In India, the most primitive versions of entertainment were music, dance, drama, painting, hunting, impersonation, puppetry, and literature. However, times changed and slowly things took a sharp turn as modern day men started to treat cinema, television, and theatre as the major sources of entertainment. The age old entertainment forms came to be termed as fine arts and these became rare and occasional. With films, television serials and book reading gaining popularity as a major section of Indian entertainment, people’s tastes also changed. Today India is filled with cinema halls, multiplexes, glorified book stores, and cable TV connections. Be it a holiday or just another day people flock to these places to get entertained and that is what has given so much popularity to film stars, television actors and authors.
Film fraternity people like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Subhash Ghai, Rituporno Ghosh, Rekha, Kareena Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Amir Khan and Vishal Bhardwaj have lifted the Indian film industry to a whole new level. The audience is welcoming intelligent films and that is one reason why films like The Last Lear, Black, Maqbool, Black Friday and Shabd have received such a good reception. Entertainment is also moving out of the barriers of cinema halls and entering the living room areas of people as the television serials and soaps are becoming quite a rage. While some are extremely family oriented, there are the reality shows, the competitions, the short series and the game shows that have seen a steady rise in popularity. Television stars are becoming so famous that they are maintaining a careful conduct lest they get mobbed in public. On the whole, the Indian scene of films and TV shows has evolved and the entertainment level has gone up greatly. Film stars are also venturing in television owing to the wide audience range. However, these are not the only sources of entertainment as book stores are also providing the necessary relief that people are looking for.
Writers like Khushwant Singh, Amitava Ghosh, Chetan Bhagat, Arundhati Ray and Jhumpa Lahiri are weaving such interesting reads, that entertainment in India is getting a whole new dimension. Some books are being so much appreciated by the readers that film makers are considering making films based on those books. A recent film, 3 Idiots, is quite influenced by Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone. Several TV serials have also taken queue from best sellers. Indian entertainment has reached a point where all these entertainment forms are finding peace and pleasure in co-existence. This way the entertainment industry is growing, developing and producing quality work. The mind does not appreciate slapstick comedy and mindless jokes all the time. For such serious times, the entertainment industry of India is ready.
Each state of India contributes to the Indian entertainment [http://www.proud2bindian.in/entertainment-recreation/] industry and has a significant role to play in entertaining the masses.