Hi everyone, Before summer actually starts, for school, I had to write a term paper on one of my favorite directors. I chose a director I liked, Raj Kapoor, but I really wanted to choose an indian director I didn't know much about (You know like more underground). But after doing some research I found out that there is not much decent info, in english or french, on indian directors. The only south asian director that has lots of books written on him and his work is the bengali director, Satyajit Ray. I don't know if it's the lack of translation by indian film scholars or just the lack of people seriously studying and analysing indian cinema? Don't get me wrong, good books exist but they are rare. I have a small collection of books, but with what I have read I feel that it's not enough. The books don't go deep enough, there is no analysis of a directors work. However I did discover a book on Raj Kapoor called Harmony of Discourse but it's rare and I could not find it to buy anywhere. If anyone knows how to get that book and other more serious works on indian cinema please feel free to give any suggestions.
On May 24th my dance teacher Sudeshna Maulik had a kathak performance. It was the closing show for an asian heritage festival in Montreal called Acces Asie. There where many south asian performers, I especially liked the Dhol and the Bhangra. Anyway, I have only been learning Kathak for 6 months but me and two other students performed as well. That's me in the back, to see more pictures just click here.
9 comments:
your site is great and the dance photos were full of joy, keep up the good work. sorry things didn't quite work out the way you wanted.
There is definitely a dearth of good in-depth books about Hindi cinema...especially about lesser-known (but very prolific) directors and actors.
One volume I like (but it is expensive) is Encyclopedia Britannica's "Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema". It's not necessarily really in depth but does cover the entire history of Hindi films.
Hi, Stella_1. An interesting coincidence: Within about an hour of the time that I visited this post, I also happened to find an interesting site containing lots of papers on Hindi films, from Philip Lutgendorf, who is apparently a professor of South Asian Studies. It's over here:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/index.html
This site also contains a syllabus - with lots of very interesting-looking books and articles - for a course in Hindi cinema that he taught in 2004. It is "popular" cinema, though - doesn't seem to be much underground stuff covered here - but it does look like a good resource for people writing papers on Hindi films:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/Syllabus.htm
And by the way, another coincidence is that I stumbled upon his site while I was looking for more information on the film "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai," with Padmini and Raj Kapoor...
hi hi hi - I have been wondering what happened to you, it is probably a good time to save money, the way things are going!
So, you are a Kathak student. It's probably my favorite dance form.
I did get to see the masters Birju Maharaj and Zakir Hussain go at it together here in the Twin Cities just a few weeks ago. What a treat, it was awesome! Of which lineage is your school from?
I hope your search for more info bears fruit - I always thought it was a shame that Satyajit Ray gets the lion's share of attention in the west, while other worthies are simply unknown. I would like to see Criterion start with Raj Kapoor's films someday soon.
But then most westerners I know have long since dismissed "Bollywood" as they have only been exposed to the more base and typified commercial examples...
Thanks to the other posters for
more information!
Hi,
jeffree g. moore - Thanks for the encouraging words.
Memsaab - Yeah I have the encyclopedia, it's great but I am searching for books that analyse either certain films or a director's work. If ever you find a good and complete books on indian cinema contact me. Thanks
Richard S. - Thanks, I already knew about his site because I am going into south asian studies this fall at Concordia , but befor I chose I was looking at the south asian programs in the US until I figured out it costs 10X more to go to university in the States than in Quebec. Thanks
Stephen - Wow you are so lucky to have seen the best Kathak dancers in New York. My teacher learned at a young age from Pandit Chitresh Das but then mostly from Birju Maharaj in Delhi.Thanks
Nice Blog, can you add mine to you list. Check it out first, and Thanks. Cheers, Jesse
Crap, I forogot the link.
http://asianremix.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Jesse
omg- so so impressed w/ your dancing! I've always loved your commentary on music and songs, but never realized you had such amazing talent. brilliant work ms- kudos to you!
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