Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema

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For both scholars and fans of Indian cinema, this revised and updated edition is a crucial resource: there's nothing else close to it for information on Indian film -- but it's also compulsively readable. I keep finding myself using it to check a fact, and then browsing through it as one entry leads to the next. I suspect the previous edition, only published in hardback, was out of the price range of many who would have appreciated it, but this very inexpensive paperback edition should allow the book to get into the hands of anyone who has an interest or passion for Indian cinema. The illustrations are great too!

Reviewed by Amy Dadichandji Laly, For Pacific Reader, An Asian Pacific North American Review of Books, Spring 2000

The Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen is perhaps the most exhaustive compendium of reference material compiled as a resource guide for film students and movie buffs around the world. Published by Oxford University Press, this ambitious book is produced in association with the National Film Archive of India and the British Film Institute.

The scope of the new revised edition includes a capsule chronicle of Indian history and milestones in the Indian film industry; impressive filmographies of major directors, actors, music composers, lyricists and scenarists; plot synopses of films; film and name indices; and a thorough bibliography on the history of Indian cinema.

From 28 films produced in 1931 to 948 in 1990 and 793 in 1995, India boasts the world's largest national film industry with dream factories in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, churning out Urdu-Hindi Bollywood musicals and important regional art films. Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujerati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Tamil and Telegu cinema is included in this paperback edition which covers a vast landscape from the birth of silent movies and talkies to mainstream productions and documentaries up to 1995.

Cinema is but another idiom of complex social, cultural, political, and historical influences especially in a country as diverse as India in its many regional languages, and ethnic and religious pluralism. The reader will find inspiring references to a number of art movements outside of the industry which informed filmmakers in their day. The entry on the Progressive Writers' Association, that brings into focus such stalwarts as Premchand, Ismat Chughtai, Ali Sardar Jafri, Krishan Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Sadat Hasan Manto, among other luminaries, is especially invigorating. The Indian People's Theatre Association, Parsee Theatre, and political movements such as the Naxalite and Swadeshi, provide "elaborate cross-references to other, more directly, more cinematic entries."

The A to Z of this remarkable index of artistes starts with Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, a prodigious director and scenarist "mainly in the socialist-realist mode," to Zubeida, a real life princess, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin, who played the lead in "Alam Ara," India's first sound film released 14 March 1931. The Film index is chronological and starts with the release in 1912 of the 12 foot silent film "Pundalik" by P. R. Tipnis and N. G. Chitre, adapted from Ramrao Kirtikar's Marathi stage play about the Hindu saint. The last entry is a 158 minute megabudget Tamil musical, released in 1996 called "Kadhal Desum," written and directed by Kadir with Vineet, Abbas, and Tabu as lead players and music by A. R. Rehman. This is the only film entry for the year 1996.

The Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema is really a loving tribute to the amazing men and women who made the film industry the most prolific in the world.

Although Amazon is listing the pub date as 2008, the 'new revised edition' actually came out in 1999 - and this edition ONLY covers movie titles up to 1995!! Although the book is quite thick (AND heavy) the type is rather small, and given that India produces over 900 films a year, this necessarily covers merely a fraction of the total output (synopses are of about 25 - 50 films each year), so there are some glaring omissions. That said, it is a fairly good and accurate resource for Indian films from 1910-'95, as well as biographical material on some of the heavyweights involved (the first 240 pages of the book). It is past time for an update...or perhaps even a second volume, covering 1995 to the present.

The book is perhaps the most comprehensive listing of Indian movies that exists. Even in its earlier first edition. An update was needed simply because of the prodigious output of Bollywood movies each year. The typical number is 700.

From thumbing through the text, you can see the great and diverse nature of Indian society. Even simply in the languages that the movies span. Many stars' names will be unfamiliar to a non-Indian reader. But the book gives the impression that here is a huge world of its own, to rival anything in Hollywood.

This book creates its own conclusion. The 2nd edition came out in 99. Seven years ago. High time for the author to furnish a 3rd edition to encompass the intervening years.

The Indian film industry is the largest film industry in the world making over 700 films every year in over 20 different languages. This book is a compendium of some of the greatest names in the Indian film industry along with summaries of some of the best films made in India from as early as 1897. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it as a reference book. It is a must for any major library.

complete from beginning to 1995 . A bit old fahion an few B & W photos. For specialists or students wanting datas

The book was still shrink-wrapped, and in excellent condition. It arrived very quickly as well.