Moviegoers Flock To Local Town For Bollywood
Bollywood Generates Sold-Out Shows 10,000 Miles From Bombay
POSTED: 2:56 pm EST February 22, 2008
UPDATED: 6:08 pm EST February 22, 2008
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LAWRENCE, Mass. -- We're 48 hours from Hollywood's biggest night, the Oscars. But NewsCenter 5’s Liz Brunner reported in one Merrimack Valley town it's not Hollywood, but Bollywood that is generating sold-out shows at the box office.The Showcase Cinema in Lawrence shows all the standard box office fare, but 10,000 miles from Bombay, the theatre is suddenly an entertainment destination for Indian moviegoers.
Watch Video“It's definitely good to be in the Lawrence area, which is closer, accessible,” said Smuruti Shah, from Nashua, N.H.Families have been flocking to see "Jodhaa Akbar," the hottest movie to cross the seas.“I am very pleased. When you are in India you have a lot of options,” said Shivmani Tribathi, from Andover.“We are so far away, 10,000 miles, so basically it brings us back home,” said Jayesh Shah, from Nashua, N.H.Up until fairly recently, Bollywood fans had to go to big cities to see films from their homeland, or they’d have wait for the DVDs. But National Amusements decided to take a risk on Bollywood epics.“The Indian population tends to be very diverse and lives in a variety of communities,” said Wanda Whitson, spokeswoman for National Amusements. “So we needed to pick a location that is easy to travel to from a long distance. These audiences are very devoted to their films. “Last weekend, the film was seen in only 100 theaters in North America, and it was No. 2 at the box office in Lawrence. It doesn't hurt that the epic love story stars the Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt of India, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.“He's almost comparable to Brad Pitt because he's good-looking, and she's a good actress,” said Sheila Agasthi, from Nashua, N.H.What separates Bollywood from Hollywood? Bollywood movies tend to be long, usually over three hours. They also tend to be quite chaste.“You gotta think about it. A lot of American movies have sex involved, death, whatever. If you watch an Indian movie you get a story, you don't get a lot of sex involved in it. That's what I prefer,” said Sibel Rodriguez, of Lawrence.Bollywood makes about 1,000 films a year, twice the number Hollywood produces.
Watch Video“It's definitely good to be in the Lawrence area, which is closer, accessible,” said Smuruti Shah, from Nashua, N.H.Families have been flocking to see "Jodhaa Akbar," the hottest movie to cross the seas.“I am very pleased. When you are in India you have a lot of options,” said Shivmani Tribathi, from Andover.“We are so far away, 10,000 miles, so basically it brings us back home,” said Jayesh Shah, from Nashua, N.H.Up until fairly recently, Bollywood fans had to go to big cities to see films from their homeland, or they’d have wait for the DVDs. But National Amusements decided to take a risk on Bollywood epics.“The Indian population tends to be very diverse and lives in a variety of communities,” said Wanda Whitson, spokeswoman for National Amusements. “So we needed to pick a location that is easy to travel to from a long distance. These audiences are very devoted to their films. “Last weekend, the film was seen in only 100 theaters in North America, and it was No. 2 at the box office in Lawrence. It doesn't hurt that the epic love story stars the Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt of India, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.“He's almost comparable to Brad Pitt because he's good-looking, and she's a good actress,” said Sheila Agasthi, from Nashua, N.H.What separates Bollywood from Hollywood? Bollywood movies tend to be long, usually over three hours. They also tend to be quite chaste.“You gotta think about it. A lot of American movies have sex involved, death, whatever. If you watch an Indian movie you get a story, you don't get a lot of sex involved in it. That's what I prefer,” said Sibel Rodriguez, of Lawrence.Bollywood makes about 1,000 films a year, twice the number Hollywood produces. Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
