Understanding Indian Movies

Patrick Colm Hogan is Professor in the Department of English, the Program in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, and the Program in Cognitive Science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

• Acknowledgments Introduction. Indian Movies and the People Who Love Them: Universality and Cultural Particularity in the Cinema Chapter One. From Mythical Romances to Historical Sacrifices: Universal Stories in South Asia (Ardhangini, Baaz, and The Terrorist) Chapter Two. The Film and the World: Global Themes, Local Movies (Nishant and Sholay) Chapter Three. Once More, with Feeling: Human Emotions and Cultural Imagination (Mother India, Bandit Queen, and Shree 420) Chapter Four. "So, What's the Deal with All the Singing?": The Cognitive Universality of the Hindi Musical (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham . . .) Chapter Five. Seeing Indian Style: The Brain and Its Visual Culture (Umrao Jaan and Fire) Afterword. On Watching Indian Movies Notes Bibliography Index

"Hogan achieves a minor miracle in applying his deep knowledge of classical Indian thought--about emotions and vision and narrative--to the Indian films that he is so clearly mad about, films that run the gamut from high art to pop culture, Muslim and Hindu, in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, and English--all sorts of films. The result is a delightfully readable book that will explain much about Indian films to people who thought they knew all about them, and will make many people who thought they never wanted to see an Indian film start watching them." --Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago, and author of The Woman Who Pretended To Be Who She Was "The Bollywood musical is one of the most influential cultural phenomena of our time. Patrick Hogan provides a crisp and original analysis of this art form from a cognitive point of view." --Jamshed Bharucha, Provost and Senior Vice President; Professor in the Departments of Music, Psychology, and Neuroscience; Tufts University "Having a passing acquaintance with Bollywood has become a mark of hipness among Hollywood filmmakers, who have plundered Bollywood's imagery and energy for commercials, music videos. and feature films. But few have more than a superficial grasp of this vast cinematic landscape, which is why Pat Hogan's Understanding Indian Movies could not have arrived at a more perfect time. What distinguishes Understanding Indian Movies is Hogan's genuine enthusiasm for the films and his eagerness to invite you into this world. Hogan draws many disciplines into play here, but he is particular adept at describing how a film's mise-en-scene, editing, and music provoke the viewer's imagination. Above all, the pleasure Hogan derives from his subject is evident on every page, and it is positively contagious." --Ken Kwapis, Director of He's Just Not That Into You and The Office "In making his ambitious argument, Hogan provides startlingly original insights into the way in which cinema--and more particularly Indian cinema--works. Hogan writes in a confident but also careful style. His lucidity is a welcome strength of his book." --S. Shankar, Professor of English and Director of the Center for South Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa