The term “Bollywood” was created by combining two names: Bombay (the city now called Mumbai) and Hollywood. Bollywood, based in Mumbai, is India’s – and the world’s – largest film industry in terms of the number of films produced, as well as the number of tickets sold each year. With the success of Bollywood films, the dance has taken the world by storm and has now come into the global spotlight. Stars like Madonna, Shakira, and Britney Spears have incorporated the Bollywood style of dance or music into their songs, videos, and stage shows.
The highlight of any Bollywood movie is the elaborate dance sequences and original soundtracks. Over the years, Bollywood movies have developed their own signature style of song and dance, which combines the rich texture of India’s many classical and folk dances with elements of jazz, hip hop, Arabic, and Latin forms.
The style of dancing in earlier Bollywood films was based on Indian classical dance or folk dances from various parts of India. In the late 50s & 60s, group dances began to evolve in Bollywood as films and choreographers started managing larger groups of dancers with influences from folk dances. Then came the era of color films, and by then, Indian cinema was blessed with great dancers whose their outstanding energy and performance mesmerized the audiences and took dance to the next level.
Bollywood dance began to change in the 70s. The cabaret style of dance became more mainstream and was implemented in many movies. Later on, cabaret was replaced by disco, which was a worldwide phenomenon at the time. After experimenting with classical, folk, cabaret, and disco styles of dance came an era which introduced a free movement style of dance. Since the 1980s, Bollywood dancing has been heavily influenced by Western dance styles.
Currently, Bollywood dance is still influenced by Western culture, perhaps even more so today than when it began. Elements include the use of frequent costume and location changes during dances, as well as the use of hip hop dance moves. The evolution of Bollywood dance is a process that is entirely Indian yet cross-cultural at the same time.
