Bollywood

Indian cinema: Songs! Dances! More songs and dances! Strip away the visuals, however, and you are left with the curious feeling that the music is both a complete stranger and a long-lost friend.

Songs from Hindi-language film - "Bollywood" - are omnipresent in India. Whatever genre you can think of, one of those songs has tipped its hat to it (or picked its pockets). Indians are not fazed by unfamiliar music: they probably heard it in the film they watched last night, if only for a few seconds as part of a multi-genre cocktail.

Using excerpts from interviews with film personnel, listeners, and lawyers, this book tells the tale of Bollywood's music through all the genres it has incorporated over the decades, from Hindustani to hip-hop. It also looks at what such musical cross-pollination means in a world of increasing debates on intellectual property rights - and has links to extensive YouTube playlists to let you, the listener, decide for yourself.