Rachel Dwyer – författare

Filming the Gods examines the role and depiction of religion in Indian cinema, showing that the relationship between the modern and the traditional in contemporary India is not exotic, but part of everyday life. Concentrating mainly on the Hindi cinema of Mumbai, Bollywood, it also discusses India's other cinemas. Rachel Dwyer's lively discussion encompasses the mythological genre which continues India's long tradition of retelling Hindu myths and legends, drawing on sources such as the national epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; the devotional genre, which flourished at the height of the nationalist movement in the 1930s and 40s; and the films made in Bombay that depict India's Islamicate culture, including the historical, the courtesan film and the 'Muslim social' genre. Filming the Gods also examines the presence of the religious across other genres and how cinema represents religious communities and their beliefs and practices. It draws on interviews with film stars, directors and producers as well as popular fiction, fan magazines and the films themselves. As a result, Filming the Gods is a both a guide to the study of film in religious culture as well as a historical overview of Indian religious film.

Filming the Gods examines the role and depiction of religion in Indian cinema, showing that the relationship between the modern and the traditional in contemporary India is not exotic, but part of everyday life. Concentrating mainly on the Hindi cinema of Mumbai, Bollywood, it also discusses India's other cinemas. Rachel Dwyer's lively discussion encompasses the mythological genre which continues India's long tradition of retelling Hindu myths and legends, drawing on sources such as the national epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; the devotional genre, which flourished at the height of the nationalist movement in the 1930s and 40s; and the films made in Bombay that depict India's Islamicate culture, including the historical, the courtesan film and the 'Muslim social' genre. Filming the Gods also examines the presence of the religious across other genres and how cinema represents religious communities and their beliefs and practices. It draws on interviews with film stars, directors and producers as well as popular fiction, fan magazines and the films themselves. As a result, Filming the Gods is a both a guide to the study of film in religious culture as well as a historical overview of Indian religious film.

Serious research on Bollywood—perhaps the most well-known and vital aspect of contemporary Indian culture—has flourished in recent decades. This new four-volume collection from Routledge meets the need for an authoritative anthology to enable users to navigate and make sense of the subject’s large body of scholarship, and the continuing explosion in research output. Edited by Rachel Dwyer, a leading expert in the field, this new Routledge title is a ‘mini library’ of foundational and the very best cutting-edge work.Bollywood provides an indispensable one-stop resource on the development of popular cinema within India, with, of course, an emphasis on Hindi films produced in Bombay. Tracing the development of Indian popular cinema from the early twentieth century onwards, the collection allows users fully to comprehend the role of film and popular culture in colonial and independent India, the evolution and nature of different film genres, the importance of film music, and the great regional diversity 'Bollywood' encompasses. The collection also brings together the best and most influential scholarly works on topics that include: the silent era; the studio period; the ‘Golden Age’; and the so-called ‘segmentation’ of cinema. The contribution of major stars and directors is also assessed.Bollywood includes a full index and a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor, which places the collected material in its historical and intellectual context. It is an essential work of reference and is destined to be valued by scholars and advanced students as a vital research tool.

As a charismatic director in the Indian film industry, Chopra's name is synonymous with the glamour of the romantic film and a certain style within Indian culture. Spanning four decades, his directed features include some of the classic films of Indian film history, such as 'Deewaar' and 'Kabhi Kabhie'. His directorial career began in 1959 with 'Dhool Ka Phool' and he has been a major producer since 1973, consolidating his success in the 1990s with a series of huge box office hits including 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'. He has also worked in other Hindi movie genres, directing action movies such as 'Mashaal' and a thriller, 'Darr'. This book discusses in depth his work with the Hindi megastar Amitabh Bachanan in films such as 'Deewaar', 'Trishul', 'Kala Patthar' and 'Silsila' and how, in his transformation of the look of mainstream cinema in 'Dil To Pagal Hai' and other films, Yash Chopra has proved to be a tireless innovator within a mainstream tradition. The author integrates this analysis with information about the man and his work, based on interviews with Yash Chopra, his family, his colleagues, his stars, his contemporaries and major critics that include views from Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Shashi Kapoor and Sri Devi. A study of a top contemporary Indian film director, Rachel Dwyer's book also examines the influence on Chopra of predecessors such as Raj Kapoor and how his own legacy can be seen in such films as 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' and younger directors such as Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra.

