Bollywood Berkeley 2018

Two weeks ago in Berkeley, California, teams of college students faced off in an Indian dance contest that was so tensely competitive it should have been called the Bhangra Bowl. India's hyper-sentimental Bollywood films are luring in Indian-American college students, raised in the US, but still glued by family to India. "Bollywood has now become...

They begin preparing for their season in the summer. In the weeks before a major competition, they might practice up to seven hours in a day. They can be found in the Wooden Center or Parking Lot 7 under the Intramural Field, perfecting their every move. They are not part of a sports team but are a different kind of athlete. They are the members ...

There was a soft silence in the crowd of more than one thousand people and then, the curtain rose, the beginning beats of a popular Hindi film song filled the air, and a group of dancers burst onto the stage. Their costumes shimmered in bright blues, shimmering reds and hot pinks as they threw their hands up in the air, twisted in a seductive pose,...

Over 2,000 fans crowded into sold-out Zellerbach Hall on Saturday night for the largest intercollegiate Bollywood dance competition in the U.S. — eight teams dressed in sparkly costumes competing for more than $4,000 in prizes. People not familiar with Bollywood might be surprised by the turnout. But “Bollywood Berkeley” is just one of many Indian...

Those who know of “Bombay in the Bay,” the Indian Cultural Awareness Club’s (ICAC) annual Indian culture show on campus, know that members take it very seriously. What most of them do not know, however, is that many former ICAC members and Saratoga High alumni continue the tradition of Indian dancing in college as well. At this year’s “Bollywood Be...

The distance of 10,000 miles between Berkeley and Bollywood was bridged in two and a half hours on the evening of February 5th at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco by eight college teams from California. These teams came together to participate in Bollywood Berkeley: the 4th Annual Intercollegiate Hindi Film Dance Competition. This annual c...