Ram Gopal

Both a biography and a history, this book explores the significant role that Indian dancer Ram Gopal (1912-2003) played in bringing Indian dance to international audiences from the 1930s to the late 1960s. Almost single-handedly, Gopal changed the perception of Indian dance abroad, introducing a global audience to specificity of movement, classically trained dancers, live musicians and exquisitely detailed costumes, modelled from Indian iconography. In this much-needed study of an often-neglected figure, the author unearths a fascinating narrative about Ram Gopal, the individual and the dancer, drawing on interviews with his remaining family, costume-makers, friends, dance partners, fellow dancers and audience members. More broadly, we come to understand the culture of Indian dance at the time, including the politics of the nomenclature and of the nationalist and orientalist discourses, the rapid changes created by the demise of colonialism and the influence of Western styles of dance, such as ballet and modern, in its development.

Authority, Anxiety, and Canon elucidates a principle fundamental to Hinduism’s self-understanding—the Veda—while at the same time examining the methodological issues of the role of canon in religious tradition. Spanning the early periods of Indian religious history up to the twentieth century, the book combines theoretical sophistication and detailed scholarship to produce one of the first comprehensive works on Vedic interpretation since Louis Renou’s Le Destin Du Veda.

In these delightfully candid musings about his life and his cinema, RGV reveals the man behind pioneering Telugu and Hindi films such as Shiva, Rangeela, Satya, Sarkar, Bhoot and Company. Discussing a wide range of subjects, from the influences and circumstances that drew him to films to his cinematic techniques, his successful and unsuccessful films, his Bollywood idols, his relations with the media and the controversies dogging him, Guns & Thighs is as much about RGV's life and philosophy of life as about his films and the Indian film world. Characteristically, he pulls no punches, whether he's talking about movies, women or the media. Even when it comes to his own films, he embraces his failures as much his successes and dissects them with rare honesty and humility. Refreshingly contrarian and politically incorrect, this book discloses a perspective as colourful and larger than life as Indian films. It is not for RGV fans alone but for all those passionate about cinema and the people associated with it.

With v. 26 is bound: A general digest of criminal cases reported in the Weekly reporter. By D. E. Cranenburgh. Calcutta, 1893.