The Bhutanese love Bollywood—so much so that most speak more than a smattering of Hindi and Salman Khan is one of the country's most popular actors. So when the secluded Himalayan kingdom started developing its own movie industry in the mid-1990s, the Mumbai model was the obvious starting point. The Bollywood formula has since stuck.
- Margherita Stancati/The Wall Street Journal
- Tshering Gyeltshen, pictured wearing the traditional Gho robe, says Bhutan's film industry should stop aping Bollywood.
Bhutanese filmmakers usually transfer Bollywood ingredients–romance, melodrama, and song-and-dance routines–to a Bhutanese context. Films typically include scenes set in the country's mountainous landscapes and actors wearing traditional robes, which all Bhutanese have to wear by law during work hours. See, for instance, this clip or this music video.
It didn't come as a surprise, then, that several Bhutanese filmmakers and many aspiring ones gathered to hear Indian scriptwriter and film director Imtiaz Ali, known for romantic movies like the 2009 film "Love Aaj Kal" (Love These Days), share his tips on his craft at Thimphu's Mountain Echoes literary festival on Saturday.
Although many asked Mr. Ali things like how to find inspiration to how to draft [...]
