Everybody doesn't dislike Funky Bollywood

A month into Funky Bollywood's release, the reviews are starting to come in... and, hey, they're all pretty darn favorable.

Over at India's Open Magazine, Jai Arjun Singh says:
"...Stadtman isn't patronizing these films. He is according them--the bulk of them, at least--the dignity of analysis. He is applying standards of criticism to works that many people (including many Indians) sometimes dismiss as being criticism- and analysis- resistant."

Over at Film Comment, Grady Hendrix, writing in his column Kaiju Shakedown, says of Funky Bollywood:
"...reading it makes you want to fill your eyes to overflowing with all the psychedelic glories of old-school Bollywood cray-cray."

Meanwhile, Temple Connoly of Cinema Chaat had this to say:
"Like a really good masala film, Funky Bollywood is wildly entertaining and you might even learn something along the way."

Trash Film Guru's Ryan says:
"Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give Funky Bollywood, though, is simply this — before I opened this book up, I hadn’t seen a single flick mentioned in it, and now I want to see them all."

I was also happy to see one of my favorite Bollywood blogs, Filmi-Contrast, smiling upon the book:
"But while Funky Bollywood is a deceptively educational book for the beginner, and certainly a refresher of familiar territory for the long-time fan, it aims to entertain first."

And finally, Ed Glaser of Neon Harbor brings it all home:
"From paisley and flares to swank pads and plush secret lairs, Funky Bollywood is an eye-popping compendium of must-see action flicks from the grooviest era of the world's most prolific movie industry."

Les sanguine, I'm afraid, have been the voices of our friends on the Indian subcontinent itself, who have cried both alone and in unison: "Hey, jerk. Why is your book, which is ABOUT Indian cinema, not available in India itself?" (some of them adding something along the lines of "Nice one, bozo" or "smooth move, Ex-lax"--you get the idea). And to them, I would like to say this: I would not have had it this way were it in my control. It is, in fact, something that grieves me on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we have yet to find an Indian publisher who is willing to take a risk on a book about Bollywood written by a non-Indian American. However, we are still trying our best to make it happen. In the meantime, I humbly ask that you take it as fact that our goal is to get Funky Bollywood into the hands of South Asian readers for a reasonable price as quickly as possible. Please bear with us.

On a lighter note, I recently put together this book trailer for Funky Bollywood, which I feel captures the feel of both the book and its subject pretty well. Feel free to share.