'Shalom Bollywood: The Untold Story of Indian Cinema' tells of how Jewish actress were among the first big stars of the subcontinents film industry. In those early days woman acting on film was considered largely taboo in both the Hindu and Muslim communities, so some early Indian silent films had to go the 'Shakespeare' rout and have men in drag play the women. This wasn't a very tenable situation and one of the few groups in which Indian film makers could find actress, before the taboos in the Muslim and Hindu communities began to give way in the 1940's, was amongst the small native Jewish population.
Jews have lived in India for around 2,000 years, the first came fleeing the Roman occupation of Israel. There was intermarrying of course but in the 20th Century amongst the Jewish women of India, could be found a high cheekbone look that conformed more with the beauty standards found in Hollywood films, which was considered a major selling point. This documentary tells stories of major Jewish stars in Hindi film of the 30's, 40's, and 50's including Primala, Arati Dev, Sulochana, and even a man, David Abraham. There are some great stories about these stars of yesteryear, and even some time spent with Jews still working in India's massive film industry today. A really pleasant surprise to stumble on this stuff. ***
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