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By Rachel Dwyer

Bollywood is the national cinema of India. This invaluable introduction to the best of the genre discusses the work of key directors, major stars, music directors, and screenplay writers. Historically important films have been included along with certain cult movies and top box office successes, including Mother India, the national epic of a peasant woman's struggle against nature and society; Sholay, a "curry western" where the all-star cast sing and dance; Dilwale Dulhaniya le jayenge, the greatest of the diaspora films in which two British Asians fall in love while vacationing in Europe before going to India, where they show their elders how to incorporate love into family traditions; Junglee, in which love transforms a savage who yells "Yahoo!" before singing and dancing like Elvis and creating a new youth culture; and Pyaasa, dramatically shot in black and white and portraying a romantic poet who suffers for his art in the material world.