Bollywood Vs Hollywood

I think they are both two completely different styles of cinema that cater to completely different audiences and sensibilities. Which one is better would completely depend on what kind of film you want to see.

Personally, I enjoy the unrealism and escapism that Bollywood cinema has to offer. There is fun and spontaneity to running in a field of flowers or breaking out into random song and dance sequence. It takes you away from the daily grind to watch magically transforming outfits and teleporting to different parts of the globe at will.

Perhaps Bollywood does lift stories, but it displays creativity in taking something from a starkly different culture and adapting it to Indian sensibilities. If Bollywood remade Transformers then Megan Fox would feature in an item number. At least Bollywood has utility for women who are in a film only to display cleavage and booty. We don't just throw them on a motorcycle and hope they look pretty and that will be good enough for the audience, we make an entire item number. To me that counts for something.

If Snakes on a Plane was remade in Bollywood it would have Salman Khan in the lead. He would personally wrestle with the python and crush it with his bare hands. Then the entire plane would break into naag sapera song and dance routine to celebrate. And if there is anything more badass than Samuel L Jackson getting sick of "mother------- snakes, in the mother------- plane" then it is shirtless Salman Khan with an awesomely penned line like "Ek baar maine flight board ki, to mai snake ki bhi nahin suntan".

Can you imagine Star Wars as a Hindi movie? If Star Wars was cool, then Bollywood Ishtar Wars is uber cool.

Darth Vader: "Mere Pass mask hai, suit hai, light saber hai, storm trooper hai, death star hai, empire hai, tumhare paas kya hai?"

Luke: "Mere Pass, Mere pass Yoda hai!"

Or

Darth Vader: Rishte me hap tumhare baap hai, Naam hai Vader

Luke: Nahiiin

OMG! I actually imagine all the crazy angled freeze frame and the shock music when he goes Nahin!

Bollywood flare is so underrated and unappreciated.

Let's be honest RTH, apart from a few good movies here and there, Bollywood is just a pile of junk. Let's not make excuses for low standards, bad tastes, zero creativity, plagiarised scripts/songs, bad writing and poor actors by saying "bollywood caters to a different audience".. no mate, Bollywood caters mindless garbage to an audience with very low standards.

Hollywood has its fair share of trash too, and some of the best films come from world cinema (excluding bollywood), but compared to Bollywood, Hollywood is light years ahead in every aspect.

With the likes of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Bollywood can never be taken seriously on the international level... what does it say about the standards of Bollywood when a girl who cannot act to save her life, nor can she speak the damn language properly despite living there for 10 years, is now the top actress in Bollywood, some day Indians will look back on this era as one of the worst periods of Indian film history.

Originally posted by: CunningLinguist

Let's be honest RTH, apart from a few good movies here and there, Bollywood is just a pile of junk. Let's not make excuses for low standards, bad tastes, zero creativity, plagiarised scripts/songs, bad writing and poor actors by saying "bollywood caters to a different audience".. no mate, Bollywood caters mindless garbage to an audience with very low standards.

Hollywood has its fair share of trash too, and some of the best films come from world cinema (excluding bollywood), but compared to Bollywood, Hollywood is light years ahead in every aspect.

With the likes of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Bollywood can never be taken seriously on the international level... what does it say about the standards of Bollywood when a girl who cannot act to save her life, nor can she speak the damn language properly despite living there for 10 years, is now the top actress in Bollywood, some day Indians will look back on this era as one of the worst periods of Indian film history.

Made a few corrections to your post just for fun; corrections are in blue.

Apart from a few passable movies here and there, Bollywood is just a gargantuan pile of junk. Let's not make harebrained excuses for abysmal standards, ghastly tastes, uninspired creativity, brazenly copied scripts/songs, dreadful writing and deplorable actors by saying "bollywood caters to a different audience".. no mate, Bollywood caters gratuitous drivel to an audience with alarmingly low standards.

Hollywood has its fair share of trash too, and some of the best films come from world cinema (excluding bollywood and China), but compared to Bollywood, Hollywood is a Googol years ahead in every aspect.

With the likes of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif (to name a few), Bollywood can never be taken seriously on the international level... what does it say about the standards of Bollywood when a girl who cannot act to save her life (she cannot act, period!) , nor can she speak the damn language properly (surprisingly she cannot speak English that well either) despite living there for 10 years (feels like 100 years), is now the top actress in Bollywood (bet your bottom dollar she is), some day Indians will look back on this era (wishful thinking) as one of the worst periods of Indian film history (you never know who's coming up next; someone that will make Katrina Kaif look like Meryl Streep).

There is no comparison I agree.
But for the low budget allocated to Bollywood it is doing a pretty good job. Viewership is basically limited to Desis.

Originally posted by: K.Consciousness

Made a few corrections to your post just for fun; corrections are in blue.

