It is still very rare for Hindus, who make up 80 percent of the population, to marry Muslims who comprise 16 percent of Indians.Ä«ollywood films such as "Bombay" (1995), "Gadar" (Revolt, 2001), "Veer Zaara" (Veer and Zara, 2004) or "Jodhaa Akhbar" (Jodhaa and Akbar, 2008) have broached these taboos. Although in cities many marriages are love-based, they are still arranged by a couple's family. According to UNICEF statistics released in 2012, some 90 percent of marriages are still arranged. The 2011 census found that two thirds of Indians lived in rural areas and earned their living directly or indirectly from agriculture. Only a fraction of India's 1.2 billion-strong population lives in urban centers such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or Chennai. And even though society has become more open and tolerant since the beginning of the 1990s, with economic progress and educational advancement, it is not so simple for barriers between people with different backgrounds who love each other to be overcome as in the movies.
Indian society is very hierarchical and even though the caste system was officially abolished in the 1950 constitution, discrimination according to caste continues nationwide. But they depict a reality that has nothing to do with the viewers' reality." Madhaya Prasad, a film professor in Hyderabad: "Our films influence people and society.