Books : Bollywood

A breathless cat-and-mouse romantic thriller laced with charming comedy and catchy songs, this Bollywood spin on classic Hollywood nail biters offers dazzling action sequences in a globe-hopping tale of intrigue and danger! Summoned to the Indian embassy in Bangkok, beautiful Tina learns that a stolen cache of FBI gold in her recently deceased uncle's possession has made her the target of three partners-in-crime... as well as a charming con man, Vijay, whose true motives may be darker and more deadly than she could imagine. System Requirements:Running Time 143 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE

In a story of passion and betrayal, a chance meeting brings together down-and-out lawyer Kabir Lal (John Abraham) and young, sexy Sonia (Bipasha Basu), the wife of a wealthy middle-aged industrialist. The sexual chemistry between the young lovers grows with each encounter, and Kabir falls deeper and deeper under Sonia's intoxicating spell, entangling him in a conspiracy to do away with her husband. A scorching noir thriller in the tradition of Basic Instinct and Body Heat, this stylish, music-filled hit was one of the most controversial and successful Bollywood releases of recent years and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final shocking twist.

I Have Found It (Kandukondain Kandukondain) transplants Jane Austen's Sense And Sensibility into an irresistibly musical, infectiously funny and sweetly romantic widescreen wonderworld that could only be found in a Bollywood film. An eye-popping riot of brilliant color, show-stopping musical numbers, spectacular global locations and exuberant performances, I Have Found It represents a gigantic leap forward for Southern Indian Kollywood movies - the Tamil-speaking cousin of Bollywood Hindi language film.Rich, young, gorgeous and pampered, sisters Sowmya (Tabu) and Meenakshi (Aishwarya Rai, Bride & Prejudice) want for nothing except the true love their hearts crave. While Sowmya grudgingly places family responsibilities ahead of romance, Meenakshi yearns for a white knight who will come to her just like a storm. Three different coincidences bring the girls three very different suitors and a tempest of romantic complications. Manohar (Ajith), an aspiring filmmaker, falls for Sowmya but will wed her only after directing his first film. Commando Major Bala (Mammootty) woos Meenakshi despite physical and emotional war wounds and competition from Srikanth (Abbas), a charismatic poetry-quoting businessman. But with their patriarch's health ebbing, the romantic storm Meenakshi and Sowmya wished for may soon be eclipsed by the harsh realities of modern South Asian life.In his sophomore directing effort, former cinematographer Rajiv Menon garnishes I Have Found It's feast of visual brilliance with knowing genre nods and witty social satire. Featuring songs by superstar composer A.R. Rahman (Dil Se), I Have Found It is a delightful mixture of the poetic traditions, exotic rhythms and dazzling showmanship that characterize the best of Bollywood cinema.

A brilliantly illuminating portrait of Bombay and its people-a book as vast, diverse, and rich in experience, incident, and sensation as the city itself-from an award-winning Indian-American fiction writer and journalist.A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us a true insider's view of this stunning city, bringing to his account a rare level of insight, detail, and intimacy. He approaches the city from unexpected angles-taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs who wrest control of the city's byzantine political and commercial systems... following the life of a bar dancer who chose the only life available to her after a childhood of poverty and abuse... opening the doors onto the fantastic, hierarchical inner sanctums of Bollywood... delving into the stories of the countless people who come from the villages in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks-the essential saga of a great city endlessly played out.Through it all-as each individual story unfolds-we hear Mehta's own story: of the mixture of love, frustration, fascination, and intense identification he feels for and with Bombay, as he tries to find home again after twenty-one years abroad. And he makes clear that Bombay-the world's largest city-is a harbinger of the vast megalopolises that will redefine the very idea of the city in the near future.Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world.From The Publisher:A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider's view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood; and delving into the stories of the countless villagers who come in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks.About The Author:Suketu Mehta is a fiction writer and journalist based in New York. He has won the Whiting Writers Award, the O. Henry Prize, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for his fiction. Mehta's other work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, Granta, Harper's magazine, Time, Cond Nast Traveler, and The Village Voice, and has been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Mehta also cowrote Mission Kashmir, a Bollywood movie.

