As part of celebrations commemorating Japan-India Friendship Year 2007, the National Film Center in Tokyo will hold an Indian Film Festival from Oct. 9 to Nov. 16 that will highlight the rising star of Bollywood and make clear that links with modern India include not only a burgeoning economy, spicy cuisine and a huge IT industry.
Bollywood — a melange of Bombay and Hollywood — is the name given to India's cinema industry, which is the largest in the world. The National Film Center will show Bollywood movies that include some offering pure entertainment with wild and wacky dancing, as well as heartrending love stories and works that take a close look at people's lifestyles.
The majority of Bollywood films are in Hindi — one of India's official languages — but many are also made in other languages, including Bengali, spoken in the east, and Malayalam, spoken in the southwestern state of Kerala.
The festival will be the biggest-ever showing of Indian movies at the National Film Center, which has selected 32 classics made before the 1990s.
Tickets cost ¥500 for adults, ¥300 for university and high-school students and senior citizens, and ¥100 for junior-high- school and elementary-school students. All movies will be shown with Japanese subtitles. The center will be closed on Mondays. For a map of how to get there, go to www.momat.go.jp
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