Thursday, July 7, 2011

Bollywood: A new literary genre


Bollywood is coming alive in fine print. A spate of innovative books is not only documenting Indian moviedom for posterity but also throwing meaningful light on the evolution of mainstream cinema.
“I think for the first time there is a whole range of books now that reflects the incredible range of Bollywood itself,” Udayan Mitra, publishing director at Penguin India, told IANS.
“Readership of film books has grown. The top three trends seem to be visual books, star biographies and memoirs.”
Bollywood became a literary inspiration in the early 1990s with books like “Starry Nights” by Shobaa De and “Show Business” by Shashi Tharoor. On offer now are popular movie screenplays, pictorials and racy novels.
Lipika Bhushan, chief marketing manager at Harper Collins, told IANS: “Our books under ‘Film Series’ sell more than general books. Our title ‘R.D. Burman: The Man And Music’ is in its third reprint, having sold more then 5,000 copies. We have published three non-fiction volumes on individual blockbusters.”
The series so far has covered three landmark movies – “Deewar”, “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” and “Disco Dancer”. While “Amar Akbar Anthony” releases in December, a coffee table book on silent cinema and a volume on Navketan Films are in the pipeline.
Full report here Hindustan Times

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