Discover a land of exotic beauty and inspiring culture with The Rough Guide to India, the most comprehensive guide to India on the market. The 36 page full-colour introduction with stunning photography will whet your appetite for the country''s many highlights, from fast-paced Delhi and the sacred sites of the Ganges plain to the Moghul splendour of Agra and the shell-sand beaches of the south. The guide features three new colour sections on Sacred India, Handicrafts and Bollywood, as well as expert background information on everything from temple architecture to Indian classical music. Easy-to-use maps and extensive accommodation and restaurant listings, plus all the practical grittiness you''d expect from a Rough Guide make this your must-have item for the trip of a lifetime. Make the most your time with The Rough Guide to India.

In this sumptuous new collection of projects, Teresa Searle demonstrates how to design and make a range of jewelry items using a variety of textile processes and methods from hand embroidery to finger knitting. Be inspired by Teresa's combinations of silks, vintage prints, and antique buttons to make one-of-a-kind neckpieces, bracelets, . earrings, and more. Detailed photographs and clear step-by-step instructions make it easy for crafters of all levels to re-create Teresa Searle's gorgeous designs at home. Discover how to combine scraps of silk with vintage fabrics, buttons, and a range of inexpensive notions to create one-off jewelry pieces. Designs include simple accessories such as a Bollywood iPod case, as well as necklaces, bracelets, and corsages all in Teresa Searle's inimitable style. Includes information on creative processes, from hand and machine embroidery to using dissolvable film.

Ancient Indian erotica on Viagra! What do you get when you combine the classic, almost 2,000-year-old Indian treatise on the art of love with the most up-to-date paper-engineering techniques? The Pop-Up Kama Sutra! This lively distillation of the world's most famous sex guide features choice excerpts from the original text, translated in 1883 by the renowned explorer Sir Richard Burton, and is illustrated with vintage color plates from India. Best of all, six incredible pop-ups present the Kama Sutra's most interesting, instructive, and wildly acrobatic positions in three dimensions. More Bollywood than museum piece, this fun gift book adds a new dimension to the literature of lust and romance.

The Wimbledon tennis championships are in turmoil. On the very first day of the tournament, the world''s No 1 male player is murdered amidst rumours that he has been cheating on his fiancee. The men''s event is hastily abandoned as a mark of respect, and the lady players take centre stage...The many suspects include a bad boy Bollywood film star, a maverick sports agent, a corrupt umpire, but perhaps most importantly, some top stars of women''s tennis as well. Tabloid journalist Terry Proudley, a nondescript dreamer, joins forces with glamorous policewoman Verita Sassi to track down the culprit, never guessing that the quest for justice will take them to the south of France, then India...and beyond. So who is the murderer? And who will win the coveted women''s Wimbledon title? Find out in The Smash !

From Mumbai to Chennai and from Kochi to Karachi, from the humble sign writer to the blue-chip advertising agency, the creative industries of India entice and inform a population of over one billion. In this crowded, colorful world, innovation is often born of necessity and scant resources, and can result in the very clever or the completely ridiculous. The most exciting graphic work has been singled out by the keen eye of Keith Lovegrove on his journey through India. He lovingly documents a wide range of vernacular graphics and commercial art from the personalized bodywork of vehicles to advertising hoardings; from political posters to lavish Bollywood publicity. The result is a celebration of the huge variety of graphic work that Lovegrove found in this densely populated landscape and a reflection of the religious, political and cultural diversity along his route.

Big-budget, spectacular films designed to appeal to mass audience: is this what- or all- blockbusters are? Movie Blockbusters brings together leading film scholars to consider this most high-profile and culturally significant genre. Drawing on a range of critical perspectives, the book traces how and why the event movie has played such a large role in the popular imagination, tracing a path from the spectacles of the silent era to the effects-laden mega-hits of the digital age. The contributors explain what the rise of the blockbuster says about the Hollywood film industry, address the work of notable blockbuster auteurs such as Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, discuss key movies such as Jaws, The Jazz Singer, The Ten Commandments, Terminator 2 and Titanic, and consider the various contexts in which blockbusters are produced, distributed, marketed and consumed. In addition, the book considers the movie scene outside Hollywood, discussing blockbusters made in Bollywood, China, South Korea, New Zealand and Argentina.

