Rachel Dwyer, May 2002 (with a forward by renowned Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar)
0851708757 £13.99
Yash Chopra is one of the most charismatic and powerful figures in the Indian film industry. His name is synonymous with romantic glamour and breathtaking visuals. His directorial career has spanned four decades and accounts for some of the most popular classics of Indian cinema, such as Deewaar and Kabhi kabhie. But Chopra's body of work has extended beyond the musical romances to encompass genres such as the thriller Darr, and action movies Mashaal.
Senior Lecturer in Indian Studies at SOAS, University of London Rachel Dwyer looks at Chopra's long-term working relationship with Hindi megastar Amitabn Bachan, Raj Kapoor's influence on Chopra, and Chopra legacy to young directors such as Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra. As such, he is a public figure, not only in the film industry but also as a representative of the industry worldwide.
Based on interviews with Yash Chopra, his family, colleagues, his stars, and critics, World Directors Series: Yash Chopra makes for an enjoyable read. It holds the perfect balance of academic research, humour, and fascinating insights into a great man, a craftsman, and doting father to his family and actors.
Rachel Dwyer leads us steadily into the unknown and fascinating world of Indian cinema. Beginning with Chopra's Cinema and Biography, we glimpse Chopra's important contribution to Indian Cinema. An overview of his impressive body of work reveals how versatile and innovative Chopra is. The Chapters From Assistant to Director and The Founding of Yash Raj Films make for fascinating reading and offer benchmarks into the limited and restrictive world of Indian cinema in the 1940s and '50s - a world Chopra has changed forever.
The author is in relentless pursuit of Who is Yash Chopra? Mrs. Dwyer sees not one, but several Yash Chopra - the filmmaker and the persona Yash Chopra. She ties together the creative person and the businessman. This book is a multiple story of the interaction of Yash Chopra the person against external forces and people. Mrs. Dwyer also draws out the idea of auteur in the context of the Hindi filmmaking. Mrs. Dwyer also goes in search of Yash Chopra in the film texts themselves, forging the idea of authorial experience seen within the lives of the screen characters.
World Directors Series: Yash Chopra is based largely on interviews with the director and his colleagues in London and Bombay between 1996 and 1997 and makes for an interesting read.
Rachel Dwyer is Senior Lecturer in Indian Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her recent books include All You Want is Money, All You Need is Love: Sex and Romance in modern India (2000) and Cinema India: The Visual Culture of the Hindi Film, co-authored with Divia Patel (2002).
"We need many more studies of Bollywood directors like this one" THES
"...a welcome addition to the literature of Indian film." Screening The Past
Other titles in the Bfi World Director Series include:
Atom Egoyan
Emir Kusturica
Jane Campion
Lars von Trier
Shyam Benegal
Wong Kar-wai
Yash Chopra
Youssef Chahine
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