Reading Recommendations for the Bollywood Fanatic

[purplecowmoo]

Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are like Bollywood movies?  I'm not really interested in reading about the making of movies, and a lot of Indian fiction is too heavy in subject and tone for my taste, but I would love it if I could find some books that are similar in plot and tone and setting to most Bollywood movies.

I recently read and liked 2 States, by Chetan Bhagat, and the more teenager-y Koyal Dark Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth.  Bollywood Confidential by Sonia Singh came close, too.  I'm not into chick-lit, so no "hindi bindi club" type titles, please.

My favourite book is 'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth which a few people have described to me as basically like a really long, really good BW movie. Though a lot of different sub plots are in it, some remind me of Hindi movies on occasion, and the plot progression is quite filmi too - there's just a point where you expect to see INTERVAL on the next page lol. Far from melodramatic or chick-lit though. It's set in 1950s India and has some storylines and characters that reminded me of Hindi films a lot (young man having affair with courtesan, corrupt rural politicians, typical BW mother trying to marry her daughter off, daughter falling in love but it cannot be because he's Muslim, she's Hindu) but it does seem very real. It's awfully, awfully long but I think so worth it

[old_saratoga_guy]

For those of you who are non-Indian, non-NRI (like me), but find Hindi (and other Indian) film interesting: go to your local library or amazon.com or whatever, and get anything pertaining the the history of the greater subcontinent and their religions (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Zoroastrian) (including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Burma). It's difficult to understand any but the most simplistic Bollywood films without having some of that background, but if you don't have some appreciation for the impact of the Raj, or even more critical, of Partition (especially in the Punjab and Bengal), you're missing a lot of the flavor of Indian cinema. I would add that I discovered (or more accurately, tripped over) Indian cinema less that three years ago. Yet, as Michael Woods pointed out in "The Story of India", for all of us who are not African, our ancestors passed through the Indian subcontinent at some point in history. It has meaning for all of us. I would add, as an observation, a paraphrase of what some unknown Brit said about 100 years ago. Traveling from one end of India to the other is like traveling from Spain to Russia. He was, I suspect, referring to the diversity in language, religion, and perspective on life itself.

[Dil Bert]

Hindi Action Cinema, which someone else had recommended.  It's very interesting, but I have to skip over the introductory and occasional bits of "film theory"-ese.

Also, just saw this title: Wanted Cultured Ladies Only!: Female Stardom and Cinema in India, 1930s-1950s

From Amazon:
"Product Description

"Wanted Cultured Ladies Only! maps out the early culture of cinema stardom in India from its emergence in the silent era to the decade after Indian independence in the mid-twentieth century. Neepa Majumdar combines readings of specific films and stars with an analysis of the historical and cultural configurations that gave rise to distinctly Indian notions of celebrity. She argues that discussions of early cinematic stardom in India must be placed in the context of the general legitimizing discourse of colonial "improvement" that marked other civic and cultural spheres as well, and that "vernacular modernist" anxieties over the New Woman had limited resonance here. Rather, it was through emphatically nationalist discourses that Indian cinema found its model for modern female identities.

"Considering questions of spectatorship, gossip, popularity, and the dominance of a star-based production system, Majumdar details the rise of film stars such as Sulochana, Fearless Nadia, Lata Mangeshkar, and Nargis"

[Prem Rogue]

Has anyone read Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas?

[Darshana]

I have some catching up to do here.;

One really good one I've been reading is:

Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema, by Ira Bhaskar and Richard Allen. 

It accompanied a festival they curated (he teaches at NYU, she teaches at Jawarhalal Nehru U in Delhi).

They sort the cinematic representation of Muslims in Bombay cinema into three categories - historical movies (e.g. Mughul-e-Azam, Jodhaa Akbar), movies about the courtesan culture (Umrao Jaan (s), Pakeezah), and Muslimn socials, older and then new wave (for example Garam Hawa, Mammo).   It's a useful frame of reference, and the book is beautifully produced and readable.  It's organized movie by movie, so you can read about the ones that interest you in any order.

I got a copy through Allen himself, for $30. 

Sorry for vague "review," just wanted to get this reco on here for now.

[sunrise]

If anyone is interested, I am currently reading an article as part of my work (yes, work! Life is too kind sometimes.), and it's about K3G in the context of the Indian diaspora in the US. I am not sure how exactly to cite an article on a forum, so please feel free to correct me and I will change it.