The aLittle Clay Carta is, for Sanskrit theatre, atypically romantic, funny, and thrilling. This most human of Sanskrit plays is Shakespearian in its skilful drawing of characters and in the plotas direct clarity. One of the earliest Sanskrit dramas, aLittle Clay Carta was created in South India, perhaps in the seventh century CE. Set in the city of Ujjain, so secular and universal is the story that it can be situated in any society, and it has, including in Bollywood film and by the BBC. Charua[datta, a bankrupt married merchant, is extramaritally involved with a wealthy courtesan, VasAntaa[sena. The kingas vile brother-in-law, unable to win VasAntaa[senaas love, strangles her, and accuses Charua[datta. The court decides the case hastily, condemning Charua[datta to death. Fortunately, our heroine rises from the dead to save her beloved, and all applaud their love. At this climax, the regime changes, and the rebel-turned-king makes Charua[datta lord of an adjacent city.

Shroff''s vibrant narratives in this concept collection of 14 stories set in contemporary Bombay feature a range of beautifully drawn characters in fascinating situations: from the laundrywallas'' water shortage problems, to the doomed love affair of a schizophrenic painter and his Bollywood girlfriend, to the wandering thoughts of a massagewalla at Chowpatty Beach, to the heart-warming relationship of a carriage driver and his beloved horse. Each of these stories is richly crafted and arranged against the grand chaotic backdrop of life that is Bombay. Shroff''s love for his hometown shines through, but so does his deep understanding of its challenges and problems. The reader is afforded an insider''s view of this pulsating city, and through an unforgettable emotional and cultural journey comes to care for the characters presented in these stories.

Shakespeare''s plays have inspired British Oscar-winners and spaghetti Westerns, Bollywood thrillers, and Soviet epics. Covering twenty plays, Daniel Rosenthal''s selection of 100 Shakespeare films spans a century of cinema, from a silent Tempest (1907) to Kenneth Branagh''s As You Like It (2006). Fifty of the films retain Shakespeare''s language, among them Laurence Olivier''s Henry V and Orson Welles''s Othello. Alongside these are forty genre adaptations using modernized dialogue and re-imagined characters: Macbeth as a gangster in Joe Macbeth and Maqbool; Othello as a jazz pianist in All Night Long. Rosenthal also assesses twenty-five foreign-language titles. Presented alphabetically by Shakespeare play, each chapter begins with a synopsis, and the film essays explore cinematography, design, dialogue, music, and performance.

Since 2001, India has gained new attention as an emerging world power with a rapidly growing economy, a world-class science and technology sector, and a huge English-speaking labor pool. After a period of escalating tension with neighbor Pakistan, wide-ranging peace talks are underway. Within India, there is an unprecedented mood of optimism about the future. At the same time, the nation wrestles with difficult questions about the place of secularism in society, the role it sees for itself globally and within Asia, and the reality that millions of Indians still live at the subsistence level. This volume of India Briefing examines India's changing fortunes through chapters that cover the economy; the twists and turns of domestic politics; labor in the large informal sector; the cultural roots of Hindu nationalism; the foreign relations rollercoaster; the business of Bollywood; and a special chapter on the range of new resources about India available on the web.

Broadway, Burlesque, Bollywood, Latin, and MTV: shall we dance? If the sound of music makes you want to move your feet, but fear stops you cold, here's your invitation to step onto the dance floor. No need to worry about not having enough grace, flexibility, or coordination, because these workouts will get your heart pumping, your body jumping, and your physique toned. Even complete beginners can master the superbly photographed and easy-to-follow choreography. Take the first steps with five tailor-made routines, each devised by an expert in the style: they all come in three levels, with information on the dance form; a special funky, killer move; a hot playlist; and case studies of someone who used dance to get fit and fabulous.

