One of the wonderful things about Bollywood actors is that they're — for the most part — incredibly prolific compared to American actors. Even big stars, who get more selective and often slow down after the height of their careers, are quick to put out films by American standards.
Did you think it was weird — and vaguely disconcerting — that Ryan Gosling's face was all over American theaters for "Crazy, Stupid, Love;" "Drive;" and "The Ides of March" practically back-to-back? Many Bollywood actors are working on three to four films simultaneously — Kareena Kapoor has supposedly been filming for "Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu" [One Me And One You], "Agent Vinod" and "Talaash" [Search], not to mention the pre-production of "Heroine" — and four films a year is nothing out of the ordinary.
To give you an even more direct comparison, let's take Morgan Freeman, a Hollywood actor known for popping up just about everywhere. According to his IMDB page, Freeman has had 93 credited roles since 1971, including films not yet released. Now consider Bollywood's Anupam Kher, who is ... well ... actually everywhere, including Hollywood every now and then. According to IMDB (which doesn't always cover Indian films and definitely doesn't include his theater work), Kher has a filmography dating back to 1982, which means he started in films some 11 years after Morgan Freeman. In the time since, Kher has played 324 roles, more than triple Freeman's number. And in fact, Bollywood's khiladi [player] Akshay Kumar has only been acting since 1987 and he's been in 105 films, beating out Freeman by 12 roles and 16 years (while being 30 years younger).
One of the complaints about Bollywood's film volume — remember Bollywood is the largest fraction of India's estimated 1,300 films a year — is that it means films are made fast, simultaneously (meaning divided attention) and relatively cheap, for many, the antithesis of "quality" filmmaking. Superstar Aamir Khan, known as Bollywood's Perfectionist, famously refuses to work on more than one film at a time.
But the quick output of films also has its upsides. Waiting in Hollywood means years (Harry Potter series: 10 years, Twilight: four years, Star Wars: a really long time). Some series take a while in Bollywood too, but waiting for your favorite actor — or even your favorite actor in similar roles — is often as short as two or three months.
Can't get enough Salman Khan masala? There were two blockbuster films this summer: "Ready" and "Bodyguard," the first in June and the second in August. And then you can watch him make appearances in "Tell Me O Kkhuda" [Tell Me, Oh Lord] and "Do Aur Do Paanch" [Two and Two Are Five] — and he took time away from acting this year to have surgery in the U.S.
Love Shahrukh Khan in action? Late 2011 offers him as superhero in "Ra.One" and antihero in "Don 2." And on the side, there are cameos in "Always Kabhi Kabhi" [Always Sometimes] and "Love Breakups Zindagi" [Love, Breakups, Life].
Adore fun-loving Akshay Kumar? This year gives you comedies "Thank You" and "Desi Boyz" [Indian Boyz] (releasing Friday), not to mention the more serious film "Patiala House," plus cameos in "Chalo Dilli" [Let's Go Delhi] and "Speedy Singhs" (aka "Breakaway"), which he also produced.
The great thing about the quick succession is that similar films with the same actor can strike while the iron's hot, offering fans a double dose of what they're looking for. When something's hot, it's hot.
The flip side is that, as the second half of the saying goes, if it's not, it's not. If film A is a flop, film B on a similar premise a few months later is likely to flop. A few months aren't always enough time for audiences to get a bad taste out of their mouths.
But so far this year, the two films I can immediately think of as long-wait, hyped-for-more-than-a-year films — "Mausam" [Seasons] and "Ra.One" — have not done well in terms of meeting expectations. It's almost as if a year's hype, not uncommon for Hollywood, is just too much for Hindi film audiences to stomach.
So, if you're a fan and you know what you like, chances are you can't go wrong in Bollywood. The industry's ability to crank out films quickly means you'll almost always have what you're looking for.
For more on Bollywood, follow @nercabeyul on Twitter.
Posts in The Filmi Gator appear on Mondays.
Actors Akshay Kumar and Chitrangada Singh speak at a news conference promoting their film "Desi Boyz," releasing Friday. "Desi Boyz" is the fifth film Kumar has appeared in during 2011 and the third film Singh has appeared in this year. Co-star John Abraham, not pictured, has been in four films this year, including "Desi Boyz."
