Why Are Bollywood Movies Often Called Masala Films

Why Are Bollywood Movies Often Called Masala Films?

From our childhood we grow up watching masala movies. And even till now we have seen many masala movies in Bollywood. But do you know why are Bollywood movies often called ‘Masala films’ !?

So let’s find out the reason behind it in this article. Stay tuned till the last!

Bollywood movies especially have a mixture of different movie genres like action, thriller, romance, etc. within it, called ‘Masala films’ which are very much different from any other specific genre.

Why are ‘Masala films’ so popular in Bollywood | Why are Bollywood movies often called masala films

Why Are Bollywood Movies Often Called Masala Films- Mr. India scene
Amrish Puri in Mr. India

The journey started with the first-ever Bollywood Masala movie ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’ in 1973. The director of the film was Nasir Hussain and the writer was the renowned pair Salim- Javed.

Dharmendra and Neetu Singh were the lead artists in the film. Moreover, one of the biggest superstars of the present time was a part of this film as a child artist. Guess who!?

It was the Mr perfectionist Aamir Khan, the nephew of director Nasir Hussain. This film got huge commercial success as it was remade in many other languages.

These movies gave huge success, stardom, fame, and full-pocket earnings to many actors.

One of the biggest reason behind its occurrence is the Indian audience always love this highly dramatic musical journey along with some sensational dialogues and especially the larger-than-life characters.

Furthermore, do you know Bollywood even entered the 100 crores club through a masala movie?

It was ‘Disco Dancer’, the first Bollywood movie to cross 100 crores.

Here are some Movies that belong To Masala Film Genre

The 70s- 90s Masala Movies

  1. Sholay 1975
  2. Amar Akbar Anthony 1977
  3. Nagina 1986
  4. Mr. India 1987
  5. Tezaab 1988
  6. Maine Pyar Kiya 1989
  7. Baazigar 1993
  8. Coolie No 1- 1995
  9. Dil To Pagal Hai 1997
  10. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 1999 and so on.

After 90’s masala movies

Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar in Rowdy Rathore
  1. Mohabbatein 2000
  2. Dhoom 2004
  3. Don 2006
  4. Om Shanti Om 2007
  5. Wanted 2009
  6. Dabangg 2010
  7. Singham 2011
  8. Rowdy Rathore 2012
  9. Kick 2014, etc.

By checking out all these films you will realise that masala films are real magic. And if you scroll down the list of highest-grossing Bollywood movies by year.

Famous actors in masala movies

  1. Dharmendra
  2. Amitabh Bachchan
  3. Rishi Kapoor
  4. Govinda
  5. Anil Kapoor
  6. Akshay Kumar
  7. Salman Khan
  8. Ajay Devgn
  9. Ranveer Singh
  10. Tiger Shroff and many more.

Famous actresses in masala movies

  1. Sridevi
  2. Hema Malini
  3. Zeenat Aman
  4. Parveen Babi
  5. Neetu Singh
  6. Karishma Kapoor
  7. Madhuri Dixit
  8. Kareena Kapoor
  9. Priyanka Chopra
  10. Katrina Kaif and so on.

Renowned directors of masala movies

  1. Nasir Hussain
  2. Yash Chopra
  3. Mahesh Bhatt
  4. David Dhawan
  5. Karan Johar
  6. Rohit Shetty
  7. Anees Bazmee
  8. Prabhu Deva
  9. Kabir Khan
  10. Sajid Nadiadwala and a few.

Majority of Indian audiences love watching masala Films so directors and products most of the time invest their money and time in these kind of movies.

However there are some movies like The Kashmir Files, Thappad also loved by audiences which means the taste of Indian audience are now changing.

What do you think about these ‘masala movies’ of Bollywood let me know in the comment section below.

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