Indian Cinema: The Bollywood Saga (ISBN9781845130169) is a 155-page book overviewing the history of Bollywood published in 2004. It was written by Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari, with a foreword by Ismail Merchant.
Content
The book is a chronicle of Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, from its inception with Raja Harishchandra in 1913 to its status as a major global entertainment force. The book details the significant technological innovations and industry developments that have occurred over the decades, contributing to Bollywood's growth. Additionally, it includes rare archival photos collected from across the country. It also features pen-portraits of notable actors, trade details, and interviews with prominent film personalities.[1]
The book follows a chronological structure, documenting each significant period and key milestones in the history of Hindi films. It covers the Silent film era, the introduction of sound, the transition to color films, and the development of iconic classics. Additionally, it examines the modern era characterized by high-budget productions that blend artistic and commercial elements.[2]
Table of Contents
Foreword
9
The Bollywood Saga 1913-2003
13
The Silent Era 1913-1920s
15
The Unleashing of Sound 1930s
25
Ascending the Growth Curve 1940s
39
The Gilded Age 1950s
49
Colourful Escapism 1960s
67
The Decade of Rebellion 1970s
87
Pockets of Grace 1980s
103
Going Retro 1990s
117
The Post-Millennial Period
133
Significant Films 1930-2003
148
Index
152
Reception
Notable journalist and editor-at-large for India Today, Kaveree Bamzai, remarks on certain romantics of the early Bollywood era and the ways in which they came to form the early aesthetics of Indian cinema. She states that authors Raheja and Kothari "don't give the answers because they are not equipped to do so. But that is not such a bad thing. This is a book to be taken as bracing medicine."[3] Vikrant Kishore, in a paper on the evolution of heroine archetypes throughout Indian cinema, talks about the glamorization and appeal of sexualized Western-centric female leads, particularly after the 1960s when the medium of film was exiting its silent, black-and-white period. He cites Raheja and Kothari for aptly summing up some of the changes that occurred in the way that women were treated and portrayed on screen.[4]