Apart from a few passable movies here and there, Bollywood is just a gargantuan pile of junk. Let's not make harebrained excuses for abysmal standards, ghastly tastes, uninspired creativity, brazenly copied scripts/songs, dreadful writing and deplorable actors by saying "bollywood caters to a different audience".. no mate, Bollywood caters gratuitous drivel to an audience with alarmingly low standards.

Hollywood has its fair share of trash too, and some of the best films come from world cinema (excluding bollywood and China), but compared to Bollywood, Hollywood is a Googol years ahead in every aspect.

With the likes of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif (to name a few), Bollywood can never be taken seriously on the international level... what does it say about the standards of Bollywood when a girl who cannot act to save her life (she cannot act, period!) , nor can she speak the damn language properly (surprisingly she cannot speak English that well either) despite living there for 10 years (feels like 100 years), is now the top actress in Bollywood (bet your bottom dollar she is), some day Indians will look back on this era (wishful thinking) as one of the worst periods of Indian film history (you never know who's coming up next; someone that will make Katrina Kaif look like Meryl Streep).

hahahaha... that's more closer to my thoughts, cheers

yeh i think i was being wishful about indians looking back someday 😆... it's just getting worse and worse, I'm sick and tired of the Khan's, the Kumar's etc.. same faces for the past 20 years... if the Many-Worlds theory is true, that means there is a world out there, where the Khan's never became actors, Katrina is still in UK or where-ever the hell she's from, a world where Bollywood actually makes good movies! 😆

Originally posted by: CunningLinguist

Let's be honest RTH, apart from a few good movies here and there, Bollywood is just a pile of junk. Let's not make excuses for low standards, bad tastes, zero creativity, plagiarised scripts/songs, bad writing and poor actors by saying "bollywood caters to a different audience".. no mate, Bollywood caters mindless garbage to an audience with very low standards.

Hollywood has its fair share of trash too, and some of the best films come from world cinema (excluding bollywood), but compared to Bollywood, Hollywood is light years ahead in every aspect.

With the likes of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Bollywood can never be taken seriously on the international level... what does it say about the standards of Bollywood when a girl who cannot act to save her life, nor can she speak the damn language properly despite living there for 10 years, is now the top actress in Bollywood, some day Indians will look back on this era as one of the worst periods of Indian film history.

I'll be honest, when it comes to movies, my standards are exceptionally low. I'm a sucker for kitsch, camp and cheesiness. I look forward to over the top plot lines and larger than life cookie cutter characters. The idea of being able to put my brains aside and enjoying drivel excites me. I like the excessive melodrama, the grating dialogues, the overacting and the hamming. Every remake idea I gave above was actually ludicrous, but that kind of kitsch and drama makes me laugh out loud and enjoy. I'm one of those people who thoroughly enjoyed films like Wanted and Dabangg, and am eagerly looking forward to when I will get a chance to watch Bodyguard.

I'm not going to come out and say Bollywood movies are good. In both artistic and technical aspects, majority of the Bollywood lack the talent and expertise to make good cinema. However, when it comes to me choosing which movie is good for my few hours a day - Bollywood cinema trumps Hollywood. Intelligent cinema does not do it for me, I find that Bollywood is great and what I look forward too. I'm not sure whether it is the fact that I don't get to see as much Bollywood where I live, or the fact that I actually grew up to Bollywood, or the fact that I don't have any trace of intelligence left, but I do find that when it comes to full on entertainment value, time pass and fun, Bollywood cinema is tops. If I can get the time, I plan the road trip to Milwaukee and back so I can watch a Bollywood movie. In fact when Bollywood movie makers do try to make the grittier, more intelligent, slicker cinema, I feel heartbroken that Bollywood may someday cease to be the nonsensical song and dance rollicking routine I love it to be.

LOL, i wasn't really on about intelligent cinema, i'm talking talking about cinema in general, including mass entertainers. The probem with Bollywood mass entertainers is that the masses are stupid, these films are not entertaining in anyway, there is no logic to the story, full of plot holes, the dancing is pathetic, they can't do action properly, Indians just can't do action period, the romance is incredibly childish, and whenever they attempt to do a remake, they end up butchering the original... but there are a few films that are good which are far and few in between..

I don't know what you saw in Dabangg and Wanted, as action films, they are ridiculously bad, no story whatsoever, it's like someone wrote these films in the toilet while being constipated one sunday morning.

Sarina, are you seriously advocating Salman Khan's bollywood movies over Hollywood movies?! Did you watch movies like Dabangg and Bodyguard? Salman Khan can't act to save his life! Those movies are filled with ridiculous scenes/dialogues in the name of comedy and bad, bad, bad action sequences! What in the world is there that you like and enjoy? The truth is that these kinds of movies can only ever be watched on the subcontinent. I wouldn't call the masses there stupid, but it's not like Hollywood where these movies can be watched and enjoy all over the world.

Having said that, I do love the essence of Bollywood in KJo's movies and occasional romantic flicks like Jab We Met and Band Baaja Baraat, but Salman Khan's movies drive me crazy!!