Take a cue from Bollywood

EVERYONE in most parts of Asia knows that when you see an Indian movie, meaning Tamil, Telugu, or Hindi film, you will probably get your money's worth of entertainment. That means about three hours of unadulterated of pure escapism.
The lead actor is always handsome and the main actress is not only beautiful but she has a body which includes a flat tummy that makes every housewife cring with envy.
For more than half a century, Bollywood (make that India) has been manufacturing movies by the hundreds per year (that's what I heard anyway). Indian movies have one thing in common, they are all lengthy.
The general populace of India are mostly poor folks. Three quarters of the people in India are living in squalor and they just can't wait to have a share of the good life. Since that might take some time in coming, the cinema provides what they government can't.
Indian moviegoers like to spend a bit of their hard-earned income on forgetting about their daily sorrows. Thus, they troop to the cinema at every given opportunity and forget that they are living in slavish conditions for at least three hours.
Bollywood producers and directors pander to the people's whims and fancies. They give them as much as they can take, and they can really take a lot. So, it is of no surprise that India is one of the world's greatest producers of movies. With a population of 1.1 billion, manpower, meaning the storehouse of potential acting talents is enormous.
These aspiring actors and actresses will act for pittance, and many of them have god-like features. As you and I know, common folks like to see beautiful people. They would like to look or gawk at beautiful people. It is not a sin to admire good looks. It is very much a human thing.
In India, Bollywood is like a gigantic magnet that draws all the talented beautiful people to the studios.
Props are cheap because the producers will use the landscape to the hilt. Dancing scenes can be done on top of trains, on streets, but generally on deserted hill slopes.
Music is as essential as rain for the rice fields, and they are lengthy. Musical talents abound in Mother India. Some of the songs and music composed are first class. I can manage a line or two of my favourite Hindi songs.
Music is what drives the movie. If you got a great song, it will help propel the movie to the top of the charts. And if the song is sung with great gusto, if not passion, it will stay lodged in the minds of moviegoers for at least three generations.
Bollywood is currently enjoying its golden era. Hollywood on the other hand is languishing in the afterglow of its golden years.
One of India's greatest advantages is the low salaries it pays aspiring actors. These people will take anything initially just to see their names in lights. If they have the luck as well, soon enough the money will come in the right amounts.
The axiom is DON'T BE GREEDY. I think Hollywood should remember that. Afterall, Bollywood had that phrase engraved on its office wall.
The theme for most Bollywood is about the same. It is loosely based on love, greed, comedy and courage inspite of the odds. They have thousands of variations of these themes. Moviegoers are almost never tired of these themes.
They will watch the movies over and over again, except with different people in them. There's a heavy dose of songs in Indian films. There's generally a lot of crying. The men cry copiously, too. It is the Asian thing.
It puzzles me why Western men are so afraid that they too can cry. They suppress their heartaches and tears to the point of getting a heart attack, and then they burst into tears in the privacy of their bedrooms. Strange people. If you want to cry, go ahead and cry.
In Asia, everybody cries. They soon get over it and get on with their daily lives. That's normal. Nobody is going to condemn you for shedding a few tears. It's good to cry. In fact, doctors say it is quite therapeutic.
Bollywood likes to remind people in general that there's hope amid sorrow, wealth lurks in every poverty-stricken area, and love is always within grasp. Now, that's the magic formula.
If Hollywood can just adopt and adapt the formula used by Bollywood, then the cash registers will ring non-stop.

P.S. Of course, I say all this with tongue-in-cheek. It is not meant to offend the real Hollywood gurus who are serious about their art. Anyway, what works in Asia may not be applicable in the West but read it for fun and not look for hidden motives because there is really none.