DO YOU KNOW THE A-Z OF BOLLYWOOD CLICHES?

ANGRY YOUNG MAN

A stock Bollywood character closely identified with Bollywood’s ‘Big B’ Amitabh Bachchan. The actor first starred as the Angry Young Man in ‘Zanjeer’, and has since attributed the popularity of this archetype to the contemporary dissatisfaction of the country under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Although the term is slightly out of vogue these days, the legendary sexagenarian of Bollywood is still referred to as the first to don the mantle of the quintessential angry young man.

BANDRA
An otherwise unremarkable suburb of Bombay and the invisible line which marks the beginning of Bollywood. Half the industry’s celeb circle are all denizens of this plush suburb. If you ain’t seen Bandra, you ain’t seen Mumbai. Naturally, most of the city’s nightspots are also spread across the periphery of this lively neighbourhood.

CHAMCHA
Every star's 'yes man'. Literally translates as 'tablespoon', as he 'tablespoons' himself snugly around the star. The token stooge hanging around the ‘big guys’. You definitely ain’t getting anywhere close to your favourite celebs without the support and credence of these glorified punters.

DISHOOM DISHOOM
The onomatopoeic way of saying fight sequence, liberally scattered throughout the films so we can see just how incredibly macho the hero is. The term was coined as a result of the sound ‘Dishoom’ which the hero cried out every time he packed a punch on the face of the baddie back in the 60’s and early 70’s.

EXTRAS
Overworked, badly paid and appallingly dressed, these make up the backbone of all the little seemingly unimportant links in the film that string together the whole and give the hero his invincible screen persona; all thanks to their modest faces and star-struck demeanour.

FRUIT CARTS
The most commonly used fighting prop. From ‘Mother India’ to ‘Sholay’ and from ‘Amar, Akbar Anthony’ to ‘Shahenshah’, no Bollywood fight sequence could have been complete without tearing down a few fruit carts and hand carts in the middle of the fight spot (generally the middle of a street or in a crowded market place). And in true Kung Fu style, the hand carts are even used to lever the hero in delivering his killer drop kick. You know the rest now - the killer kick has a good four or five knocked down! The good ole cart has lately lost favour owing to techno razzmatazz. 

GOSSIP MAGS
Bitchier than ‘Heat’, publications like Filmfare, Stardust, CineBlitz and Premiere keep us up to date with filmi philanderings! You only need to get a sneak peek at these mags to know exactly who is seeing whom and who has had a spat with whom.

HOLI
The Hindu festival of colour; a day during which everyone gets trollied and sprays coloured water at each other. Often used in films as it provides a perfect opportunity for a song and dance jig and drenching the heroine's top.

INDIA / ITEM NUMBER
India releases more than 2??? feature films a day, watched daily by over 5 million people who throng the country's 13,002 cinema halls. Howzatt for numbers? If that?s not enough, there?s enough patriotism in our movies to give NRI?s a run for their money. Whatever!! ??Yeh Mera India?- you know the next. But with the emergence of the need for skin show in movies, ??I? is slowly transgressing from India to ??Item number?!

JAI SANTOSHI MAA
One of the most successful and worst made films of all time. Concerned with wifely piety, the movie is credited with creating a goddess, Santoshi Maa, who now commands followers. The prototypical Dandiya numbers have since incorporated the great goddess into its loyalty. ‘He Naam Re’…ring a bell?

KISSING
A self-imposed ban held sway over the industry since the 1940s right into the early 90’s. Resulted in a lot of fierce hugging and shots of bees going into flowers. And two red roses meeting over a bush. And two hands converging around the perimeter of a tree. Well, all that’s in the past now and Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi have given their Hollywood counterparts reason for some serious soul-searching. As good as it gets, kissing is no longer taboo in Bollywood. 

LOVE
Be it in Kashmir, Tokyo or London, love makes the filmi world go round. Lately, Switzerland and US have joined the list of Bollywood‘s favourite destinations. The best romantic songs are mostly imaginary sequences where the lead hero and heroines take off to foreign locales for a cosy duet. And if you didn’t know yet, ‘Love’ is the evergreen plot for any Bollywood potboiler.

