There are many Indian YouTube clones out there, but a few really stand out from the pack. You really do however have to search around to find the best ones. Below I have detailed which ones in my mind stand out from the rest.

1. ApnaVideos.com

The highest rated Desi video site on the internet, ApnaVideos.com has a plethora of high quality Bollywood, Hindi, and Punjabi videos to choose from. Unlike other sites, ApnaVideos loads fast and has a variety of videos, from Punjabi Bhangra songs, to commercial clips from India, all the way to Comedy clips and more. We here at BollywoodSquad give this site a rating of 5/5.

2. More Reviews to Come

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Bollywood veteran star Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to 6 years in jail last week. The ruling stemmed from the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, which killed over 250 innocent people in Bombay. Weapons were found in his home, which were traced back to Dawood Ibrahim and other terror networks based in Pakistan. Dawood Ibrahim and the terrorists are considered the prime suspects in the 1993 bombings.

Sanjay already spent time in jail just after the blasts, so it was quite a shock to see him sentenced for such a long period of time. It is no secret that elements in the underworld (D-Company) have their hand in the affairs of Bollywood. However, Sanjay has always provided full cooperation with the Indian police, and he has already suffered enough. Hopefully the appeals that his lawyers are trying to make will be successful.

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Former Bollywood actress Monica Bedi was aquitted on July 16 of all charges relating to the fake passport case lodged against her.  The prosecution in the case failed to prove that Bedi applied for a fake passport in the name of Faujia Usmani at the request of her underword boyfriend Abu Salem.

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Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi is glad to finally have a role in which he does not have to kiss anyone. At a news conference in New Dehli, the 28 year old actor known as a “serial kisser” proclaimed that he was “sick of kissing on screen”, and was relieved that his latest film, Awarapan, did not have any smooching.

Emraan, we feel your pain here at BollywoodSquad, and have a proposal for you. One of our dedicated writers can remain with you onset and act as your “stunt double”. Whenever it comes time to tongue twist with the likes of Diya Mirza, Geeta Basara, or Celina Jetly we would be willing to take over for you. Just let us know, we are ready and waiting.

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Disney and Yash Raj Films have signed an agreement to make animated Bollywood films.  The first planned movie to be made is titled “Roadside Romeo” a animation film similar to that of Shrek in Hindi.  The film is due for release in 2008.

It is reported that Bollywood stars  Kareena Kapoor and  Saif Ali Khan will do the voice overs for the film.

“This will help us strengthen local understanding of culture, art and music in India. We, on our own, cannot make a good Indian film,” Mark Zoradi, marketing president for Walt Disney, told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Yash Raj is known in India for the traditional Bollywood song-and-dance love stories, but has lately been experimenting with animation in “Ta Ra Run Pum” and “Hum Tum” (You, Me) .

“My son Aditya has always said that animation is the future in movies,” Yash Chopra (President of Yash Raj Films), told reporters.

Disney is already well known to the television viewers in India because of such shows as Toon Disney and The Disney Channel.   Last year, the Disney purchased Hungama, a popular children’s channel in India.

Dick Cook, chairman if Disney said on Monday the partnership would “create exceptional animated films in the Indian language that are culturally relevant for the avid movie-going audiences in India and around the world.”

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Disney has so far struggled to make money in India, which has a but is positive about Disneys latest attempts to bring high profile Bollywood actors and actresses to its films.

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Aishwarya Rai is starring in a Hollywood film alongside American actor Brenden Fraiser. ‘Singularity’ will begin filming in India and South Africa at the start of 2008. The story is said to span two continents and two different time periods and centers on a incident aboard a British Colonial ship. Original reports of the movie included mention of Vivek Oberoi, however it is now likely that Oberio will be dropped from the cast because of his past relationship with Rai, who is now married to Abhishek Bachchan.

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India produces more films than any other country and its fame comes from Bollywood. The Indian film industry is situated mainly in Mumbai. Bollywood– its name comes from the word, “Hollywood” and the first letter from the word, Bombay, is quite possibly the world’s largest film industry. However, Bollywood still doesn’t have the fame and fortune of Hollywood. DivisionofLabour.com states that Bollywood’s global annual revenues, estimated at $1.3 billion this year, are small change compared with Hollywood’s $51 billion. But theaters worldwide still sold some 3.6 billion tickets to Bollywood films last year, compared with Hollywood’s 2.6 billion. Much of this success is driven by impressive world-wide popularity.

