Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief: Inside the World of Indian Moviemaking

by Stephen Alter

Book Overview

Bollywood movies are glorious, colorful spectacles of romance, action, drama, song, and dance. The biggest film industry in the world, Bollywood puts out some nine hundred movies a year, which are watched by passionate fans around the globe.

Stephen Alter--a writer who grew up in India and has inside access to Bollywood--acts as translator and tour guide in this firsthand look into the world of Bombay films. Following the making of a Bollywood...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156030845
• ISBN13: 9780156030847
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Dey Street Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.3" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Understanding the process

This book is like a Documentary on How a Bollywood film is created from idea to opening night. It follows the Director Madhur Bhandarkar as he envisions and succeeds in making the film Omkara taken from Shakespeare's Macbeth. After reading the book I watched the film and now totally admire Bhandarkar's Mastery of cinema. The book inspired me to watch all his films. The book also gives a deep insight into the Bollywood elite and their culture to their celluloid magic

Peek behind the camera

Man, I enjoyed this! Alter does not have an earthshakingly great prose style, and he doesn't have the most piercing insights or analysis into the world of Hindi cinema -- but what he does have is real affection for the film world, and ACCESS. His cousin is a longtime industry figure, and in the insular world of Bollywood, once you have a connection you are hooked up with everyone, apparently. Alter concentrates on the making of the film "Omkara" (very good; go see it), from the initial concept through to the cast and crew screening in Mumbai. We get to see a lot of the movie-making process -- although, because "Omkara" is not a very typical Bollywood film, I think what we're seeing is a little different from the norm. He also digresses in all kinds of fascinating directions -- the preference for light-skinned actors, the ties between film stars and product advertisements, the influence of the Hindu ultra-nationalist party the Shiv Sena and its thugs on Indian culture and politics. He tours a studio, hangs out with Bollywood legend Dev Anand, and watches the filming of a dance number in front of a mock-up of the Taj Mahal in 110-degree heat. I wish he had touched on any of these subjects with a little more depth and insight (this is a short book, and could have been twice as long), and I wish he had given some more background on the many films and actors he mentions. Nonetheless "Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief" is a pure delight for any fan of Hindi films, full of tidbits of information. And as a little bonus, you get grainy black and white photos of stars and crew working on "Omkara." Looking good, Vivek!

"We'll have to sort things out creatively"

Stephen Alter notes an off-hand comment by an assistant director of the film Omkara could be the motto of the Hindi film industry, also known as Bollywood: "Hum ko creatively sort out karna padega" ("We'll have to sort things out creatively"). Improvisation is a skill people must have in the Indian movie industry. Indicative of Bollywood in general, the makers of Omkara wear many hats: the director is also a co-writer of the screenplay & the composer of its music and Ajay Devgan's secretary (similar to an American actor's agent) is also the producer of the film. This work primarily focuses on the making of the 2006 film Omkara, a retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, and Kareena Kapoor. Alter compliments following the making of Omkara by interlacing his narrative with meetings and interviews of Hindi film industry luminaries such as actor Dev Anand, song lyricist and poet Gulzar, poster artist M. F. Husain, directors Madhur Bhandarkar, Shyam Benegal, Shekhar Kapur, Govind Nihalani, Soham Shah, and experts who specialize in different areas of the industry. This was an effortless and involving work of nonfiction to sink into & Mr. Alter's writing is accomplished. If you are interested in learning more about what goes into creating & completing a film in the Bollywood film industry with current information "Fantasies of a Bollywood Love Thief" fits the bill. I found the narrative's conclusion to be somewhat abrupt, but the book was involving and engaging from beginning to end. The end book matter includes a bibliography for the book's few in-text citations & a comprehensive index. Link to the movie: Omkara