[Thor Joachim Haga]

I definitely understand the alienating effect of Bollywood films on western audiences. I felt the same, and in many ways still do (I was never a big musical fan to begin with, animated Disney films notwithstanding). But once you get under the skin of them, the whole ‘massala’ approach that Gerate mentions (every genre thrown into the mix) is very appealing, as are the approximations or incorporations of western pop culture elements in a local dressing.

There are also darker and more nuanced undercurrents in many of them — it’s not all surface gloss — as exemplified by Mani Ratnam’s “terrorist trilogy” comprising ROJA (1992), BOMBAY (1995) and DIL SE (1998). All scored by Rahman, ROJA being his debut feature film score. And BOMBAY – with its supremely beautiful and popular “Bombay Theme” – is a complex, interesting film about rivalry and reconciliation between Hindu and Muslim communities.

I could mention some classics that are worth exploring for all film buffs. The 50s is an interesting period. The rise of star culture (Raj Kapoor, Nargis etc.), and lots of social films in Hindi that dominated. Primary among them Mehboob Khan’s MOTHER INDIA (1957), with a soaring song score by Naushad. The harvesting scene in that film (which I own on DVD) is very moving – a lone mother singing her heart out while trying to sustain her two children in difficult times.

But I wanted to highlight SHOLAY (1975), which I also have on DVD, another of Bollywood’s greatest successes, and the breakthrough film for superstar actor Amitabh Bachchan. Great, funky score by R.D. Burman that is mixed a bit “shrill” in the film here and there, but is well worth exploring.