BOLLYWOOD MOVIES HISTORY

Bollywood (Hindi: बॉलीवूड, Urdu: بالی وڈ) is the informal term popularly used for Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. Bollywood is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is one of the largest film producers in the world.[1]

The name is a portmanteau of Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a real physical place. Though some deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood, it seems likely to persist and now has its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Bollywood is commonly referred to as Hindi cinema, even though Hindustani, understood as the colloquial base common to both Hindi and Urdu, might be more accurate. There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well. It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, even whole sentences. There is a growing number of films made entirely in English.

A LITTLE HOLLYWOOD HISTORY

The tradition of grand Hollywood premieres was pioneered by master showman Sid Grauman. The very first gala premiere took place in 1922 with the grand opening of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the spectacular premiere of "Robin Hood," a silent screen version starring Douglas Fairbanks.
That first premiere at the Egyptian featured all the bright lights and hoopla which we've now come to associate with movie premieres - and the basic form has been repeated ever since. (Five years later, in 1927, Grauman topped himself by opening his new Chinese Theatre with the star-studded premiere of DeMille's "King of Kings.")
Over the years, Hollywood premieres grew more and more elaborate.
When "The Wizard of Oz" premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1939, over ten thousand spectators showed up to greet Judy Garland, the entire Oz cast, and other M-G-M stars. The studio even recreated the Yellow Brick Road and a small cornfield in the famous Grauman's courtyard, and populated it with a scarecrow and several Munchkins in full costume.
Three years later, in 1942, fear of enemy attack during World War II led to all Hollywood premieres (and their bright lights) being banned for the duration. The last pre-war premiere was held on August 19, 1942, for "Pride of the Yankees" at the Pantages Theatre, and was attended by (among others) Bob Hope, Ginger Rogers, Ronald Reagan, Jack Benny, Mickey Rooney, Ava Gardner, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr, Irene Dunne, Dorothy Lamour and Sam Goldwyn.
But once the war was over, the Hollywood premieres resumed. And many of the modern movie premieres are still exciting events. And occasionally, there's still a a jolt of Hollywood public excess.
For the 2006 premiere of "Ice Age 2", the actually covered the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese with snow, had ice skaters perform for the crowd, and brought the stars (including Ray Romano) in riding on snowmobiles - all right on Hollywood Boulevard!
At the premiere of "Lethal Weapon II", a giant video screen showed arrivals; and providing entertainment for the crowd of 2,000 fans was a Chinese dragon, ceremonial drummers, and a dozen acrobatic wushu martial artists engaging in mock combat with swords & spears. Stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover arrived in the beaten-up car used in the action movie, while co-stars arrived in police squad cars, sirens wailing. Danny Glover got his hand and footprints put in wet cement outside of the Chinese Theatre, then the arrivals started, with the stars including Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Kirk Douglas, Chris O'Donnell, Steven Seagal, Neve Campbell, Chris Rock, Tim Burton, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman Black, Jamie Le Curtis, Nick Nolte, Antonio Sabato Jr., Lisa Marie, James L. Brooks, James Coburn, Eriq La Salle, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Sydney Pollack, Joel Schumacher, Oliver Stone, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Robert Zemeckis.
The star-studded premiere of Fox's $200 epic "Titanic" drew a big crowd of fans to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, attracting celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Mel Gibson, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Dustin Hoffman, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Tilly, Ashley Judd, Fran Drescher, David Hyde Pierce and Nathan Lane.A week later, another premiere at the Village, this one for the comedy "As Good As It Gets" drew a celebrity parade that included Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Johnny Depp, Cuba Gooding Jr., Roger Daltrey, Anthony Edwards, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Reiser, Matthew Perry, Jack Klugman, Winona Ryder, Helen Slater and many others.
In 1995, Warner Brothers took over both the Village and the Bruin theatres in Westwood for a giant world premiere showing of "Batman Forever." Even the usually blasé Westwood college crowd got excited about this one. A crowd of over 2,000 star-gazers packed the streets hours in advance to catch a glimpse of such stars as Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Faye Dunaway, Rosie O'Donnell, Drew Barrymore... even "Superman" (Dean Cain) showed up to see "Batman"!The Cinerama Dome occasionally sees a huge world premiere too. For instance, in 1997 the Dome was the site of the premiere for "Men In Black," and drew such celebs as Will Smith, Jada Pinkett, Antonio Sabato Jr., Linda Fiorentino, Noah Wyle, Steven Bochco, Gina Gershon & Jennifer Lopez.
During these major Hollywood screenings, the public is free to stand outside the theatre and watch all the hoopla around the arrival of the stars. Most of the celebs will stop and say a few words to the crowd before they walk up the red carpet and go inside to see the film. The police usually rope off the area with makeshift barricades for crowd control, so you may be forced to watch from across the street. But if you get there early, you should still have a good view of the activities. (They even erect bleachers for some of the bigger premieres.)

.