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Just like Rajendra Bora Saab (from Jodhpur, now in Jaipur), I had also decided not to buy any more books. But my promise was about books ordered directly from India. I must have ordered scores of books until about 2010 from D.K. Agencies, New Delhi. They found books for me from obscure sources, like Narendra Shrimali's book and sent to me. And then suddenly, the postage rates from India became very high, almost 2 times the cost of the book. I still bought Indian books, but asked my brother or other friends to keep them for me in India.
But then I saw a book on Rajasthani Cinema, I had to have it and today! I wrote to University Book House, Ashish Jain replied, I sent them $30 ($11 book, $19 postage). I am very happy that ordered it.
Rajasthani Cinema: A Critical Study by Dr Rakesh Kumar Goswami (2020),
182 pages, Hard Bound, Black and White, Rs 795. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The author gives us a summary of world cinema, gives us a brief tour of Indian cinema before getting to the subject proper. He introduces Rajasthan and its languages, gives an overall history of Rajasthani Cinema, less than 150 films until 2014. Then follows a detailed filmography (everything except songs), with lots of posters and photos from booklets. Next chapter includes detailed analysis of some landmark films. Lots of references. Then, a very important Annexure Section, filled with biographies and interviews with many important people connected with the Rajasthani Cinema.
On the whole a very good book full of rare information not available elsewhere. I understand MD Soni provided a lot of meticulous information for the book. Thank you very much Soni Saab. Very deservedly, there is a 7-page chapter on MD Soni’s life and his services to the Rajasthani Cinema compilations.
Is there a shortcoming in the book? Yes, there is. It is well-known that Vol 4 (1961-1970), Vol 5 (1971-1980) and Vol 6 (1981-1985) of the world-famous Hindi Film Geet Kosh (HFGK) by Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, Bishwanath Chatterjee, and Har Mandir Singh ‘Hamraaz’, respectively, have Geet Kosh type information on many regional films, including Rajasthani. It is customary in academic work (and the book is definitely academic) to include references to all the previous work on the subject and discuss them. Sadly, it has not been done in this book. One can only speculate why that is so.
I would definitely recommend this book for the filmographies and the interviews, but I would recommend getting HFGK volumes 4-6 also for the sake of completeness.
Now You Know!
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Musing 1600. Hindi Film Song Picturizations (1961-1970) in HINDI
Musing 1599. Madhubala in Kala Pani. New05
Musing 1598. Madhubala, the Director. New04
Musing 1597. Master Vithal May Be. New03
Musing 1596. Master Bunty Grows up. New02
Musing 1595. Birbal in 1964. New01
Musing 1593. Veer Abhimanyu (1970).
Musing 1592. Mahal (1949) Editors. N838
Musing 1591. Madhubala in Jan 1959. N837
Musing 1590. Cinema Halls in India in 1952. N836
Musing 1589. Questions from the 40s. N 835
Musing 1588. Films in Ludhiana in 1963. N834
Musing 1587. Beete Hue Din Part 2 HINDI (Book) in Hard Cover
Musing 1586. Beete Hue Din Part 1 (Book) in Hard Cover
Musing 1585. Aan (1952), One Crore in Three Months. N832
Musing 1584. Song picturization info completed. T72 (last).
Sad Musing 1581 (last). Gurcharan Singh Sandhu (Dec 15, 1948-Aug 28, 2023)
Sad Musing 1580. Gurcharan Singh Sandhu
Sad Musing 1579. Gurcharan Singh Sandhu no more.
Musing 1578. Rs 30,000 for an award. T69
Musing 1577. Sachche Moti (1962). T68
Musing 1573. Fact and Fiction II Fact. T64
Musing 1572: Kishore Kumar : The Ultimate Biography
Musing 1571. Pushpanjali (1970).
Musing 1569. Using Old Songs. T61
Musing 1563. Holi Aaee Re (1970). T55
Musing 1562. Wedding Movies in 1927
Musing 1561. Hamara Adhikar (1970). T53
Musing 1559. Kalyanji in 1956. T51
Musing 1558. Movies at home. T50
Musing 1557. Chetna (1970). T49
Musing 1554. Shatranj (1969). T46
Musing 1553. Trilok-Madhuri. T45
Musing 1552. Bathing Shashi Kapoor. T44
Musing 1549. Kulbhooshan Kapoor. T41
Musing 1548. Funny Titles. T40
Musing 1546: Zebunissa, then and now. T38
Musing 1545. Shyama (1937). T37
Musing 1544. Sheo Khetan's Two Books.
Musing 1543: Leela Mishra, the Early Years. T36
Musing 1542. Speak English and get Rs 25! T35
Musing 1541. Movie Camera in 1925. T34
Musing 1540. Fearless Nadia. T33
Musing 1539: Year's Sweet Seventeen Sapna. T32
Musing 1538: Tales of Stealth for the Curious One
Musing 1536: Lolita Chatterji. T30
Musing 1534. Films and Communalism in 1928. T28.
Musing 1533. बीते हुए दिन (भाग-2) Beete Hue Din (Part-2)
Musing 1531. Vimal Chadha. T26
Musing 1530. Early Hindi Film Advertisements II (1940-43)
Musing 1528: Raakhee-Gulzar. T24
Musing 1527. Refreshments in 1929. T23
Musing 1526. PICTORIAL JOURNEY OF HINDI CINEMA 1951
Musing 1525. Deepak Kumar. T22
Musing 1524. Calcutta Fire 1925. T21
Musing 1523. Capitol Cinema. T20
Musing 1522. Lagta To Nahin! T19.
Musing 1521. PATHTHAR Ke Sanam. T18
Musing 1519. Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. T16
Musing 1518. Mini RMIMeet. T15
Musing 1517. Lata earned $200,000 a month! T14.
Musing 1516. Gunahon Ka Devta Contd. T13
Musing 1514. Early Names for Movies. T11
Musing 1513. Dhriren Ganguly is famous! T10.
Musing 1512. Raghupati Venkayya. T09
Musing 1510. Deenanath Mangeshkar. T07
Musing 1509. Rajendra Nath and Dhumal. T06
Musing 1508. Bhakta Prahlad (1967). T05
Musing 1507. Yet Another Sujata. T04
Musing 1506. Sharmila Tagore. T03
Musing 1505. Sulochana's first film. T02
Musing 1503. Prem Dhawan and Robert Master.
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