Bollywood in the Indian-American diaspora
Mediating a transitive logic of cultural citizenship

Aswin Punathambekar

International Journal of Cultural Studies  June 2005   vol. 8  no. 2  151-173

[Darshana]

I just found this academic press in India, which looks terrific.  Many joint India/US publications, which I imagine gives them a better distribution and therefore a strong list.  Don't know if they publish about films, but I'm thinking readers of this thread will want to note.  They have a FAcebook page.  Name is Permanent Black.

http://permanent-black.blogspot.com/

[dustdevil]

I was searching my local library catalog for "Bollywood" and came across a series of Young Adult novels by Narinder Dhami: Bindi Babes, Bollywood Babes, Bhangra Babes and Superstar Babes.  The main characters are three British-Indian sisters in their early teens, and the plots involve humorous/dramatic situations at their school and with their family.  I really enjoyed them--very sweet, funny, and short.  The second one (Bollywood Babes) is probably the most relevant to this thread--the main plot is that the sisters track down a washed-up Bollywood actress, Molly Mahal, to make an appearance at their school fundraiser, and she ends up coming to stay with them.  I'd definitely recommend tracking them down through your library, or finding an inexpensive copy.

[Darshana]

What a promising story situation that is - and of course when I read about it I see a role for an older generation star in the movie version!

[Simran_Singh]

Has anyone read Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas?

The U of T library had the Indian edition of this book, with the much snappier title Leave Disco Dancer Alone! Indian Cinema and Soviet Movie-Going After Stalin The book is based on the author's PhD thesis, but the language only gets really 'academic' in a couple of places - the rest is pretty accessible.

I found the book very interesting, especially the first chapter "Indian Films in the Soviet Past: Memories Articulated". I didn't grow up in Eastern Europe, but I am a person of Eastern European descent who loves Indian films, so the following passage, in particular, really resonated with me:

"Russian and other Slavic viewers consistently explained that Indian films appealed to their dusha or soul, an important aspect of Russia's historical claim to being distinctive from European cultures. The dusha, essentialised as a natural Slavic characteristic, values a person's 'inner world' (vnutrennyi mir) and attaches little importance to material pursuits. In this view, the Slavic narod (people/folk/masses) are the main repositories of that dusha and are credited with valuing emotion rather than rationalism. For Russian and other Slavic viewers, these and other attributes of the dusha such as simplicity, emotional expressiveness and great endurance for suffering, appeared also to be valorised in the Indian films they watched." (pg. 56-57).


The other book I borrowed from the U of T library was Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's Other Film Industry, edited by Selvaraj Velayutham. Although the articles have very academic-sounding titles (out of 11 titles, only one does not contain a colon) I found the writing the be fairly accessible. Most of the articles in the anthology are very interesting and useful to the South Indian movie-watcher. There are two articles about women in Tamil cinema and one about 'goddess cinema' (which made me think of Mysamma IPS even though that is a Telugu movie not a Tamil one). There are two articles about politics and Tamil cinema (specifically MGR and the DMK - interesting to read after watching Mani Ratnam's Iruvar). I also found very interesting the two articles on rural life and Tamil cinema and the idea of 'South' in Tamil cinema. Finally, there is an article on the Tamil diaspora and Tamil cinema which "critically reflects on why Tamil cinema remains focused on itself in both the making and marketing of films as compared to Bollywood which has successfully captured a global market audience" (pg. 174).

[Dil Bert]

I'm getting tired of inching through Hindi Action Cinema.  It should have been subtitled An Accountant's Guide.  While I agree economics is an important part of making movies, it's rather boring to read about.

[Amba]

I found out via Jabberwock that Zohra Sehgal has written an autobiography:

http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-zohra-segals-close-up.html

I always like to see her onscreen, and she's had a fascinating life.

[nicoletta]

I have just read about 1 half of Selective Memory, Shoba De's autobiography. It's very interesting in parts but her patent narcissism spoils everything. Although she denies it every 3 lines she is clearly boiling over her own lack of career as a BWD star. Even her choice of photos is revealing...see how much I looked better than Rekha?  See how puffy was Zeenat compared to me?  etc etc 

[mainhoonemily]

Has anyone read Megastar: Chiranjeevi and Telugu Cinema After N. T. Rama Rao?  I'm debating getting it from Amazon; it's $22, so if it's one of those dry academic looks at Tollywood (which is the impression I get from the Amazon summary, which I still don't think I understand after reading it through 3 times) I'd hate to waste my money.

[dustdevil]

If you're on the fence, I'd be willing to chip half the cost in to read it after you're done.

[dustdevil]

Has anyone read Megastar: Chiranjeevi and Telugu Cinema After N. T. Rama Rao?  I'm debating getting it from Amazon; it's $22, so if it's one of those dry academic looks at Tollywood (which is the impression I get from the Amazon summary, which I still don't think I understand after reading it through 3 times) I'd hate to waste my money.

