Pooja Mahkijani Recommends

“Part-Bombay travelogue, part-investigative journalism, all-hilarity, Justine Hardy’s Bollywood Boy is one of my favorite books about my favorite movie-making machine and the *only* book about the industry’s light-eyed heartthrob, Hritik Roshan,” Pooja says. “While she makes no new observations (that songs and dance stand in for sex or that the industry has possible Indian Mafia connections, for example), the book is an account of a year-long comedy-of-errors in which Hardy tried to score an interview with Roshan. Along the way, she meets a handful of interesting characters, real people whose connections with Bollywood are deep and genuine. What’s so refreshing about this book – other than the fact that’s it’s one of few non-academic books on Bollywood – is Justine’s respect for India and its entertainment. She loves the kitsch and craziness as much as I do.”

Pooja Makhijani is the author of Mama’s Saris and editor of Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America.