Learn to speak, read, write and understand Gujarati!Love, Travel, Study, Work, Friendship-whatever your reason for wanting to learn, Beginners' Gujarati will help you to: - Communicate naturally in everyday situations.- Build your confidence with easy-to-follow explanations and plenty of practice activities.- Understand and pronounce Gujarati easily with online audio.- Remember what you learn with our effective Discovery Method.- Focus your learning and track your progress with practical tools and planners.Access the audio for this course for free by downloading it to the Teach Yourself Library app or streaming it on library.teachyourself.com.Is this course for me?Beginners' Gujarati is for absolute beginners and those who've had some previous experience with the language and want to refresh their knowledge. Clear and simple explanations make the course appropriate and accessible to anyone learning Gujarati. There are extensive illustrations and tools to help you plan your studies and track your progress, all designed to support learning on your own. This course is also ideal to use with one-to-one tutoring and as a classroom course, and it's the perfect resource to pair with a language-learning app.Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 85 years.

Do you want a solid foundation to your Gujarati studies?If you are looking for a solid foundation to your language studies for school, work or travel, this engaging course will get you speaking, writing, reading and understanding Gujarati in no time. Through authentic conversations, clear language presentations, and extensive practice and review, you will learn the Gujarati you need to communicate naturally in everyday situations - from booking a hotel room to talking about friends and family.What will I learn?Basic Gujarati is slowly and carefully introduced to ensure you progress confidently through the course and build up a foundation to allow you to feel confident in everyday situations and move to the next level of your learning. It teaches grammar, vocabulary and listening, reading, writing, speaking and pronunciation skills. By the end of the course you will approach a solid Novice High proficiency level of ACTFL (The American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and A2 Beginner level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) guidelines. Is this course for me?Get Started in Gujarati is for absolute and false beginners of Gujarati. Clear and simple explanations make the course appropriate and accessible to anyone learning Gujarati. There are extensive illustrations to support the learner working on his or her own. This course is also ideal to use with one-to-one tutoring and as a classroom course.What do I get? This book has a learner-centred approach that incorporates the following features:- 10 units of learning content - covering everyday topics from booking a hotel room to talking about friends and family- Discovery Method - figure out rules and patterns yourself to make the language stick- Outcomes-based learning - focus your studies with clear aims- Vocabulary building - thematic lists and activities to help you learn vocabulary quickly- Test yourself - see and track your own progress- Native speaker audio - available onlineThe audio for this course is available for free on library.teachyourself.com or from the Teach Yourself Library app. Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years

The apparent shift in power relations between the developed and developing world, along with the increasing emphasis that national and transnational organisations place on the role of ‘soft power’ in global foreign policy, has profound implications for global film culture. Focusing primarily on the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), this innovative collection examines the diverse and often competing ways the group as a whole engages with film as a medium of artistic expression, and as a ‘soft power’ resource. The contributors explore the wider implications for world cinema of its members’ differing and dynamic positions in the global media landscape, and the book includes a comparative analysis by examining the post-imperial soft power of the UK at the time of Brexit.

Explores the relationship between soft power and film in relation to national and transnational cinemasExamines the implications for global film culture of the apparent shift in power relations between the developed and developing worldConsideration given to the transnational dimension of film culturesDiscusses the relationship between film culture and soft power in the BRICS countries and the UKThe apparent shift in power relations between the developed and developing world, along with the increasing emphasis that national and transnational organisations place on the role of 'soft power' in global foreign policy, has profound implications for global film culture. Focusing primarily on the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), this innovative collection examines the diverse and often competing ways the group as a whole engages with film as a medium of artistic expression, and as a 'soft power' resource.The contributors explore the wider implications for world cinema of its members' differing and dynamic positions in the global media landscape, and the book includes a comparative analysis by examining the post-imperial soft power of the UK at the time of Brexit.

