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Bollywood: A History
£5.30
Hollywood may define our idea of movies, but it is the city of Bombay on the west coast of India that is now the centre of world cinema. Every year, the Indian film industry produces more than 1,000 feature films; every day, 14 million Indians go to a movie in the country; a billion more people a year buy tickets for Indian movies than for Hollywood ones. The rise of Bombay as the film capital of the world has been both remarkable and amazing. Bollywood movies themselves are a self-contained world with their multiple song and dance routines, intense melodrama, and plots that contain everything from farce to tragedy, but always produce a happy ending. The men and women who created these movies are even more remarkable; and it is this fantastic, rich, diverse story, a veritable Indian fairyland, that Mihir Bose, a native of Bombay, tells with vivid brilliance in the first comprehensive history of this major social and cultural phenomenon.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Roli Books (9 May 2008) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1915 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 386 pages |
| Page numbers source ISBN | 0752443828 |
by Ali Lehman
This was a frustrating book to read. The author has written the only history of Bollywood available (so far), so he has something of a captive audience. But the book is so poorly written that I found it difficult to finish. I would start a chapter, and think to myself, “This is fascinating stuff… maybe it’s better than I thought.” But then within a few pages, the narrative thread would become so tangled, that I would find it difficult to continue.
Bose seems to have composed his writing piecemeal, showing every sign of the worst use of word processing: a bit added here and there, but no chapter written with a steady flow. The result is that he may begin on a topic or personality, then switch to something completely different for little reason. This often happens within a single paragraph. Sometimes he can’t stay on a topic within a single sentence! Other times he just rambles on and on, sometimes saying the same thing three or four times on a single page.
Large sections of the book are made up of quotes often taking up whole pages or more. Some sections rely so heavily on other works that one is left wondering if the author might be guilty of plagiarism. The most glaring example of this is the chapter on Sholay, which seems to have simply reworked Anupama Chopra’s Sholay, the Making of a Classic. He even brings in a factual error by relying on that book when he writes, “somewhere the original ending is available, fuzzy, with poor sound quality…” This was true when Chopra wrote, but the DVD release of Sholay has the original, censored ending. The DVD was available well before Bose wrote, but he apparantly simply relied on his source text, rather than actually watch the DVD.
The book is also full of spelling mistakes and factual errors. For example, he states that Aamir Khan’s character in Rang De Basanti was a Hindu, but he was a Sikh. There are even incomplete sentences scattered throughout the book. One wonders if an editor actually bothered to read the text. Perhaps they didn’t bother to check it closely, knowing that, as the only book available on the topic, it would be snapped up by fans of Bollywood regardless of quality.
To summarize, if you enjoy Bollywood films, and would like to understand something of the history, then you will probably enjoy this book. It is for this reason that I gave it two stars instead of one. However, everything Bose has to tell us could have been done in half the space, and is in dire need of the hand of a stern editor.
If this is to be your first book on Bollywood, please start with something else, such as
Sholay: The Making of a Classic
, or
Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief: Inside the World of Indian Moviemaking
.
by Susanna Finlay
This is not only a fascinating insight into how the Indian film industry developed, but it is also an insight into how India emerged and developed to become an independent country. Thoroughly recommend it.
by KJ
An excellent book of history of Bollywood.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, especially the origins of the massive industry & the decisions of the Studios’ as to which direction should celluloid reflect their India, considering the vast cultural & language differences of the indigenous people.
For me, the recent(since 1990s)history could have been more detailed and would love an updated book.
Mihir’s written word and style is excellent.
However, the paperback version is not very readable due to its small print & that is very annoying. Buy the hardback if you can afford the extra pounds!
KJ
by A. Gascoyne-cecil
This book both informs and entertains about the fascinating details from the history of Bollywood – such as the story of Fearless Nadia, who spoke no Hindi, but learnt to read the lines in roman script and sound just like the other actresses.
Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable and informative book.
by Amazon Customer
I havn’t got very far with this book as the print is so small it gave me a headache. appart from that is seems very informative so far and has given some insights into the industry, its hypocrisy and the writers experience of short photo shoots with amitabh bachan and madhuri dixit. it has many quotes about the industry but is often too verbose for my liking. i think the book could be half the size if they would just get to the point. in some quotes or comments by the writer i read it twice and realised that they hadn’t actually said anything! very long-winded. but i’m sure it’s worth it once you finally gegt some information. i’m not currently motivated to continue with this book as it is hard work but i’m sure when i get through all the swings and round-abouts i will learn something. i hope. i do wonder if this style is to illustrate the writers frustration with the industry as he is constantly denied interviews and kept waiting for hours upon hours in the lobbies of stars who have no intention of showing up or possibly not even any knowledge of the promised interview.
one to keep trying with