By Aleni MacKarey ’16

Nandini Sikand captured the crowd with her April 4 Extravaganza lecture “Bollywood Dhamaka,” covering popular Indian music and dance films.

“Bollywood” was coined in the 70s, inspired by the American film industry, Hollywood. It acquired the “B” since is headquarters was in Bombay, present day Mumbai.

Following Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, and Hollywood, The Bollywood film industry is the largest in the world, producing over 1,000 feature films each year.

Sikand, a film and media studies professor, said a typical Bollywood movie is melodramatic and musical, with plenty of singing, dancing, drama, action and romance.

The films, which last over three hours, are not just for locals, but for a world audience.

To advertise upcoming films, Bollywood producers release soundtracks to the public.

Bollywood films need music or else they would not sell, Sikand said.

Throughout the lively discussion, Sikand showed several clips, including popular films and her personal favorites.

Many of the films’ actors had the same singing voice, dubbed by an actual performer since it’s challenging to sing and do complicated dance routines at the same time.

An example is “Sholay”, a 1975 “curry western,” a Bollywood version of a typical American country western cowboy film.

Sikand answered student questions and concluded her talk with a clip from 2004’s Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.