Movie dialogue and song lyrics are often written by different people. The dialogues are usually in Hindi and the verses are in Urdu. Mainstream films have added a lot of English elements. These often emotional and dramatic dialogues feature numerous references to God, family, motherhood, and self-sacrifice.
In the 1975 movie Deewar, the conversation between gangster Vijay and his biological brother policeman Ravi:
::Vijay: Our lives all start from the same place - - Look at me and you again. I have a car, a house, money --
::Ravi: I have a mother.
Songwriters always favor certain songwriters, so much so that songwriters and songwriters are treated as a group. The lyrics are generally about love. Bollywood lyrics, especially in older movies, frequently use a variety of Arabic and Persian loanwords that are rich and elegant in Urdu or Hindustani. Here is an example, the 1983 movie Hero, with lyrics by the great lyricist Anand Bakshi.
::''Bichhdey abhi to hum, bas kal parso,''
::''jiyoongi main kaisey, is haal mein barson''
::''Maut na aayi, teri yaad kyon aayi,''
::''Haaye, lambi judaayi!''
::We have just been apart for a day or two,
::How am I going to live like this for a few more years?
::Death did not come; but why did the memory of you come
::Oh, this long separation!
Actors: Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Devahan, Salman Joshi
Omi Wajda, Boman Ira Nina, Mona Achache
Bollywood attracts people from all over India to come to work, including thousands of actors who are eager to make a name for themselves in the film industry. Models and beauty pageant contestants, television actors, theater actors and even ordinary people come to Mumbai with the dream of becoming a star. But as in Hollywood, only a handful end up succeeding.
Celebrities’ fame waxes and wanes in the entertainment world, and Bollywood is no exception. A single movie can instantly make a star's popularity rise or fall. Only a few people, like Amitabh Bachchan, become national icons whose fame is no longer hampered by the success or failure of a few films. Directors go to great lengths to secure popular stars, as stars are considered a guarantee of a film's success (although this confidence may not necessarily translate into box-office results). Therefore, once movie stars become popular, they will take on several movies at the same time to consolidate their fame and status. Aamir Khan is one of the few famous movie stars who insists on doing one movie at a time.
Bollywood can be exclusive, and those with connections to film industry insiders are more likely than others to grab coveted opportunities. Industry connections, however, are no guarantee of long-term success: competition is cutthroat, and if juniors don't achieve box-office success, their careers will falter.