"Bollywood" - once a tongue-in-cheek term used by the English-language media in India - has become the dominant global term to refer to the prolific Hindi language film industry located in Bombay (renamed Mumbai in 1995). Characterized by music, dance routines, melodrama, lavish production values and an emphasis on stars and spectacle, Bollywood films have met with box-office success and enthusiastic audiences from Bombay to West Africa to Russia, and throughout the English-speaking world.

In Bollywood, anthropologist and film scholar Tejaswini Ganti provides a guide to the cultural, social and political significance of Hindi cinema, outlining the history and structure of the Bombay film industry, and its impact on global popular culture. Providing information and commentary on the key players in Bollywood, from composers to directors and stars, as well as material from current filmmakers themselves, areas covered in Bollywood include:

*Chronology

Main Themes in Hindi Cinema

*Key Characteristics of Popular Hindi Cinema

*Significant Filmmakers

*Significant Films

*Scholarship about Hindi Cinema

*Filmmakers Point of View