2007年VOA标准英语-American Movie Studios Eying Bollywood

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
29 September 2007

Several Hollywood studios are collaborating¹ with Indian film producers to make Bollywood-style films in India. Bollywood is the term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the American studios want to capture a larger slice of the market in a country with a voracious² appetite for its own films.

Saawariya, or the beloved, is one of the latest films shot in India. It is a quintessential Bollywood production.

It includes the usual melodrama³ and elaborate song-and-dance sequences that Indian audiences love to watch. It is being produced by a top Indian director with an Indian cast.

But there is a crucial difference: Saawariya is being produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a major player in the American film industry.

It is the American studio's first foray into what is known as Bollywood: the Indian film capital, located in the city formerly⁴ known as Bombay.

Trade analyst⁵ Komal Nahata says the purpose is simple. Hollywood studios such as Sony want to bring in larger profits by giving Indian audiences what they love most: Bollywood-style films.

"I think they have realized that India is a huge market," he said.  "First they got their films here in English, then they dubbed⁶ them in languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and this was a natural progression… and it makes commercial sense to partner Bollywood production houses, and make Hindi films now."

English-language films are steadily⁷ gaining in popularity in India. But according to estimates, they still accounted for only five percent of the amount spent at the box office in 2006.

So Hollywood studios have begun entering into joint⁸ ventures with Indian production houses. Warner Brothers has unveiled plans for its first Indian production, an action comedy. Walt Disney is collaborating with an Indian studio to make animated⁹ movies, and the first production is due to be released next summer. Paramount¹⁰ Pictures is also contemplating¹¹ Bollywood productions, according to domestic media.

Nahata expects the trend to gather momentum¹² in the coming years, because it is likely to benefit both sides.

"These collaborations are now going to be the order of the day," he added.  "The Hollywood studios have deep pockets, so Bollywood producers can make more ambitious projects, and somewhere down the line I think they will also take Bollywood in territories which hitherto have been closed for Bollywood."

The Indian movie industry expects the American studios to give Indian directors complete creative freedom to produce movies in their own style.

There is good reason to do so. Bollywood has a massive following among Indians, both at home and overseas. Its appeal cuts across classes in a country where watching movies is the primary entertainment, and where new multiplex theaters are being erected¹³ across the country to satisfy the huge demand.

1 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

2 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

3 melodrama   

n.音乐剧；情节剧

参考例句：

• We really don't need all this ridiculous melodrama!别跟我们来这套荒唐的情节剧表演！
• White Haired Woman was a melodrama,but in certain spots it was deliberately funny.《白毛女》是一出悲剧性的歌剧，但也有不少插科打诨。

4 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

10 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

11 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

13 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。