It is often hard to asses if our culture has influenced Bollywood or the other way around. Either way, Bollywood (Indian Hollywood) is inseparable from our daily lives and melodies are evergreen.

What is Bollywood? Is it the movies? Is it the music? Songs? Singers? Music Directors? Actors? Actresses? Directors? Dialogues? Stories? Artists? Any of them? All of them? There is so much to be said about the impact Bollywood has had on our lifestyle and vice versa. It is unimaginable to separate ourselves from the fabric of Bollywood. We have grown up with the movies. We keep humming the songs. We use the dialogues in our daily lives. We love to play the tunes on our pianos and violins. We love to participate in karaokes no matter how “good” we are. We are Bollywood and Bollywood is us.

We have found our match, our dopplegranger, our alter ego in Bollywood. Whether it’s a singer that we are certain we can imitate, a particular song that is perfect for that incident in our lives, an actor we wish could be, a dialog that defines who we are…we are Bollywood.

Every time we hear that Mohd. Rafi song, it makes us appreciate how great he was.

An Amitabh Bachchan dialogue that is ideally suited to evoke that emotion you’re feeling.

A Kishore Kumar melody that you can’t imagine your life without.

Those saris actresses wore in Yash Chopra movies.

Those dialogues from Sholay, Andaz Apna Apna, Hera Pheri, Damini, Agneepath, Sharabi, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge….

Those Shahrukh Khan moves that every guy secretly admires but publicly despises…

It is not one. It is all. All of the above, and many more aspects from Bollywood define us. They are a reflection of our identity. Bollywood is a mirror that reminds us of who we are. However true, hypocritical, honest, strong or vulnerable we are – Bollywood is a caricature.