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Bollywood Dance
Bollywood Dance
Music and dance play a prominent part in Bollywood films, almost all of which are musicals. Songs and music for the films are pre-recorded and in production the actors and actresses lip sync the words of the song while dancing. Just about all of the actors are excellent dancers, but few are good singers, which is why others do the actual singing. There have been some stars that did the perform both singing and dancing, such as Kishore Kumar of the 1950's, K.L. Saigal and Noor Jean.
Bollywood dance, especially in the earlier films, featured traditional Indian dancing. These were classical dances and traditional Indian folk dances. The modern films blend aspects of Indian dance with Western dancing and it not uncommon to see both Indian and Western dancing in the same film. The star of the film usually performs a dance along with a troupe of dancers.
When watching a Bollywood film, there are likely to be instantaneous shifts of scenery in the dance or changes in the costumes of the dancers. If the hero and heroine of the film are performing a dance together, called a pas-de-deux (dance for two), the scene is likely shot in a setting of natural beauty and is called a piturisation.
The songs of the films are related to the plot of the story and make a comment about the action of the film. The main characteristic of the Bollywood song and dance is the use of item numbers. In this an actor or actress who have a very small part to play in the plot and may not even seem related to the film perform a song and dance routine. These could be discotheque shows or stage shows.
The soundtrack of the film and sometimes a video featuring one or more of the dances is usually released before the movie. This is to encourage moviegoers to become familiar with the movie and want to go to see it at the cinema.