I decided to bite the bullet and get it, and it arrived today. Definitely looks like it's got a lot about politics, but also quite a bit about fan associations and Chiru's films. When I'm done, I'd be happy to loan it out.

[dangermom]

I just got hold of The Art of Bollywood, about poster art.  I only had a couple of hours to look at it, so I couldn't read it all, but I really enjoyed what I managed to get. 

[chrism]

RQR (really quick recommendations) - I loved these two novels that are not quite Bollywood but I thought wonderfully captured something about India - Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai (wonderful traditional village humor), and The Loudest Firecracker by Arun Krishnan. The latter is of interest to Bwood fans also because there is a bit of insider background (Bombay; the boy's father has a background in movies, in a way). Both are great reads. Krishnan also has a sweet, funny vlog, Learn Hindi from Bollywood Movies (he's on Facebook).

Sorry if this repeats; I've been away and have a lot of catching-up to do. Naturally this was the first thread I went to... back into reading again.

[Dancelover]

I Beg your pardon for posting to an old thread.

"The Kapoors" has a Family Tree in the front of the book.
It shows that one of Raj, Shasti, and Shammai's sisters married an "M. Jain."
Does anyone know if he is related to Madhu Jain, the author of the book?
If she is related to him, in any way, then that might be a reason why Shasti Kapoor
chose to ask her to write this book. She tells her readers early in the book that he asked her,
but does not give any reason why he might have chosen her, except that she had been
writing about Bollywood for a while.

By contrast, in the preface to "Shah Ruyk Khan" Anapura Chopra tells her readers who her parents
are, and that she got the Chopra name by marriage, and to whom. This lets us readers guess
whether she might have emotions about her subject, and what they might be.

Dancelover

Well then you can enjoy catching up on the updates later, and still enjoy the original book. Win-win!
Just came across this review of the book
(The Kapoors: Bollywood's first family, by Madhu Jain)
by Jabberwock, which will keep me going for now. His review of Dev Anand's memoir, on the site too, is wonderful reading as well. Whoever on BWHAT put me on to Jabberwock - thank you a thousand times over. This blogger is an endless delight!
http://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/2005/12/kapoors-bollywoods-first-family.html

(modified to correct spelling)

[MinaS]

A word of warning not to buy The Encyclopaedia Britannica's Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. It was given to me as a gift and reads like it was written by people who do not much like Hindi films but couldn't turn down the commission to write a book about them. Despite the name, there is nothing encycolpaedic about it --just a series of (often condescending) essays, some biographies at the back and a slim film index that tells the director and date of the film --and that's it. I regularly open it, flip through, then hurtle it against the wall. Most annoying.

I have been eyeing the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema (edited by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, 1999) which has been praised on this thread. Someone please tell me this does what it says on the tin, and that I can look up virtually any film, director, actor, playback singer, etc and find a concise and useful blurb about them, before I shell out --it's quite pricey.

Better yet, does someone know if this book is being updated? Published in 1999 it is already 12 years old and I could hang on awhile if there was a hint of an updated one being issued anytime soon.

[nicoletta]

The Encyclopoedia of IC is  very extensive indeed, but not perfect. Vamps and villains, for example, are oddly snubbed (no entry about Pran and Helen, eg) From Italy,  I ordered a "paperback" edition and got it at a reasonable price - about 40 euros. The most fascinating thing about it are the plots from the 20s ,30s etc.- a lost universe!

[MinaS]

The Encyclopoedia of IC is  very extensive indeed, but not perfect. Vamps and villains, for example, are oddly snubbed (no entry about Pran and Helen, eg) From Italy,  I ordered a "paperback" edition and got it at a reasonable price - about 40 euros. The most fascinating thing about it are the plots from the 20s ,30s etc.- a lost universe!

No entry on Pran! Or Helen! Probably the first two things I'd look up. Thanks for the tip on cheapy sources, I may invest in one if I can find it reasonably priced enough.

[dustdevil]

I've been following Blaft on twitter (publisher of the Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction) and they tweeted that their books are being sold in the US through southasiabooks.com. I checked out their website, and they have a pretty extensive section of books about film.  It's mostly pricier, academic-type books.

[Spook]

Has anyone read Indian Films in Soviet Cinemas?

I have. Found it when I was looking for a book to do a report on for my Russian History class. Great book.

[tabula rasa]

Any idea how to get my hands on A R Rahman's bio by Nasreen Munni Kabir "The Spirit of Music" - delivered internationally??