From courtship through romance, melodrama to fantasy, kitsch to 'song and dance'- all the vital ingredients of an epic Bollywood film, one of the largest film industries in the world and the heart of Indian popular culture and celebrity industry.

Watermans (formerly known as Watermans Arts Centre) celebrates its re-opening with the launch of Bollywood in Love, a poster exhibition from the British Film Institute's (bfi) collections.

Bollywood in Love forms part of ImagineAsia, the bfi's nationwide celebration of South Asian film. The exhibition illustrates the dynastic nature of the industry and unearths the many characteristics and contradictions of Bollywood film, ultimately revealing the way in which the idea of love and romance is glorified. The posters which date from the 1940s to the present day are drawn from the bfi's vast collection of nearly one thousand Indian film posters, together with loans from various museums, the film industry and private collectors.

The posters provide a vibrant, challenging, pictorial insight into the codes and conventions of Bollywood romance films. They will introduce audiences to the stars involved and offer an historical perspective on the new generation of Asian talent.

The posters are displayed under three different themes:

A) MECHANICS OF LOVE

Unlike a Hollywood film, an Indian production is made against the backdrop of various societal concerns; the posters trace these taboos and trends. The earlier posters in the collection illustrate the segregation and the unacceptable mixing of sexes. Some of the posters play up this fantasy and there are clear distinctions between the characteristics of the Bollywood romance film from its western counterparts, for example the characters struggle for family approval. There is an examination of the crafty strategies used to overcome Indian social taboos-for example, public kissing-and how these strategies, such as the well-known Bollywood 'fantasy song and dance' sequence-enable stars to make their declarations of love and provide a good opportunity to display the female body.

B) THE STARS WE LOVE

The rise of the great stars in Bollywood began in the 1950s and continued throughout 1960s. Bollywood audiences flock to cinemas knowing that their favourite star was in the film they were about to see. The poster collection tells us who is experiencing a golden age at a particular time because the same faces, and often the same couplings, are repeated. This section will focus on the film stars themselves, the star persona, which made national, figures out of some celebrities and their real life stories that fans find so important, for example Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman and Amitabh Bachchan amongst others.

C) TRUE LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Many of the stars depicted in the poster collection fell in love on screen as well as in real life. Their children are the stars of today's Bollywood movies. This section will offer a historical perspective of the new generation of Asian talent.

Bollywood in Love will also tour to Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford from 21 September to 10 November 2002 ; Watershed Media Centre, Bristol from 15 October to 24 November 2002, and the MAC in Birmingham from 16 November to 5 Jan 2003..

About Watermans

West London's cultural flagship Watermans re-opened on 24 April, 2002 after a sixteen month period of closure. This time has enabled Watermans to focus the centres artistic vision, re-shape the live arts programme and make necessary interior refurbishments. Having previously established a dynamic reputation as a national and local platform for arts, the newly revitalised Watermans promises even more of a commitment to developing and showcasing British Asian Arts; Bollywood in Love is the first of many major projects to emerge from this commitment.

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