Blogging or Bollywood?

Its a rainy night, I should be sitting in the comfy chair, knitting in hand, watching Bollywood! But, alas, I am here on the computer. The 3 month distributor's strike in India has ended, new movies are being released. This 3 month lapse in movies has been not only hard on the movie junkies that Indians are-but it has been hard on us Hindi film lovers!! This has meant Bollywood lovers all over the world have been clamoring for new movies. One bonus from this strike--old Bollywood has become a hit again in India! Many theaters dug into their archives and brought out classic films.

I have been chatting with folks via Ravelry about the movie dry spell we have all been looking forward to new releases-which start in about 2 weeks.

For those of you that live in the greater San Francisco area--Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions company are in town for a 2 month shoot for Karan's awaited film My Name is Khan. This movie deals with how Indian Muslims were treated in the period following 911. Shahrukh Khan plays the lead-but he is doing it with a twist-he plays a man with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism. Humm, it seems a bit of a coincidence that one very highly publicised release is another movie about 911. This film stars John Abraham and Irfan Khan-New York is a Yash Raj production and looks promising. I can't wait until the local theatres here have some new Bollywood flicks!
Sigh, I will just have to be satisfied with finishing reading many of the books I have on Bollywood. I am working my way through the essays in Bollywood Reader (edited by Rajinder Dudrah & Jigna Desi)--this is a great compiliation of essays that deal with theory, current trends and classics-a great class textbook.
Another book I am reading is City Flicks:Indian Cinema and the Urban Experience by Preben Kaarsholm-this book has been a bit slow going, but I have not spent too much time with it.
I probably should put a list together of books that help you understand Indian cinema better--but for now I will recommend an author-Rachel Dwyer. She has written extensively on Bollywood and has a wonderful way with words which makes even her most serious books a pleasure to read.