top of page

History of Bollywood Film

Bollywood is the name given to the Hindi Film industry. however it is often used to refer to all of Indian film. The name was derived from the words Hollywood and Bombay. 

Bollywoods oldest films date back to 1913, The first Bollywood film made was called Raja Harishchandra directed by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913. Below are some examples of the make-up worn in these early films.  

The Golden Age of Bollywood

1940s-1960s

Following India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. Below are some examples. 

 

The MAKEUP in these movies started to get a bit heavier, Kohl was becomming popular around this time and a lot of actresses wore it in the movies. 

Pyaasa (1957)

Awara (1951)

Modern Bollywood Beauty Make-up Demonstration

 

SKIN

  • Start with moisturising the skin. for a natural radiance. 

  • Primer- in this makeup Laura used Smashbox photo finish.

  • Lip Hydration- Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour cream.

  • Foundation- MAC studio sculpt foundation - gives a dewy look. (use a slightly lighter shade because 1. it oxidized on the skin so becomes darker. and 2. use a lighter shade down the centre of the face and a warmer tone around the outside. However this should not be a overly contoured look. 

  • Concealer and Highlighting pen- in a V shape under the eyes to give a light boost.

  • place foundation around the lips for preporation for lipstick. 

  • Add a little bit of bronzer to warm the skin on the outside of the face to frame it. 

  • Use Ben Nye powder to set and brighten the highlight under the eyes. (press on with small brush)

  • Buff in some powder on cheeks, use a round motion with an angular brush. for this Laura used 'Blunt' a MAC sculpting poder. you have to be careful with it because it is a really heavy pigment. 

 

EYES

  • Use a flesh coloured primer

  • Eyeshadow - contour in the crease with a red undertone, this is especially good when pairing them with red lip. 

  • use a small angled brush fpor precision. 

  • face powder softens the edge of the socket contour. 

  • use a softer, lighter shade of shadow on the lids and corners of the eyes. 

Liner

  • Use a small, thin angled brush. (Liner Brush)

  • A good tip for this is to coat the brush completely with product and then wipe the excess off on the back of your hand. 

  •  when applying the liner to the eye, use your little finger to balance your hand and keep it steady. 

  • get your model to look straight forward, adn stretch the eyelid out. When moving on to the top lip get your model to look towards the other direction, it helps stretch their eye out. 

  • When applying the liner, start fromt he bottom lash line and work in a long triangle towards the outser side of the face. 

  • Kohl is so important for Indian women, you have to make sure the eyeliner is intense! 

 

BROWS

 

  • A good way of doing brows is to wet an angled brush and use eye shadow, for this laura used the colour 'espresso'.

  • highlight the brow underneath with concealer or highlighter to gove the brow definition. 

 

LIPS

  • rouges are a good classic Bollywood colour to use. bright reds are a good colour choice. 

  • however tere are many other softer colours that are used, often with an ombre shading. 

  • use a liner and a matte lipstick. 

Bollywood Make-up

Modern Bollywood

Actresses:

Aishwarya Rai

Bipasha Basu

Male Actors in Bollywood

My Bollywood Makeup

Shahrukh Khan

Irrfan Khan

Bollywood Makeup Artist - Mickey Contractor

Kareena Kapoor

Makeup in Old Bollywood Film: the makeup in the first bollywood films are very tranditional, not very heavy makeup, and usually include a bindhi. 

Fig. 257

Fig. 258

Fig. 255

Fig. 256

Fig. 251

Fig. 252

Fig. 254

Fig. 253

Fig. 250

Fig. 245

Fig. 249

Fig. 239

Fig. 246

Fig. 247

Fig. 241

Fig. 240

Fig. 248

Fig. 238

Fig. 244

Fig. 242

Fig. 243

I found this makeup a little tricky, only because my model was blonde and i wanted to try and create a makeup with a colour palette that would suit her skin tone.

I don't think that if i copied the makeup that Laura did on the demonstration would have worked on her skin tone. 

 

However i found a video (above) that used a little more neutral tones, so i tried to follow that a bit more and use nude colours. 

Above are some photos of some of the most famous actresses in Bollywood. As you can see their makeup is a lot heavier than it had been in previous ages. The Bold red lip is used quite a lot 

If i were to redo this makeup i would definitely define the brows more, and maybe used a pencil instead of a shadow to draw them in, because the model had very blonde brows before. 

 

Also i would have tried to make the lips more ombre and then used a glodd over the top of them.

bottom of page