Clearly determined to win the State Library’s Blogger-of-the-Year Award, Jane Miller has submitted another topical post, this time exploring Indian cinema and the vibrant song and dance of Bollywood!
The Indian Film Festival, currently showing in Melbourne is an opportunity to highlight some of the Arts Library’s collections. The Festival runs to the 22nd of May, screening at ACMI and selected Hoyts cinemas.
The Indian film industry, this year celebrating its 100th birthday, is also one of the largest in the world in terms of production – 800 to 1000 films are produced each year. Bollywood, often used as a term to describe the whole of Indian film, is just one segment of the output of Indian cinema. Bollywood refers to Hindi films from Mumbai, their popularity greatly enhanced by the marketing of music and dance from the films.
Guardian Books
The International Film Guide, an annual survey of world cinema, includes an entry on Indian cinema; more comprehensive, The Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema chronicles the history of the industry, along with name and film listings.
Our book collection includes a wide range of material surveying the Indian film industry, including Bollywood, from both descriptive and critical perspectives. Bollywood Dreams presents a survey of the cultural, religious and social complexities of Indian life represented through film, its production and consumption. Indian Popular Cinema provides an overview of the industry in social and cultural contexts, and books such as Cinema at the End of Empire and Outsider Films on India discuss the representation of Indian society in Western film.
Duke University Press, 2006
Journal articles, including review literature can be found in our online databases, as well as print copies of important titles such as Cineaste, Film Comment and Variety; current issues of these and others can be found on the serials display rack in the Arts Library.
Through the Naxos Music Library and the Alexander Street Press Contemporary World Music database you can listen to selections from Bollywood film scores, as well as examples of classical and contemporary Indian music; both of these fantastic resources are available to visitors here in the building, as well as in the comfort of your own home if you are one of our Victorian registered users.
Jane Miller
I wonder if Bollywood has tried this yet? A remarkable image from our Alma Conjuring Collection!
The invisible flight, a lady shot from a cannon: Protul Chandra Sorcar. magician
Please don’t try this at home boys and girls…….
