The Two Festivals

Tet or Lunar New Year is a festival which occurs (21) late January or early February. It is a time for families to clean and decorate their homes, (22) enjoy special food such as sticky rice cakes. Family members (23) live apart try to be together at Tet.

Passover is (24) in Israel and by all Jewish people. On this festival, people celebrate freedom from slavery. Passover is also an ancient spring festival. On the first and second nights of Passover, Jewish families eat a special (25) called the Seder.

‘Bollywood’, which is the name of the film industry in Mumbai, India, makes almost 1,000 films a year. Since making its first film in 1913, Bollywood has made over 29,000 films. This is a much higher number than the USA and means it is the biggest film industry in the world. Most Indians like watching films better than any other free-time activity and ten million of them go to the cinema everyday. Bollywood films tell romantic love stories and singing and dancing are an important part of every film. Indian films are also enjoyed outside India. Last Bollywood made over $500 million by selling its films to other countries.

Indian actors make more films each year than American actors in Hollywood but they are not paid as much. This is why most Bollywood films only cost about $2 million to make. Hollywood film is never made for under $5 million.

Most Bollywood actors are young. They work hard but only for a few years. Amitabh Bachman, who some people say is India’s greatest actor, is different. He has been the star of more than 140 films during an acting career for almost 40 years.