India has one of the biggest film industries in the world, known as Bollywood, and it’s famous for its songs, dancing, long running times, and racy heroines today. But at the beginning, Bollywood didn’t even have heroines: the earliest silent films were all-male productions, with men wearing saris and playing women’s roles. In the 1920s and 30s, Bombay’s Hindu and Muslim women wouldn’t act on screen; there was a taboo against women showing their bodies. In this programme, Noreen Khan explores the untold story of how Jewish women became the first female superstars of Indian cinema.