MAHURAT
The name of the first shot in the can and celebrated with food and drink. Bollywood mahurats generally have a special star, generally someone not belonging to the cast to give the first clap followed by the canning of the opening shot. Like they do it in India, all new ventures have to begin with breaking a coconut as an auspicious gesture. 

NIGHTCLUBS
The preferred lair of any self-respecting villain. Slowly, it has come to emerge as the venue for urban, contemporary dance sequences where the teeny hero and heroine hang out after college hours. With the passage of time, the image of the nightclub has also undergone a major metamorphosis in Bollywood.

OYE OYE
A song from an otherwise unremarkable film ‘Tridev’ that shows just how the Bollywood drive for spectacle can go drastically wrong. Possibly the most politically incorrect song in the history of the industry, 'Oye Oye' featured blacked-up dancers (as Africans) romping about in a cave trying their best to look a fearsome bunch. Catering to the venerable Indian stereotype about the African race, it became such a rage that one of the country’s leading satellite channels used it for its launch in Africa.

PLAYBACK SINGERS
Ever since sound came to the cinema, Indian film has had songs. At first the actors sang the songs themselves, but since the 1940s professional singers have sung for them. Since then, the singers have become celebs in themselves. Some of the biggest and most popular Bollywood celebrities in the current scenario are playback singers. These include Lata Mangeshkar (hailed as ‘Bollywood’s nightingale’), Sonu Nigam (the uncrowned ‘Indian Idol’) and Udit Narayan.

QUEEN BEE
The name given to the industry's top heroine of the moment. This is a coveted title that all heroines are perennially vying for. Currently held by Rani Mukherjee, this title has been held by every Bollywood female superstar who’s had her share of the sun. 

RONA DHONA
The scenes of weeping and wailing; usually the mother's prerogative. Every time there’s death, or a rape or an accident, Bollywood slips into tearjerker mode. What’s Hindi movies without the rona-dhona? No one ever cried at the movies unless the star showed that it was time to take out the hankies. Best used by pros like Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra, rona dhona is what gives Bollywood its cathartic flavour. 

SPOT BOYS
The lowest in the studio pecking order. In charge of bringing tea, coffee and plastic chairs. Spots are generally people employed by the studio to take care of the on-ground trivial needs. The cinema equivalent of the office chaprasi. 

TAXATION
The industry has laboured under absurdly high tax for decades, often over 102 per cent. With the onset of the multiplex scenario, the single screen theatres of old have almost slipped into a tax abyss, making their very existence archaic. 

UNDERWORLD
In the past, gangsters laundered their money by funding films about the underworld. Brilliant idea. Until the cops stuck it out and busted the mafia bankrollers. Without batting an eyelid, the Bollywood scoundrel prototype is still very much the Mumbai ka “Bhai”.

VAMPS AND VILLIANS
Vamps are those loose ladies dressed in revealing Western clothing who attempt to snare the hero with their bedroom eyes. The villain prefers clashing plaids and says things like, "Trousers are no passport to success, lady!" But all that of course, is before Bollwood discovered its new success mantra, the obligatory “Item girl”.

WET SARIS
A sari may be six metres of flesh-concealing cloth but a well-timed downpour will play havoc with all modesty. Saris, especially chiffon ones, just become so clingy and revealing of our heroine's ample curves.

X-RATED
The Indian pornography industry is very underground and populated by prostitutes and men who grow beards to hide their identity. Even the recent surge of Bollywood to get sex out of the closet hasn’t done much to change the scenario of the porno guys.

YODELLING
Not something you usually associate with Indian music but during the 1960s playback singer Kishore Kumar discovered he could yodel and so peppered his more upbeat songs with his melodic warbling. These days, the yodelling is well imitated by Kishore clones like Abhijeet and Babul Supriyo. A close second for the ‘Y’ slot is Bollywood’s undisputed King of Romance, director Yash Chopra. 

ZURICH
All love songs need a spectacular backdrop to emphasise the beauty of the hero and heroine's love - Switzerland has been the location of choice since the late 1970s. And the filmi ambassador of that country in India - none other than apna Yash Chopra. 

 Nitin Nambiar
http://movies.indiatimes.com/quickies/1475079.cms