Bollywood: Popular Indian Cinema - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0953703223 ISBN 13: 9780953703227

Publisher: Dakini Books Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

Written by Gulzar, Shyam Benegal, Lalit Mohan Joshi, among many other experts on the Industry, Bollywood, Popular Indian Cinema is the ultimate guide to the most popular of Indian cinema. A gripping analysis of the last 100 years is provided by the book’s editor, Lalit Mohan Joshi. It covers the long Indian film history including rarely seen images from film archives together with those by leading photographers. This is the one book that every Hindi movie lover should own.

It celebrates what is now a far-reaching and world-renowned cultural phenomenon with 400 pages of the most spectacular photographs, the stories of the stars who make the films, in-depth stories of every great Hindi film and its context, unmatched production quality and brilliant writing.

About this title

About the Author

Lalit Mohan Joshi - Editor (London) An authority on Indian cinema, Lalit Mohan Joshi has been extensively writing and commenting on the subject for more than two decades. A founder member of South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF), London, he is the Editor of South Asian Cinema, UK’s first quarterly journal on the subject. Besides writing for The Guardian (London), India Today and Screen (Mumbai), Lalit is a leading consultant on South Asian Cinema for the BBC, ITV, C4 and mainstream radio in U.K.

Derek Malcolm - Foreword (London)

Derek Malcolm has been the film critic for The Guardian, London for more than three decades and is internationally acclaimed for his writings on world cinema. He has played a significant role in promoting Indian cinema in U.K. and was the director of the London International Film Festival in the early 1980s. His recent book ‘Personal Best: A Century of Films’ published by Tauris Parke Paperbacks, London includes Bollywood films.

Gulzar (Mumbai)

Gulzar is a legendary figure of Indian cinema. His rather reluctant entry into Bollywood through a song for Bimal Roy’s Bandini in the late 1950s brought him instant fame. After graduating into filmmaking with Bimal Roy, Gulzar eventually rose to become a celebrity lyricist, screenplay writer and a filmmaker. Aandhi, Mausam, Ijaazat and Machis are his landmark films.

Shyam Benegal (Mumbai)

Shyam Benegal is one of the most respected Indian filmmakers in the west after Satyajit Ray. He has introduced more acting talent into the world of Indian films than any other filmmaker. These include: Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseerudin Shah, Om Puri, Rajit Kapur and very recently Rahul Maharya in Zubeidaa.

Pratik Joshi (Delhi)

Pratik Joshi is a documentary filmmaker and film critic based in New Delhi. His video film Living With Clams won an award from the Northwest Broadcast News Association, USA in 1998. After getting an MA in History from St. Stephen's College, Delhi Pratik since the late 80s worked as a freelance journalist writing about popular culture for the major Indian national dailies including The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer.

Mathili Rao (Mumbai)

An English lecturer turned film critic, Maithili Rao has been reviewing films and writing on Indian cinema for the last 20 years. She contributes regularly for the daily Hindu and Gentleman. Earlier she has written for the Deccan Herald, Illustrated Weekly of India, Screen, Bombay, Premier and publications brought out by NFDC, the festival directorate and film society magazines.

Kavita Mehta (Mumbai)

Kavita Mehta is a well-known art and film critic who has written extensively on theatre and films in various newspapers and magazines. She began her career with the BBC London as editorial assistant, presenter, and scriptwriter and on Television and Radio programmes like 24-Hours, London Calling and BBC World Service between 1965-69

From the Inside Flap

Bollywood has become one of the largest film industries in the world, producing over 800 films a year. In the course of its century long history, it has steadily turned the myths, folk tales and legends of India into the modernity of motion pictures. Today, Bollywood attracts over one billion spectators worldwide.

Bollywood- Popular Indian Cinema is the ultimate guide to Hindi cinema, celebrating what is now a far-reaching and world renowned cultural phenomenon. Illustrated by rarely seen images from various film archives, Bollywood- Popular Indian Cinema is written by the most prominent voices in filmwriting.

Following an apt foreword by Derek Malcolm, one of the most revered film critics of world cinema, a gripping analysis of the last 100 years is provided by the book's editor Lalit Mohan Joshi. The Bollywood legends themselves share their views about the industry- Gulzar, the famous lyricist, explores the deep roots of song and dance, while the renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal shares his unique insight of the filmmaking climate. Acclaimed Indian film critics line up to give in-depth reviews on Bollywood's burning subjects a range of Bollywood classics and blockbusters are analyzed by Pratik Joshi, and Maithili Rao describes what is in the heart and soul of this popular genre. Dolly Thakore evaluates the legends of Bollywood, whilst the 'underdogs'- vamps and villains, are profiled by Deepa Gahlot. In the final chapter, Madhu Jain opens the doors to the future of Bollywood providing a close-up of a new generation of filmmakers, out there to conquer the West.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpted from Bollywood by Lalit Mohan Goshi. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1 Bollywood: 100 years - Lalit Mohan Joshi

"The 1950s threw up many legendary filmmakers but it was Raj Kapoor who stole the limelight with Awaara. The film set the agenda for popular cinema, it had all the ingredients of a block buster a well-written story by the IPTA protege Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, lyrics by Shailendra, an earthy poet with a leftist trade union background and music by Shankar-Jaikishen. Awaara broke international barriers and gained mass popularity. Dubbed into Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Russian, it broke box office records in the Middle East and drew vast crowds in the erstwhile USSR."

"The biggest phenomenon of 1970s Bollywood was Amitabh Bachchan. Nationally it was a period of political upheavals and increasing corruption in political and public life. At this juncture Amitabh s unusual height, different face and struggled look signalled to people that he was their man. Not a big star, but one of them an ordinary police officer, or a slum dweller who was making it big, so they could too. Amitabh was a myth in the making. "

"Bimal Roy s blending of the elements of neo-realism and popular cinema was exceptional. Devdas (1955), Sujata (1959) and Bandini (1963) all reflect his deep social concerns. Supremely versatile, he would have been equally suited to so-called art house avant garde cinema club of the likes of Ray or Mrinal Sen or the commercially viable genre of Raj Kapoor. Bimal Roy, however, followed his own instincts. His filmmaking shunned artistic pretence and showed an equal disregard for glamour and fortune-hunting. His straightforward approach won him millions of viewers. Roy created the tragic hero mantle for Dilip Kumar in Devdas. Through films such as Sujata and Bandini, he gave Nutan an everlasting artistic dignity. He was also responsible for the flowering of music directors like S.D. Burman and Salil Chowdhury. Among his most creative pupils are filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee and lyricist/ filmmaker Gulzar."

Edition details

• Publisher: Dakini Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0953703223
• ISBN 13: 9780953703227
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 351
• Editor: Joshi Lalit Mohan