Elegiac and atmospheric, Shakespeare Wallah was the feature film that put Merchant Ivory Productions on the international movie map, winning them great critical acclaim, and is now recognized as a classic. Starring Shashi Kapoor, Madhur Jaffrey, and a young Felicity Kendal, the film's inspiration lies in the real-life adventures of Ms. Kendal's family as a traveling theater group in India during the final days of English colonial rule. They try to uphold British tradition by staging Shakespearean plays but are unable to compete with the wildly popular Bollywood film industry. The film also traces the developing relationship between the acting troupe's young ingenue, Lizzie (Kendal), and Sanju (Kapoor), a wealthy Indian playboy. But their romance is beset by hindrances, not the least being the machinations of Manjula (Jaffrey), a fiery Indian film star who is also in love with Sanju.

Bombay Talkie is Merchant Ivory's affectionate, bemused view of Bollywood--India's huge dream factory. The film is like a brightly colored, sumptuous Indian sweet covered in gold foil, and cameraman Subrata Mitra's ravishing photography has never been surpassed in any other of James Ivory's films. The story, set off by elaborate studio numbers, is a melodrama echoing those of Bombay's mass audience movies and the sexy bestsellers of the film's heroine, American authoress Lucia Lane (Jennifer Kendal). Visiting India in search of new material, she becomes romantically involved with a handsome movie star Vikram (Shashi Kapoor, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid). When that doesn't work, she flees to an ashram to take up the spiritual life. That also--hilariously--doesn't work out, and the ill-fated couple get together again with explosive results.

In this scorching Bollywood thriller inspired by the hit film Out of Sight, love and the law prove to be uncomfortable bedfellows when beautiful police officer Prabha (Bipasha Basu from the horror hit Raaz) tries to clean up the internal corruption within the local police force, particularly dirty cop ACP Pandey (Irfaan Khan). While chasing criminal Aditya (Dino Morea), she stumbles and hangs from a building ledge inches away from death. Despite a certain arrest, Aditya turns back to save her and winds up in prison; however, he remains mute throughout his imprisonment and day in court. Finding herself in love with the convict who saved her life, Prabha must learn the truth behind his dark past and discovers that good and evil aren't always as they seem.System Requirements:Running Time 134 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE

First film to be truly born and bred in Hollywood that also features Bollywood elements...When circumstances throw an American country boy and a Himalayan village belle together, the apple pie gets a smattering of masala , only to prove that You Can't Curry Love! Successfully blending the old and the new, with the east and the west in this Pygmalion-like contemporary romantic comedy, Americanizing Shelley takes place in Los Angeles, and tells the story of a wanna-be Hollywood player, who sets out to Americanize an Indian girl straight from the Himalayas. As he creatively teaches her all about the American way of life, and what it takes to be a Hollywood celebrity, he ultimately ends up learning a thing or two about his own life. Their clash in cultures soon gives way to understanding, unity and love as they begin to see the world through eachother's eyes.

Gathering into one deeply conscious glance all the beauty scattered so sublimely through that last hour of the fin de siecle, the Italian film diva is both the movie's centre and the movie itself; she is the eye and the hurricane. Indolently we bathe in her fragrant mysticisms and sensualities, while all about her, rent hearts and havoc are strewn with the violence of Armageddon. Guy Maddin is one of Canada's most celebrated and original filmmakers, the director of such delirious films as Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Careful, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary and the forthcoming The Saddest Music in the World. Few know, however, that he is just as gifted a writer, and his resolutely purple prose, as eccentric and enchanting as his film work, is a true delight. From the Atelier Tovar gathers, in one volume, the best of Maddin's writing: his journalism (originally published in the Village Voice, Cinema Scope, Film Comment and points beyond), unpublished short stories and film treatments (including the riotous Child Without Qualities), and selections, both lurid and illuminating, from the filmmaker's personal journals. Here are Maddin's feverish musings on hockey, the Osmonds, divas of the Italian silent cinema, Bollywood, his own twisted biography, and much, much more. What emerges finally is both a fragrant potpourri and a treasure trove, a singular portrait of this very unique artist.