The scale of the business of Bollywood is not trivial. According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers report, India’s film business earned $1.12 billion in 2004, up from $617 million in 2001. Much of this success is driven by global popularity. An average Indian movie’s budget is $500,000 (though the major titles can budget more than $10 million), far below the average $14 million spent in the US. However, there is no end in sight with some industry specialists predicting that Bollywood will double its revenues by 2009. It probably doesn’t help that movie tickets in India are probably the cheapest in the world.

Bollywood’s fame is helped by the fact that people living in countries around India, tend to understand Hindi very well. The national language of Pakistan is Urdu, which is very similar to Hindu. And Hindi movies are also popular in countries such as Nepal.

According to southasiabiz.com over the last few years ” Bollywood producers and directors are taking stories from Hollywood films and using them in their movies. For example, Ek Ajnabee copied “Men on Fire” by Denzel Washington; the movie “Holiday” is based on the story of Dirty Dancing by Patrick Swayze.

All of these trends indicate that Bollywood is alive and well, flourishing and making money.

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Supporters of Shilpa Shetty club took to the streets of India raising anti Richard Gere slogans. Elsewhere protesters burned and kicked effigies of the veteran Hollywood actor and Shilpa Shetty after footage of Gere repeatedly kissing Shilpa during an HIV-AIDS Awareness event aired on Indian television on April 17, 2007. Many saw the act as a violation against Shetty’s modesty and a outrage to Indian culture. Some protesters even went as far as calling for the deaths of Gere and Shilpa, while others demanded a apology to the public.

Shetty, the winner of “Celebrity Big Brother”, a reality Television show in the U.K., said that the protests made India look silly.

“I admit it went a little overboard but that was not the intention,” she said to a crowd of journalists and protesters that came to her film set in Mumbai a day after the spectacle.

“He (Gere) did not do anything obscene,” she said, adding that they had since spoken over the phone. “He apologized to me and told me to tell the media that he apologized.”

Gere began a campaign to unite Bollywood movie actors, government officials, and business leaders to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in India. India currently has the world’s second largest number of HIV-infected people. The event was organized by different foundations including HIV/AIDS advocacy groups to help create awareness on unsafe sexual practices.

“No condom, no sex,” 58-year-old Gere shouted in Hindi. The crowd responded by yelling and whistling as Gere kissed Shetty’s hand. Gere then begain to kiss her cheeks repeatedly. An embarrassed Shetty pulled back and told Gere, “This is a bit too much.”

However, the Bollywood actress insists that Indians are over reacting. Shetty said, “I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to over react in such a manner. I understand people’s sentiments, but I don’t want a foreigner to take bad memories from here.”

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Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion is set to groove to Indian pop music in a promotional video for a Bollywood comedy set for a June release.

Tyson will be in Mumbai this upcoming summer to film a promo with the cast of “Fool n Final”, a comedic film in which two gangs clash over diamonds while they are being shipped from the Middle East to India.

“The movie is a laugh riot, and the filmmakers thought Tyson would be great in the promo,” the publicist said.

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The Big B has spoken. Amitabh Bachchan disregarded the idea that Indian films should try to win Oscars, saying that Bollywood is even more creative than Hollywood.

India produces about a thousand films in over ten languages each year. No film from India has ever won an Oscar, although Lagaan and Mother India have been nominated.

Bachchan said that he did not believe an Indian film winning an Oscar was the, in his words the “ultimate recognition for any great film”. He also went on to say that it was offending to all Indians to suggest that.

“I do believe that Indian film has its own exhibition,” Bachchan said, referring to the International Indian Film Academy’s annual awards. “Where we respect the Oscars and what they are, our creativity is the best,” he added.

Bollywood, which makes as many as 3 times as many films as Hollywood per year, has captivated movie lovers around the world with its escapist musical extravaganzas.

Bachchan welcomed films that married Western and Indian cinema such as Bride and Prejudice (starring Aishwarya Rai), featuring both Western and Indian actors.

“Any kind of marriage is going to be good when creative interests are common,” Bachchan added.

“I do believe that if the United Kingdom wants to make a film with India, there can only be benefits…”

Bachchan also indicated that he would certainly consider roles from the West.

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