The Best of Bollywood

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Now that Bollywood (Bombay-plus-Hollywood--an affectionate nickname for India's terrifyingly productive film industry) has finally gone mainstream in the West (Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding), many American listeners are curious to know more about the genre's extremely busy soundtrack singers. Club-goers are already primed by Bhangra nights, but for the uninitiated, the high-pitched female voices, loosey-goosey chorales, and wild-and-wooly instrumentals may take some getting used to. However, anyone willing to make the effort will be quickly rewarded. This compilation is a great place to start as it is well-produced and fairly typical of the genre at its best. Among the male singers, Kishore Kumar is well accounted for. Of the big female names, Lata Mangeshkar is represented but her even-more-famous sister, Asha Bhosle, is not. But Chitra, who sounds like an Indian Dolly Parton, almost makes up for her absence. Anyone who wants to know still more about this most flagrantly hedonistic of musical styles is directed to the exhaustively annotated Rough Guide To Bollywood and Manteca's delightful I Love Bollywood.