The cinema has proved to be one of the major twentieth century cultural success stories. How many millions of people across all continents and nations have merged from their local cinemas, imagining that they were as cool as Humphrey Bogart, as smooth and silky as Ava Gardner, as tough as Steve McQueen or as honest as James Stewart? But it is not only US films that have had this effect on the imaginations of filmgoers. France, Italy and Japan have all had very successful film‐makers who have made significant impact on world culture as well as their own. The Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema tells the reader that the Lumiere brothers showed moving pictures at the Watson’s Hotel in Bombay (Mumbai) as early as July 1896 and that “even as 200 spellbound persons watched The Arrival of a Train and applauded the new marvel, a few enterprising Indians were already weaving their celluloid dreams”. However, despite the huge cultural and commercial success of Indian cinema over the past 50 years or so, surprisingly little has been written about it. Nevertheless, as the word “Bollywood” has become a peg on which journalists and other writers can hang their articles, the literature has increased in volume, if not always in quality. Ojha’s two works (1994 and 2001) are an invaluable starting point for those seeking factual information on the subject and Agnihotri (1992) has been a standard text for the past decade. However, there has been a need for an up to date source on the topic especially since Hindi films, as the editors of this volume state in their preface, have undergone “an exponential growth in recent years, both in terms of commercial potency and geographical reach”.
This work is not an alphabetically arranged encyclopaedia. It consists of 34 essays arranged under four main headings: “Historical record”; “The business and its future”; “Narrative forms”; “Analysis of the medium”. The first is a study of the growth and development of the industry, showing how the medium changed its nuances and perceptions as the nation moved through British rule, freedom struggle, the impact of the World Wars, independence, and the growing pains of the new country. The narrative forms section contains articles that present the various elements that make up a film, such as cinematography, sound and special effects. The final chapter analyses the medium further with essays on script‐writing, acting, music and censorship. The essays are extensively illustrated by still shots from the films under discussion, by photographs of the actors and directors involved, by copies of publicity posters and, where appropriate, by inserts printed on highlighted text which seek to add additional comment. A typical piece and one of especial interest is “Commercial cinema and sociology” by Susmita Dasgupta, a sociologist and economist who is a frequent contributor to the film journal Lights Camera Action. Her thesis, one echoed by several other contributors, is that the film industry in India has made a significant contribution towards unifying the nation where “the concept of nation harmonizes and co‐ordinates the aspirations of a myriad of local cultures … by assimilating classical and folk dances and music, by absorbing various kinds of local cultures, by giving space to the contentions of the downtrodden and women, by the inclusion of marginalized sections such as tribes and nomadic people, and, above all, by developing a specific kind of Hindi with its own syntax structure and style of speech that cannot be assigned to any particular region”.
The contributors are all people closely connected to Hindi cinema, as are the Editorial Board. Gulzar, a poet and lyricist, became a director in 1971 and has also written scripts for many treatment films. Govind Nihalani is a well‐known and highly reputed filmmaker and Saibal Chatterjee is currently the Infotainment [sic] Editor of the online edition of the Hindustan Times. The 25 essay contributors either have first‐hand knowledge of filmmaking or have observed the industry from close quarters. Their brief has been to “capture the big picture in a manner that is both informative and entertaining, and not proffer a dry, clinical study of Hindi films”.
These essays are followed by a section of the book called “Milestones”, which are interviews with, and profiles of, 21 legendary personalities who have most influenced the development of Hindi cinema, including an interview with the great actor, director and producer Ashok Kumar shortly before his death. Perhaps the most important information for a reference collection follows, some 260 biographies of leading film contributors, both in front of and behind the camera, each containing a photograph and a select – though extensive – listing of that person’s films. An index, essential given the thematic arrangement of the encyclopaedia, completes the book.
