Bollywood Stars, Styles, and Storytelling

This unit examines the interplay of music, dance, star personas, and dynastic families in shaping Bollywood narratives and global reception. Students study key films, acting styles, and industry lineages while practicing performance techniques that prepare them for a subsequent production-focused capstone.

Learning Objectives

• analyze how music, dance, star families, and recurring genres influence narrative structure and audience reception in Bollywood, citing at least three films and two film families discussed in the unit
• apply Bollywood performance practices — including choreography motifs, emotive acting techniques, and screen presence — by staging and recording a 1–2 minute dance or character vignette that demonstrates rhythm, gesture, and camera awareness
• demonstrate critical comparison of acting styles and career trajectories (e.g., method actors, models-turned-actors, dynastic careers) through a written or multimedia presentation that contrasts at least two actors or families and explains their impact on film production and marketing
• evaluate Bollywood’s global influence and South Asian contributions to Hollywood by producing a research brief that assesses at least two cross-industry examples and recommends how these insights can inform a final capstone project