Jonathan Torgovnik's Bollywood Photography Book Fails to Capture Essence

In a review published in artpress, Patrice Blouin critiques Jonathan Torgovnik's photography book "Il était une fois Bollywood" for failing to penetrate the surface of Indian cinema. Blouin argues that while Bollywood has long rivaled Hollywood in scale, it remained culturally isolated until recent successes like Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" (Golden Lion at Venice in 2001) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas" (Cannes 2002) broke through. He calls for a rediscovery of classic directors Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt, and urges viewers to shed kitsch stereotypes. However, Torgovnik's book, focused on behind-the-scenes and crowd scenes, lacks a clear viewpoint and relies on exotic clichés, with captions that waver between documentary and subjective commentary. The review concludes that the book does not lift the veil on Bombay.