Modern Indian studies have recently become a site for new, creative, and thought-provoking debates extending over a broad canvas of crucial issues. As a result of socio-political transformations, certain concepts-such as ahimsa, caste, darshan, and race-have taken on different meanings. Bringing together ideas, issues, and debates salient to modern Indian studies, this volume charts the social, cultural, political, and economic processes at work in the Indian subcontinent. Authored by internationally recognized experts, this volume comprises over one hundred individual entries on concepts central to their respective fields of specialization, highlighting crucial issues and debates in a lucid and concise manner. Each concept is accompanied by a critical analysis of its trajectory and a succinct discussion of its significance in the academic arena as well as in the public sphere. Enhancing the shared framework of understanding about the Indian subcontinent, Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies will provide the reader with insights into vital debates about the region, underscoring the compelling issues emanating from colonialism and postcolonialism.

Bollywood movies have long been known for their colourful song-and-dance numbers and knack of combining drama, comedy, action-adventure and music. But these films rarely reflect the reality of life on the Indian subcontinent. In this book Rachel Dwyer argues that Hindi cinema’s interpretations of India over the last two decades are our most reliable guide to understanding the nation’s changing hopes and dreams.Bollywood’s India looks at the ways in which Bollywood has imagined and portrayed the unity and diversity of India: what its people believe and feel; their views on religion, caste and politics; life at home and in public. Based on twenty years of watching, teaching and writing about Hindi films, working with filmmakers and discussions with critics and fans, Dwyer’s book has much to say to scholars and students of Indian cinema who are curious about the ways in which aspects of Indian life and culture are shown on screen, as well as to the general reader and fan of world cinema.

Bollywood film is the national cinema of India, describing movies made in Mumbai, distributed nationally across India and with their own production, distribution and exhibition networks worldwide. This informative screen guide reflects the work of key directors, major stars and important music directors and screenplay writers. Historically important films have been included along with certain cult movies and top box office successes. No guide to Hindi film would be complete without discussing: Mother India, the national epic of a peasant woman's struggle against nature and society to bring up her family; Sholay, a 'curry western' where the all-star cast sing and dance, romance and kill; Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge, the greatest of the diaspora films, in which two British Asians fall in love on a holiday in Europe before going to India where they show their elders how to incorporate love into family traditions; Junglee, showing how love transforms a 'savage' (junglee) who yells 'Yahoo!' before singing and dancing like Elvis, creating a new youth culture; Pyaasa, dramatically shot in black and white film with haunting songs as the romantic poet suffers for his art in the material world; Fans of Bollywood film can debate Rachel Dwyer's personal selection of these 101 titles while those new to the area will find this an invaluable introduction to the best of the genre.

This is the first book to concentrate on the visual culture of Indian cinema, specifically Bombay-based cinema since 1913. Cinema is one of India’s most vibrant cultural products, as well as a major industry, producing the largest number of films in the world. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Dwyer and Patel examine Bombay cinema’s unique styles, genres and themes, tracing its roots in early photography, theatre and chromolithography and its development as a visual regime that dominates Indian popular culture.The authors consider mise-en-scène, looking at sets, locations and costumes – crucial to understanding Indian fashion, lifestyle and consumption. They examine the use of hairstyles and make-up in the context of representations of the body in order to explore changing ideas of beauty and sexuality. Other crucial elements that are discussed include ethnicity and Westernization, thus highlighting issues of class, caste, regional variation and religion. Finally the authors look at publicity materials and examine the development of the imagery employed in film-advertising.