tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post4328250821940294673..comments2023-11-10T08:26:51.182-06:00Comments on Beth Loves Bollywood: The Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema by Madhu JainBeth Loves Bollywoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-17010172388957391532009-05-31T20:06:28.495-05:002009-05-31T20:06:28.495-05:00I will reply properly to these comments soon, but ...I will reply properly to these comments soon, but in the meantime: there's a little piece on family businesses called <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Special-Report/The-great-Indian-family/articleshow/4599021.cms" rel="nofollow">"The Great Indian Family: Dynasty Dominates India" in <i>The Times of India</i></a> in which sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan refers to the Kapoors as a "minor ecologies of creativity." That's a lovely idea to think about, isn't it? Certainly the shiny side of the in-crowd/nepotism coin.Beth Loves Bollywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05540154833326987567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-2589165092409993422009-05-21T04:55:57.069-05:002009-05-21T04:55:57.069-05:00Hi Beth!!
to introduce myself, I am Sneha from Sc...Hi Beth!!<br /><br />to introduce myself, I am Sneha from Screen, which is an entertainment weekly from India. Greta must have informed you by now that she had been featured on Screen about two weeks back for her blog on Land, Gold, Women. We would like to do the same for your blog on the book by Madhu Jain about the Kapoor family. <br /><br />Could you please answer the following quetsions?<br />1. When did you start blogging on Bollywood?<br />2. Who first introduced you to Indian movies?<br />3. What was the best and the worst part of the book according to you?<br />4. How has the perception of Indian movies changed in the US since you started writing on Bollywood?<br />5. Why do you choose to write on Bollywood?<br />6. Where did you watch your first Indian movie?<br /><br />Alongwith it, could you also send an introduction of yourself as to what are you doing, where are you from, what do you like to do, etc.? Also, send me a picture of yours and if possible a picture of the book(if you have it).<br /><br />You can mail me the answers and the pictures to sneha.padiyath@gmail.com<br /><br />Thanks & regards,<br /><br />Sneha Padiyath<br />ScreenSneha Padiyathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-7782406959068348082009-05-18T16:49:00.000-05:002009-05-18T16:49:00.000-05:00I was also disappointed by this book...especially ...I was also disappointed by this book...especially by the slapdash style of writing. It felt a bit too college freshman-ish to me.<br /><br />I love all the little anecdotes, but I found reading The Prithviwallas a better experience, if that makes any sense.Aimeehttp://longhairedspider.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-59400000121156669272009-05-17T06:55:00.000-05:002009-05-17T06:55:00.000-05:00Sadly, when I think "academic," I think: "Song Pic...Sadly, when I think "academic," I think: "Song Picturizations: the Ontological Implications of a Cultural Praxis." Which maybe I should write, only in English. <br /><br />This book was more of a time-pass than anything, which seems like a lost opportunity. However, it's vair deep next to Dev Anand's autobiography!Anarchivisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06599522097057431891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-13852162450838765222009-05-17T01:04:00.000-05:002009-05-17T01:04:00.000-05:00"Bio lite" is an excellent way to describe this bo..."Bio lite" is an excellent way to describe this book, and almost all other books on Hindi cinema that I've read. Some writers are more successful at sketching characters than others (Sadat Hassan Manto for example, in his <I>Stars From Another Sky</I>, sketches brilliant (and quite biased) word portraits) - but most of the biographies I've read recently (this one, one on Dilip Kumar, one on Hema Malini) and some other books (Mihir Bose's <I>Bollywood: A History</I>) have been pretty much "<I>Sort of interesting without being shocking but better organized and with more named sources than Stardust</I>"!<br /><br />In terms of the impact of the family on aspects filmi, I think only Raj Kapoor can be said to have any, since he was the only one of them who was an active film-maker. The rest were, for the most part, performers. <br /><br />And I totally agree on wishing that we didnt know too much about out favorite celebrities. If Amitabh Bachchan hadnt been constantly in the news for his "second innings" and his silly political maneuverings, I'd probably appreciate his filmi performances a bit more!bollyviewerhttp://bollyviewer-oldisgold.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-38895495814636012072009-05-16T23:05:00.000-05:002009-05-16T23:05:00.000-05:00Beth, your review connects to a theme that I keep ...Beth, your review connects to a theme that I keep getting back to: It's better not to know too much about your favorite performers or artists if you want to continue enjoying their work. :) <br /><br />As and aside, yesterday I read something that makes me doubt that Shashi was always the perfect gentleman either... People in a couple of comments over at YouTube talked about how Shashi had complained about having to play Ragini's lover in a movie because he thought Ragini was ugly. More than one person confirmed this. I found that rather strange, and given how I feel about those Travancore Sisters, it makes me less inclined to venture into Shashi's work! But I also try to ignore a lot of stuff outside of the performance.<br /><br />Vyjayanthimala made it kind of problematical for me. There are few things more enjoyable to me than watching Vyjayanthimala dancing on the screen (or, more specifically, just a couple of things: Padmini dancing on the screen and Kamala dancing on the screen), but I've gotten really turned off by stories of Vyjayanthimala's huge ego and the fact that she joined a right-wing political party that I do not like at all (from what I know), mainly because they gave her better attention than the political party that she left. It's really hard for me to continue adoring Vyjayanthi after reading stuff like that, but we do need to separate the work or performance from other things as much as possible if we want to honestly assess that work or performance. (And in fact, I've lectured about that on my own blog - in defense of Meena Kumari, actually.)<br /><br />Anyway, one thing I'm curious about... You talk a bit more about Shashi and Shammi than about Raj. I think there are a few people in our little Bolly blogging community who have been caught up in some kind of anti-Raj backlash, so they emphasize the other brothers. But does the book give equal or less emphasis to Raj vs. his brothers? My impression is that historically speaking, Raj was like a towering giant compared to the other Kapoors. In terms of my own tastes, I also find his work as a director in some of those '50s-'60s films to be very brilliant, and I think that at least sometimes he had a really fascinating persona on the screen. (I also like some of the social-political ideas in his early films.) I couldn't imagine seeing Shashi or Shammi in the same league, so to speak. That's my opinion; everybody's got one. :) But I wonder what the focus is like in the book.<br />-----------<br />P.S. Hope I didn't go on a little too much in my comments. I've dumped some pretty long comments on your blog (though I don't comment too frequently, I know). Once I left a virtual thesis about Slumdog Millionaire that was basically the post I just didn't feel like writing on my blog. (I was reminded of it when I got a link back from it in my stats the other day.) But I know you said in another context that Bollywood fans probably don't care much about brevity, so I'm not going to worry too much. :)Richard S.http://roughinhere.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-54805272382491819752009-05-16T22:44:00.000-05:002009-05-16T22:44:00.000-05:00I think my post on the Kapoors was quite well writ...I think my post on the Kapoors was quite well written and hilarious! And maybe i should make into a mad rambling book!Rumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10104185865100510017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15977843.post-67613265668569998042009-05-16T20:05:00.000-05:002009-05-16T20:05:00.000-05:00Interesting take on the book. Thoug hi havet read ...Interesting take on the book. Thoug hi havet read it, form your review it seems as though its how the Hall of fame series on a few indian stars are written. vague and nothing to wow you.JJChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13199421770341706988noreply@blogger.com