Bollywood calling Rachel Dwyer is British but she writes about Bollywood. Her latest book "100 Bollywood Films" has just been released. In conversation with Ritusmita Biswas.

Mistress of Spice To catch a star Jungle songs Lady with the Potter wand Straddling two worlds Bollywood calling We speak like that only Sing a song for literacy Looking back in wonder Perfect Balance His own Ramayanan

Rachel Dwyer is a Reader in Indian Studies and Cinema, holds a graduate degree in Sanskrit and an M.Phil degree in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology at the University of Oxford. She teaches literature, cinema, Gujarati and Sanskrit. However, Dwyer's main interest is Hindi cinema and she has published well-researched articles on subjects like, consumerism and the new middle classes; love and eroticism (of the wet sari and of the kiss and saying 'I love you'); visual culture (sets, locations and costumes), etc. She has also written a book on Yash Chopra, one of the great figures of the Hindi film industry. Dwyer is currently working on religion and secularism.

Excerpts of an interview:

The first and most obvious question. What made you select these 100 films to write on?
Well, a point to be noted is that it is "A 100 Bollywood Movies" and not "The 100 Bollywood Movies." I have written about those movies based on my own personal liking, movies which till date have fascinated me and which have left an impression on my mind. There is nothing sacrosanct about these 100 movies except that in my own personal opinion they were the best and I have enjoyed viewing them.

Why did you write on Bollywood and not in general on the Indian cinema?
There is also a very simple answer to this question. I just understand Hindi and bits and pieces of Gujarati or other regional language. Without understanding the language one naturally cannot write about the films. Hence the obvious choice, Bollywood.

In your book you have left out films like Ankur and other parallel stream movies. Why is it so?
It was a conscious decision. I believe Hindi parallel cinema is so developed that is difficult to accommodate them within the gamut of 100 Bollywood films. I need to write a separate compilation for them.

What is the best thing you like about Bollywood movies?
The music. It is great and adds that extra flavour to the movies. I love listening to Lata Mangeshkar.

Your favourite Bollywood movie?
There are many. But somehow I prefer the old ones over the contemporary ones. Movies like Mughl-e-Azam etc have an eternal charm.

There is a recent trend on remaking old movies and one of your favourites Mughal e-Azam has been re-made with colour. Comment.
I personally do not see the point. Why re-make a thing if it is already well made? India is a land of story tellers. Is there any dearth of stories that you need to tell the old one and not a new one? If you have to re-make it you have to change it and give a different interpretation. But there also people can make blunders. Like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas. It definitely had nice songs but that was it. I think he basically interpreted the character of Devdas wrong. Devdas is supposed to be a boy who commits the follies of youth but Bhansali makes him a lovelorn man.

What do you think about the violence in Hindi movies? It has a negative impact, isn't it?
I personally see the positive side of violence in Hindi movies. Unlike western movies where violence is there just for the heck of it, in Hindi movies it is usually violence with a cause. We do see at the end that justice is being done. That is what is amazing.

What made you write a book on Yash Chopra and not on any other Bollywood personality?
I think the best thing about Yash Chopra is that he makes socially sensitive movies that have a profound impact on GenerationNext. He has held up family traditions and set a trend in film making. I am also an admirer of Raj Kapur, specially his earlier movies.

What is England's take on Bollywood movies?
Since the 1990s there has been a significant change in perception in the UK. The British Asians have become a powerful community in the last decade and there has been a new interest about India. Yes, as far as UK is concerned, Bollywood definitely is in fashion now.

Indian actors/movie makers have a craving for recognition in the West however successful they are at home. Like Aishwarya Rai who is keen to have a break in Hollywood.
There is nothing wrong in seeking global recognition. Regarding Aishwarya I see no reason why she should remain confined to Bollywood movies and not explore other avenues. At the end of the day, the level of remuneration which is much higher in the West, also matters.