The 8 most Bollywood things about 'La La Land'
La La Land -- which opens Friday in limited release -- is poised to steal millions of hearts with a seamless blend of artistry, music and romance that filmmakers consistently strive for. In India, that combination is the go-to recipe for filmmaking, as Hindi-language Bollywood films combine all three in major global blockbusters.
In La La Land, director Damien Chazelle clearly had many influences for this opus, not least of which is old-school movie musicals from Hollywood's golden age, but another possible influence that hasn't received as much coverage is the world of Bollywood. Chazelle mines what Indian filmmakers have used for decades, and in his first attempt strikes that elusive gold.
Any Bollywood fan would recognize plenty of moments from Chazelle's film as pure Bollywood perfection.
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Without further ado, let's dive in to a list of all the Bollywood nods in La La Land:
1. Dancing on top of vehicles
The vivacious opening number shows hundreds of Los Angeles commuters making the most of a mundane morning and dancing on top of their stopped cars. Possibly the most famous Bollywood music video in history is "Chaiyya Chaiyya" from the 1998 film Dil Se... (From the Heart), in which Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora Khan (no relation) dance atop a moving train.
2. Chance encounters
Before they meet for real, Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) cross paths by mere circumstance -- he even bumps into her and doesn't bother to acknowledge it. But as Bollywood continues to teach millions, any chance encounter could be with the most pivotal person in your life.
3. The crazy gorgeous colors
I mean, these are practically the same outfits.
4. The dream sequences
Part of what makes Bollywood and even screen adaptations of Broadway difficult to digest for some audiences is the intermittent favoring of spectacle over reality. Chazelle peppers this into La La Land but doesn't overdo it -- but where there is a dream sequence, he commits, suspending time, space and even plot to create an escape within an escape.
5. The couples dance
This is a tried and true Bollywood tradition; Why talk when you can dance? Why speak words when your movements speak volumes? Mia and Sebastian's first real meeting ends with a walk to their cars, and while they don't say much, they dance plenty.
6. The piano-proficient jerk
Sebastian charms Mia by tickling those ivories, a classic trick employed over 20 years ago by one Raj Malhotra (Shah Rukh Khan) to convince a girl that he's more than wayward charm. Khan can't actually play piano, which is why his hands are hidden by camera angles (they're shown once or twice -- consider that a content warning for those sensitive to inauthentic musicianship on film).
7. Single takes
These never go out of style, from specialized television episodes to Academy Award-winning films, but to add such precise camerawork in with playback music and intricate choreography is painstaking work. Mia and her roommates move unencumbered through their apartment just as Bollywood numbers sometimes blend dance elements with different groups in a song.
8. Everyone is so well-dressed it hurts
La La Land is in theaters now.
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
