Indian Film Stars offers original insights and important reappraisals of film stardom in India from the early talkie era of the 1930s to the contemporary period of global blockbusters. The collection represents a substantial intervention to our understanding of the development of film star cultures in India during the 20th and 21st centuries. The contributors seek to inspire and inform further inquiries into the histories of film stardom-the industrial construction and promotion of star personalities, the actual labouring and imagined lifestyles of professional stars, the stars' relationship to specific aesthetic cinematic conventions (such as frontality and song-dance) and production technologies (such as the play-back system and post-synchronization), and audiences' investment in and devotion to specific star bodies-across the country's multiple centres of film production and across the overlapping (and increasingly international) zones of the films' distribution and reception. The star images, star bodies and star careers discussed are examined in relation to a wide range of issues, including the negotiation and contestation of tradition and modernity, the embodiment and articulation of both Indian and non-Indian values and vogues; the representation of gender and sexuality, of race and ethnicity, and of cosmopolitan mobility and transnational migration; innovations and conventions in performance style; the construction and transformation of public persona; the star's association with film studios and the mainstream media; the star's relationship with historical, political and cultural change and memory; and the star's meaning and value for specific (including marginalised) sectors of the audience.

Hindi Cinema is full of instances of repetition of themes, narratives, plots and characters. By looking at 60 years of Hindi cinema, this book focuses on the phenomenon as a crucial thematic and formal code that is problematic when representing the national and cinematic subject. It reflects on the cinema as motivated by an ongoing crisis of self-formation in modern India. The book looks at how cinema presents liminal and counter-modern identities emerging within repeated modern attempts to re-enact traumatic national events so as to redeem the past and restore a normative structure to happenings. Establishing structure and event as paradigmatic poles of a historical and anthropological spectrum for the individual in society, the book goes on to discuss cinematic portrayals of violence, gender embodiment, religion, economic transformations and new globalised Indianness as events and sites of liminality disrupting structural aspirations. After revealing the impossibility of accurate representation of incommensurable and liminal subjects within the historiography of the nation-state, the book highlights how Hindi cinema as an ongoing engagement with the nation-state as a site of eventfulness draws attention to the problematic nature of the thematic of nation. It is a useful study for academics of Film Studies and South Asian Culture.

Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress known for her roles in Bollywood films. Born in 1993 in Mumbai, Bhatt made her acting debut at the age of 19 with the film Student of the Year in 2012. She has since appeared in several successful films such as 2 States, Highway, Udta Punjab, Dear Zindagi, and Raazi, among others. Bhatt has received numerous accolades for her performances, including four Filmfare Awards. She is also known for her philanthropic work and is associated with several charitable organizations. Bhatt's success in the film industry is attributed to her versatile acting skills and her ability to play a variety of roles in different genres. She is known for her natural and effortless performances and has often been praised for her ability to connect with the audience. In addition to acting, Bhatt is also a singer and has recorded songs for several of her films. Her popularity is not just limited to India, as she has a significant fan following around the world. Bhatt is considered one of the most successful and talented actresses in Bollywood today and is expected to continue to shine in the years to come.

In this book, film scholars, anthropologists, and critics discuss star-making in the contemporary Hindi-language film industry in India, also known as “Bollywood.” Drawing on theories of stardom, globalization, transnationalism, gender, and new media studies, the chapters explore contemporary Hindi film celebrity. With the rise of social media and India’s increased engagement in the global economy, Hindi film stars are forging their identities not just through their on-screen images and magazine and advertising appearances, but also through an array of media platforms, product endorsements, setting fashion trends, and involvement in social causes. Focusing on some of the best-known Indian stars since the late 1990s, the book discusses the multiplying avenues for forging a star identity, the strategies industry outsiders adopt to become stars, and the contradictions and conflicts that such star-making produces. It addresses questions such as: What traits of contemporary stars have contributed most to longevity and success in the industry? How has filmmaking technology and practice altered the nature of stardom? How has the manufacture of celebrity altered with the recent appearance of commodity culture in India and the rise of a hyper-connected global economy? By doing so, it describes a distinct moment in India and in the world in which stars and stardom are drawn more closely than ever into the vital events of global culture. Hindi films and their stars are part of the national and global entertainment circuits that are bigger and more competitive than ever. As such, this is a timely book creates opportunities for examining stardom in other industries and provides fruitful cross-cultural perspectives on star identities today. "Grounded in rigorous scholarship as well as a palpable love of Hindi cinema, this collection of 19 essays on a dizzying array of contemporary Hindi film stars makes for an informative, thought-provoking, illuminating, and most of all, a joyful read. Pushing boundaries of not only global Star Studies but also film theory as a whole, this de-colonised and de-colonising volume is a must read for film scholars, students and cinephiles!" Dr. Sunny Singh, Senior Lecturer - Creative Writing and English Literature, Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture & Design, London Metropolitan University “A wide-ranging overview of Hindi cinema’s filmi firmament today, focussing on its most intriguing and brightest-burning stars. The variety of approaches to stardom and celebrity by both established and upcoming scholars reveals a web of interconnecting stories and concerns that provide fascinating new insights into the workings of today's Hindi film industry, while shining fresh light on contemporary India and the world we live in.” Professor Rosie Thomas, Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, University of Westminster

Raj Kapoor Is Many Things To Many People: Producer, Director, Actor, Editor, Musician, Story-Teller, A Man Of Many Moods, An Acknowledged Patriarch Of India S Film-Making Industry. He Is Also Known To The World As An Extraordinary Showman, Lover, Idealist, Sage And Reformer. Raj Kapoor Has Always Been A Controversial Figure. Although His Films Always Evoked Extreme Reactions, He Knew That Mass Audiences Had Made Him, And He Never Deserted Them. There Will Be Endless Debates About His Exact Contribution To The Art Of Cinema, But Few Can Deny That He Was The Greatest Entertainer Known To Indian Films, The Last True Movie Mogul Of Indian Cinema. Raj Kapoor Worked With The Cinematic Tradition He Inherited, Made Modifications And Added New Elements To It, And Thus Created A Popular Art Form That Was Consonant With His Temperament And View Of Life. He Infused A Distinctive Mode Of Popular Romantic Sensibility Into Indian Cinema. Raj Kapoor Has Been Portrayed In Various Ways. He Was Imperious And Majestic, A Dreamer Of Big Dreams; His Creations Were Clearly Several Times Larger That The R.K. Studios, Which Remains A Living Monument To One Man S Vision, Energy And Enterprise. In This Book His Daughter Records The Lesser-Known Facets Of His Magnificent Personality, Without Interpreting His Thoughts, So That When Readers Thumb Through The Pages, They May Feel His Presence.