I have loved Indian cinema since I was eight years old. I remember watching films like Awara, Sholay, Kabhi Kabhi and Lamhe. They inspired me to begin my career in Bollywood. Back then when I wanted to learn the lines of my favorite scenes, or the lyrics to my favorite songs, I would have to wait for the film to be playing at my local cinema, or for the next issue of a Film Fare magazine come out!
Today, things have changed. I can turn to my smartphone and ask Google things like: “which was the first Bollywood movie?” or “What movies are Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh in together?” I’m not alone doing this either, we’re a film-obsessed nation. Jumping on your phone to look up Sunidhi Chauhan’s songs or when the next screening of Te3n is almost a national sport. In fact, around one in ten mobile searches in India are related to Indian cinema.
India’s passion for cinema actually inspired a team of film buffs at Google to develop a couple of Search experiences especially for India and Indian cinema. Ever wanted to wrap your head around the labyrinth of the Kapoor family? Or know more about the Bachchan’s? Now you can ask Google questions about films, actors, song lyrics, film trivia, trailers, screening times and more, you’ll get a rich, contextual answers. You can check out this new Search experience in this tribute film:
I had Koffee with the Google team in Mumbai last week to give these features a spin in person, and we played a round of rapid fire. Here are some of the questions I asked them:
How many can you answer? If you’re not sure, try asking Google and seeing the Indian cinema experiences in action. Let me know how you did! Use the hashtag #GoogleAtTheMovies and tell me what you discover about Indian cinema. And remember; Google ke saath, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!
Posted by Karan Johar, Director, Producer, Media personality