Bollywood Stills

This month Bollywood arrives in Manchester in the form of photographic exhibition, Bollywood Stills. The show will feature vibrant, promotional photography seen for the first time in the UK.

The exhibition will pay homage to an overlooked area of Indian film publicity whilst also offering an insight into the many and varied images that this form of media production has given rise to.

Recently the Bollywood film industry has become increasingly highlighted throughout the British media. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty shot to fame on celebrity Big Brother, and Bride and Prejudice, the Bollywood version of the classic Jane Austen novel, was a hit across UK cinemas. Despite this, there continues to be an integral part of the Hindi film industry which is overlooked – action stills.

Action stills are used to promote new Bollywood releases. Depicting memorable scenes and usually focusing on the main star of the film, these images regularly grace hand painted billboards and glossy magazine spreads in India.

The exhibition will chart the development of action stills from their heyday during the seventies and eighties through to the present day and the transformation into digital photography. It will draw upon action stills from the Kamat Foto Flash archives in Mumbai.

Visitors to Bollywood Stills will be able to catch a rare glimpse into the workings behind one of the biggest film industries in the world.

Bollywood Stills will be at Contact Theatre from Saturday 29 November-Saturday 29 March, Monday-Saturday, 10am-10pm. Free entry.