Much of India’s culture gets encapsulated by the Indian entertainment industry through its movies, television shows and theater. Bollywood, as the industry is popularly called, despite many critiques riling that it sounds like a cousin of the western Hollywood, produced its first movie in 1913. It was a silent movie. The concept? A popular figure in Indian history. In less than two decades, India produced its first sound film. The concept? Another prominent figure from Indian royalty.

The next two decades saw most films dealing with social causes and revolutionary ideas. The 1950s saw the first color movie, by when, romance and musical melodrama had become staple fare. Audiences went to theaters, called “cinema halls” (even to this day) in India, to escape the very real day-to-day life of poverty, lack of basic amenities, and the numerous rituals and traditions dictating the schedules of their day. Music provided an outlet to all age groups and melodrama touched many hearts, man or woman.

By the 1970s and 1980s, Bollywood had claimed a high rank in terms of revenue-generating industries, claiming dozens of thrillers and dramatic films every year. From dabbling in historic figures and events, directors moved on to experimenting with real-life stories, introducing an element of relevance to audiences. While movie-going remained a strictly after-work pastime--something you would have to specially allocate money and schedule a day for--parents also began to loosen age-old traditions of movie-going being strictly a family activity and not the sort of thing a respectable Indian girl would find herself doing alone with a boy.

Something that continued to underline the industry in all its endeavors, however, was its consistent efforts to imitate ideas and storylines from the more established Hollywood. Complete stories would be lifted as is and molded to give it the ‘Indian touch’, which involved stripping it of any scene that might demand showing too much skin, kissing, anything even remotely suggesting sex—of course, depicting rape was not considered wrong because the act and the actor was always punished in the plot—or atheism. India’s roots belong in religion and holy books, and no industry dare exploit them, lest it lose its audiences. Endings had to be happy. Customs, age-old cultural norms, and stringent social and religious traditions pervaded every storyline, copied or original.

Families dressed in their best and idolized their favorite stars. Movie tickets were sold by seat numbers, with the most sought-after being the seats towards the rear of the theater. Ushers would beam flashlights on the tickets and lead you to the seats. And thus would commence a viewing with a half-way intermission provided, which many used to smoke a much-needed cigarette, use the restrooms, buy more popcorn or even feed a baby.

The Indian film industry had come full circle by the onset of the 21^st century, with movies centering on bold themes, such as AIDS, the gay society, prostitution, divorce and even some attempts to discuss sex and extra-marital affairs. They all, however, continued to stay shy of achieving an R rating by the Central Board of Film Certification, the regulatory film body of India. On the off-chance of being slammed with one, scenes would get cut and the movie trimmed off.

While films continued to get bolder and more experimental with more audacious themes, the television industry stagnated through most of the 1980s and 1990s, concentrating on family dramas, lots of melodrama and portrayals of everyday life in Indian households. The industry, however, stayed away from imitation, worrying that reality shows and programs showcasing talent and trivia and cash prizes might not hold the same mass appeal in India’s comparably conservative viewing audience to the more modernized west. Yet.

As India leapt into the 21^st century, with an economy that was developing tri-fold every year, generations changed hands and the progression brought with it a new set of ideas and openness to explore. The television industry was similarly influenced. With the influx of a new generation of directors and producers and a renewed Indian audience, the industry began to experiment courageously. The vastly popular Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in the US and UK became the guinea pig.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan agreed to host the show, translated literally in Hindi as Kaun Banega Crorepati. It was a runaway success. Launching in 2000, the show developed a following unseen before for a game show in India. The mass appeal of the host and the prospect of being able to win money for answering trivia questions kept people returning to the show for seven years. Broadcast on Rupert Murdoch-owned Star Plus at prime time, the show reaped much revenue for the channel and provided Indian audiences with a show all age groups enjoyed.

For all its innovativeness and mass appeal, the show, however, finally ended in 2007 after interest waned. Was this cause for alarm? Not very, considering that in those seven years Indian television achieved and evolved to a remarkable degree. Indian Idol had started based on American Idol, of course, forming its own devoted following, and Ugly Betty became Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. Suddenly, Television audiences had much more choice.

Each individual step toward progress came to affirm the even bigger, overall picture that a revolution had arrived in India’s film and television industry, that the consumers had the power, and that they were doing away with the old order long ordained by the Indian TV industry of watching whatever was shelled out to them. Finally, the Indian consumer was king.

Despite all the progress, it seems India’s entertainment industry is not immune to the same pitfalls many American companies regularly face: Kya Aap Panch Pass se tez hain, the literally-translated Indian version of America’s latest game show Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader has been declared a flop by Indian audiences. Perhaps, the next step for India’s entertainment industry should be to toss out blind imitation and strike out on its own.

Next: The many nuances of what it takes to celebrate days like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day in India, and what it all means for an Indian.

Aman Singh is an editor in New York City. She aspires to be a children’s books editor and writes about India and her Indian-ness with candor. Her free moments are spent wondering when the seven continents became one huge global mass of humans. She can be reached at as1808@nyu.edu