Mrs. Mancer and I want to dive into the wonderful world of Bollywood (Indian Movie Extravaganzas). For those in the know, what would you recommend as a good starting point. We don’t necessarily want quality so much as quantity - we want spectacle, music, fun, and so forth. Where should we start?
I haven’t seen a whole lot of Bollywood films but I have seen Monsoon Wedding and it might be a good starting film. It’s by a Bollywood director but it’s in both English and Hindi (?) with subtitles. Another film by the same director is Mississippi Masala (which I have not seen).
I’m not really very good at writing movie reviews so here is the link to the movie on IMDB: Monsoon Wedding .
Here’s a link to the IMDB’s most popular Indian movies.
I hope this helps!
The only one I’ve ever seen is Khuda Gawah and it was a fun movie to watch. I have a very limited attention span and it kept me still for the whole length of the film (2 1/2 hours?).
And the theme song is so catchy that it will never ever leave your mind. You’ve been warned. 
http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/s/superman-indian.html
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Bollywood Superman!
My favorites are the recent Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. I haven’t seen Devdas but heard it’s very good.
I started a thread asking more or less the same question, but it died. I asked because I had seen Asoka, which I recommend. I also watched Lagaan, which I didn’t enjoy as much but it was pretty fun and the music was good.
So, is there any way to see these films without shelling out twenty or thirty bucks a shot? I found a website that sells Indian movies and music (ordered the soundtrack to Asoka and Lagaan!) and I was intrigued by Devdas, but didn’t want to spend the money on something I might watch once, and maybe would enjoy or maybe not.
Kunda Gawah, huh?
You can rent movies here: http://www.indiaweekly.com/test/indextemp.asp
I second Lagaan. Wonderful film. Also, Monsoon Wedding is a good idea, because of its subtitles and also because it’s a wonderful film. Don’t know about Devdas, though. I haven’t seen it, but everyone else chez Raven hated it.
Good luck, by the way. You’re throwing yourself into the world of Hindi cinema, you need it.
Hey, thanks Yookeroo!
this link has the most recent top 10 films but considering how often films are released there are lots to choose from
hollywood bollywood is in english as well, same as monsoon wedding, the guru, bend it like beckham but they arent exactly bollywood films imho because they are in english.
here are some reviews of bollywood films, I dont have any to recommend exactly because last time I enjoyed those movies were during the zeenat aman amitab batchan (sp) shashi kapoor nazia hassan era
I was going to suggest both “Lagaan” and “Dil Chahtha Hai,” but I see tsarina beat me to the punch. The latter is a great example of what has become, in some sense, the typical Hindi movie (for another good example, check out “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”). The former, on the other hand, is a good movie all around, providing a good introduction to Bollywood, while still being a cut above (it was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar).
If you want to try older movies, I’ve always been a fan of “Sholay”
My two cents.