The importance of Toronto for the world movie industry is becoming more and more substantial. It has already gained the nickname “Hollywood North“ and now the major Indian film studios are tightening their co-operation with the city of Toronto. More and more Bollywood movies are being shot in Toronto, a huge number of Torontonian cinemas screen Bollywood movies, and even this year’s International Indian Film Academy Award celebration Silo Direct Link to Intern’l Indian Film Academy Award Video took place in Toronto. It won’t be a surprise if Toronto becomes “Bollywood West” in a few years.
Not sure what “Bollywood” means? Here’s a quick refresher: Silo Direct Link to Wiki’s Bollywood Def’n
Cinemas Showing Bollywood Movies in Toronto and the GTA
Golden Eye Media Cinemas Silo Direct Link to Golden Eye Cinemas
Golden Eye Media Cinemas include three very similar cinemas located in different parts of Toronto and the GTA. Albion Cinemas are located right in the centre of Etobicoke at the Albion Centre (1530 Albion Road Etobicoke). Woodside Cinemas can be found in east Toronto in the Woodside Square Shopping Centre (1571 Sandhurst Circle Scarborough). Bayfield Cinemas are located in Bayfield Mall (320 Bayfield Street) in Barrie.
Ticket prices in all three cinemas are very reasonable, and parking is free. If you want to see the latest and most popular Bollywood movies with your family, Golden Eye Cinemas are just what you’re looking for. It’s very easy to find them, and there are many different restaurants near each one where you can find something to eat after the show.
Cineplex Theatres
Cineplex cinemas Silo Direct Link to Cineplex Theatres
Cineplex cinemas have been playing Bollywood movies since the ‘90s and are very popular among Torontonian Bollywood movie lovers. Chief executive officer of Cineplex Theatres Ellis Jacob expressed his ambition to continue to screen Bollywood movies in a recent interview for The Globe and Mail, “We’ve been committed to it as a company for the longest time… There’s a great desire for us to continue to grow that business.” There were no doubts that Cineplex would be the main cinema partner of the 2011 IIFA film festival.
If you want to enjoy Bollywood movies with great sound and screen quality, visit one of these theatres: Sheppard Grande Toronto (4861 Yonge Street, Toronto, (416) 590-9974), SilverCity Brampton (50 Great Lakes Drive, Brampton, (905) 789-6797), Coliseum Scarborough (Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Drive, Scarborough, (416) 290-5217), or Cineplex Odeon Eglinton Town Centre (22 Lebovic Avenue, Toronto, (416) 752-4494).
Silo Direct Link to AMC Theatres
This huge cinema chain has been regularly showing Bollywood movies for the past several years. Watching Bollywood dancing and singing on a gigantic screen in an AMC cinema is a great experience, and you’ll definitely love it unless you prefer smaller independent cinemas. If you’re ready for a huge dose of Bollywood, visit one of these AMC theatres: AMC Courtney Park Mississauga (110 Courtney Park Drive E, Mississauga), AMC Kennedy Common Scarborough (33 William Kitchen Road, Scarborough), AMC Winston Churchill Oakville (2081 Winston Park Drive,
Oakville), or AMC Yonge and Dundas Toronto (10 Dundas Street East, Toronto).
Bollywood Movies Shot in Toronto
We’ve already mentioned that Toronto is a famous location for Bollywood movie producers. Let’s see in which parts of Toronto the most famous Bollywood movies were shot. The centre of the city (e.g. Yonge Street) is the most common place where movies are shot in Toronto, thanks to low production costs and Toronto’s resemblance to any other bigger city. This is also the case of Bollywood/Hollywood (2002) and Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). Another very popular Bollywood movie, Thank You (2011), was shot at Toronto’s Flatiron Building, the Air Canada Centre, and Niagara Falls. There are many other spots in Toronto where parts of Bollywood movies were shot; the most common are St. Jamestown, University of Toronto, and the Old and New City Halls.
Bollywood Movie Rentals
One can easily recognize that there’s a strong community of approximately 550,000 Indian people living in Toronto and the GTA, thanks to the abundance of Indian restaurants, bistros, shops, dance schools, etc. However, it’s quite a surprise that it’s so easy to find a Bollywood movie rental in almost every neighbourhood in Toronto. They’re usually small, hidden shops with an astonishing collection of Bollywood flicks. If you want to have a Bollywood movie night in your home, try one of these rental shops: Bollywood ‘N Varieties (25 Overlea Boulevard), Bollywood 4 U (683 Markham Street), R K’s Bollywood Entertainment (1395 Queen Street W), Bollywood DvD Center (31 Street Dennis Drive, North York), Fieldgate Video (2465 Cawthra Rd.,Unit 127, Mississauga), or Golden Groceries Silo Direct Link to Golden Groceries (2975 Drew Rd. Mississauga; 5995 14th Ave. Unit A-1, Bldg. A, Markham; 305 Charolais Blvd. Brampton; 4525 Ebeneyer Rd., Brampton, Cottrelle Blvd. Brampton).
For the Silo, Jamie Sarner.