Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema

The Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen is perhaps the most exhaustive compendium of reference material compiled as a resource guide for film students and movie buffs around the world. Published by Oxford University Press, this ambitious book is produced in association with the National Film Archive of India and the British Film Institute.

The scope of the new revised edition includes a capsule chronicle of Indian history and milestones in the Indian film industry; impressive filmographies of major directors, actors, music composers, lyricists and scenarists; plot synopses of films; film and name indices; and a thorough bibliography on the history of Indian cinema.

From 28 films produced in 1931 to 948 in 1990 and 793 in 1995, India boasts the world's largest national film industry with dream factories in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, churning out Urdu-Hindi Bollywood musicals and important regional art films. Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujerati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Tamil and Telegu cinema is included in this paperback edition which covers a vast landscape from the birth of silent movies and talkies to mainstream productions and documentaries up to 1995.

Cinema is but another idiom of complex social, cultural, political, and historical influences especially in a country as diverse as India in its many regional languages, and ethnic and religious pluralism. The reader will find inspiring references to a number of art movements outside of the industry which informed filmmakers in their day. The entry on the Progressive Writers' Association, that brings into focus such stalwarts as Premchand, Ismat Chughtai, Ali Sardar Jafri, Krishan Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Sadat Hasan Manto, among other luminaries, is especially invigorating. The Indian People's Theatre Association, Parsee Theatre, and political movements such as the Naxalite and Swadeshi, provide "elaborate cross-references to other, more directly, more cinematic entries."

The A to Z of this remarkable index of artistes starts with Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, a prodigious director and scenarist "mainly in the socialist-realist mode," to Zubeida, a real life princess, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin, who played the lead in "Alam Ara," India's first sound film released 14 March 1931. The Film index is chronological and starts with the release in 1912 of the 12 foot silent film "Pundalik" by P. R. Tipnis and N. G. Chitre, adapted from Ramrao Kirtikar's Marathi stage play about the Hindu saint. The last entry is a 158 minute megabudget Tamil musical, released in 1996 called "Kadhal Desum," written and directed by Kadir with Vineet, Abbas, and Tabu as lead players and music by A. R. Rehman. This is the only film entry for the year 1996.

The Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema is really a loving tribute to the amazing men and women who made the film industry the most prolific in the world.