January.

"People are really ready to embrace something that's different," she said. "People love the music, they love the fact that there's dancing and (showing) your emotions isn't something to be ashamed of, which is what Bollywood films are all about."

The small screen

Roshan Singh Gill, a cashier at Bollywood Video in Tukwila, said all different types of people come into the video rental store.

"My biggest customers are Indians," he said. "Then Africans and Russians, Vietnamese and Chinese."

Gill, who was born in Malaysia and whose family is from India, said the story lines are what draw people to Bollywood films.

"Basically all cultures can understand the movies because there are always songs in the movies, always drama, dramatic love scenes. There are always family values," he said.

Morality and tradition are recurring themes in Bollywood films, as is the character of the controlling mother.

Besides cultural differences, the main chasm between Bollywood and American films is the music. Indian moviemakers rely on the power of music to involve viewers; a film without songs is rare in India.

Shimmying with Shiva

Capitalizing on Bollywood's musical appeal, the Baltic Room hosts weekly "I Heart Shiva" nights. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. every Monday night, the Capitol Hill nightclub plays music from Bollywood films and other Indian music.

"My main reason for doing this is because it's such exciting music and completely underrepresented," said Michael Antonia, the club's booking agent.

"I Heart Shiva" night began in early 2001; monthly Saturday-night Bollywood parties were added later. For the past six months, it has filled up every Monday night and has reached capacity every Saturday night. The Saturday parties begins at 8 p.m. with a Bollywood movie. When 10 o'clock strikes, the music begins. The next Saturday event is Sept. 13.

"The Saturdays sell out every night we do it. And for Monday night, it's probably the best thing happening in Seattle," he said.

Antonia said everyone ends up on the dance floor when they attend Bollywood nights at the Baltic Room.

"I've opened three dance clubs in this city and never have seen people having as much fun," he said.

Crossing over

Both Antonia and Gill attribute Bollywood's popularity to certain Indian performers who have stepped into the mainstream.

In the recent film "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," starring Sean Connery, a famous Bollywood actor, Naseeruddin Shah, plays Captain Nemo.

The 2001 Bollywood epic, "Lagaan," was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign-language film in 2002.

In music, Panjabi MC, a rap artist and DJ from India, is getting his name out to U.S. audiences with the single "Beware of the Boys." Rapper Jay-Z rhymed along to Panjabi MC's remixed music and the single came out in July. Panjabi MC recently collaborated with reggae artist Beanie Man for a single that's out in Europe.

The type of music that Panjabi MC and other popular Indian artists make is called bhangra. The music centers on the heavy beat of a double-barreled drum called a dhol. The dhol is played at a fast tempo, and the sound is mixed with the singing of traditional folk songs. This type of music is great to dance to, Antonia said, and attracts throngs of people to the Baltic Room.

"The music is infectious, it's happy, it's fun," Antonia said. "It's like nothing else, especially in Seattle."

Regine Labossiere: 206-464-2216 or rlabossiere@seattletimes.com