Bollywood goes on display

Song booklet from 1959s Kagaz ke Phool (Paper Flowers)

The first major UK exhibition of posters and hoardings from Indian cinema will go on display at London's Victoria and Albert Museum this summer.

Organisers describe the works as "capturing the excitement and glamour of Bollywood".

Cinema India: The Art of Bollywood, which starts on 26 June, will show the history of Indian film posters from the 1950s through to the present day.

As part of the exhibition, hoarding artists have been brought from India to produce three specially commissioned works on site.

Moving images in the form of original film trailers and song and dance routines featuring the most celebrated stars of Indian cinema will be projected across the gallery walls.

Poster from 1975's Deewar will be on display

Alongside these posters will be the work of contemporary artists who have used Bollywood images in their work.

It will include the first UK showing of the Star series of photographs taken by Catherine Yass.

A spokesman for the V&A said: "The music, fashions and bold imagery of Bollywood are an important part of the popular culture of India and the UK today.

"The exhibition will display landmark images from the last five decades in chronologically arranged sections which explore major themes in the development of Indian cinema."

High profile

The exhibition brings together for the first time some of the most remarkable examples of Indian cinema art.

It includes lobby photo cards used to decorate cinema interiors and film booklets which are unique to Indian cinema and contain song lyrics, photographs and a film synopsis.

Bollywood movies are becoming more popular outside India.

Mother India was made in 1957

Laagan, a story of a group of poor farmers who challenge their British colonial rulers to a game of cricket, in order to escape a land tax, has been nominated for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards.

Bombay's movie industry makes around 800 films each year, compared to America's 100, making it the most prolific film-producing country in the world.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is also launching his latest West End musical, Bombay Dreams, in June and has promised to include the visual imagery of Bollywood musicals.

Lloyd Webber has collaborated with film director Shekhar Kapur, the man behind the Elizabeth movie, as well as comedian Meera Syal and Bollywood soundtrack composer AR Rahman.