King of Bollywood

May 21, 2007
Although he's not a household name in America, Shah Rukh Khan, sometimes called the “Tom Cruise of Hindi film,” is a world-famous superstar, the kind who generates “Elvis-level hysteria” wherever he goes. Born in New Delhi in 1965, Shah Rukh grew up loving movies, with American John Travolta and Bill Cosby among the stars he admired. After graduating from high school, he moved from theater to television to movie acting, gradually finding his niche with “brooding antihero” roles, the sort that other actors rejected for fear of spoiling their leading-man image. As Shah Rukh has became a bigger star, playing a variety of roles, he also helped the industry expand. His films range from traditional themes (Asoka
) to remakes of classics (Devdas
), song-and-dance romances and even Mission Impossible
–type films like Don
. Chopra, a Mumbai-based freelance journalist who comes from a filmmaking family herself, offers readers both the life story of Shah Rukh and a condensed history of the Indian film industry. Even if you know nothing about Indian cinema, her prose style (“Bollywood now recoiled from the mafia like a man shrinking from a sore-covered leper on the street”) makes this a bizarrely fun read.

July 1, 2007
Bollywood, the moniker associated with the global phenomenon of Indian filmmaking, cranks out over 900 movies a year that reach billions around the world. As its influence grows, Western scrutiny of the Indian film industry and its stars is becoming increasingly popular. Alter, the author of numerous nonfiction books on India, grew up, works, and lives in that country and proves to be a singularly intelligent and insightful guide through Indian cinema. Documenting the making of the movie "Omkara", Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Othello", Alter investigates the constituent elements of Bollywood films. Interviews with Indian actors, directors, choreographers, producers, and musicians contribute to understanding the complex cinematic order of expected plots, character archetypes, songs, dances, and endings.As star of the longest-running film in Indian cinema history, "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" ("The Brave Heart Will Take the Bride," commonly referred to as "DDLJ"), Shah Rukh Khan makes several cameo appearances in Alter's book. Journalist Chopra, who belongs to an esteemed Indian filmmaking clan, focuses on Khan's story to explicate the idiosyncrasies and intricacies of Indian film. How a Muslim without family connections became the preeminent star of his generation in a majority Hindu nation whose film industry is dominated by family-controlled interests is compelling. That film stars are revered is old hat, but Khan has essentially been deified by billions, and the unfolding of this iconic worship is one of "King of Bollywood"'s delights. Both Alter's and Chopra's books are strongly recommended for all popular film and media collections; Alter's text will appeal to both general and more specialized audiences.Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

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