Got Three Hours? Watch a Bollywood Film!

A typical Bollywood film is three hours long. In terms of the film itself, this is usually due to the four or five musical numbers that are nestled between the dialogue scenes. But why does each film have to be that long? From an Indian perspective, going to the cinema has historically been a big event. Fourteen million Indians go to the movies on a daily basis. That's about 1.4% of the population of 1 billion. And they shell out the equivalent to the average Indian's day's wages (US $1-3) to see them. Not surprisingly, they want their money's worth!