Beyond Bollywood

(Adam Dow & Ruchika Muchhala, 2012, India, 52min)

“Beyond Bollywood” is a feature documentary filmed over a period of four years, that follows the journeys of four characters working on the fringes of the worlds’ biggest film industry. In Mumbai, where the stark contrast between the rich and the poor is blatantly apparent, the reality is a grueling process in a cut-throat industry, churning out more films a year than any other film industry in the world. “Beyond Bollywood” intricately weaves together four narrative stories of an Australian backpacker who stumbles upon a career as ‘the white extra’; a powerful Union worker who becomes the ‘leader’ of the laborers on set; a diva make-up artist who is popular for creating the glamorous look of Bollywood actresses; and a small-town girl who holds onto her naïve hopes of one day “making it” in Bollywood, like her favorite superstar. By intertwining the stories, the universal story that lingers deep within everyone that is drawn to the entertainment industry is told: the dream to become somebody; a superstar in their own right. “Beyond Bollywood” offers an in-depth insight into the reality behind following ones dream in present day modernizing India, which in our celluloid era can be dubbed as a culture that identifies itself as ‘Bollywood’.

Saturday, June 28, 2014, 6:30 PM