Bollywood Superstars

There is a new temporary exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This is the first exhibition where pop culture is brought in, and also the first that centers around film. It is called "Bollywood Superstars - A short history of Indian film".

This exhibition was an original idea from the Louvre Abu Dhabi, but it will actually travel and be shown in Paris also, from September onwards later this year.

It is the first exhibition that focuses on this scale on the Indian subcontinent. It is built up to show some of the precursors to the Indian cinema, the earliest devices of storytelling. Like tapestries, scrolls, shadow puppets, a bioscope and a magic lantern:

It talks about all the different inspirations to the Indian cinema, and how it evolved as an extension of the visual arts traditions, but also of theater, music and maybe above all - dance. All these forms of expression share a common artistic language in India:

The kaleidoscope room is almost hypnotic, with its looped film excerpts, the sound, light and colour explosions:

The exhibition further looks at some of the early blockbusters in the context of their mythological and historical influences. A whole wall is dedicated to the images of Ravi Varma for example:

We get to see some clips from the very earliest Indian films, by Dadasaheb Phalke:

This is a mask used in dance performances. It's Ratana, the 10-headed demon king, a key figure in the epic Ramayana:

In one section, there are historical objects shown that originate from the Mughal period:

A portrait of the famous Emperor Shah Jahan, the one that constructed the Taj Mahal: 

There are also clothes and images from the Rajputs:

A lot of photographs, showing for example the Red Fort in Agra:

There is even a whole cinema built up inside the exhibition, of the single-screen type. It shows a projection from the movie 'Sholay' from 1975, one of the very first Bollywood blockbusters and a classic in Indian cinema. A true "masala-movie", or "Curry-Western", that tells a story about friendship, love and fidelity, but also about deceit, treachery and crime..!

This exhibition is truly a feast for the eyes, so colourful and beautiful! And talking about eyes, it has certainly opened mine to this impressive world that is Bollywood - and all it encompasses.
It runs from now until the 4th of June at the Louvre Abu Dhabi - don't miss it!