I would appreciate some titles of books or movies set in India. Travelling in fall.

The Far Pavilions.<BR><BR>Talwar.<BR><BR>Taj.<BR><BR>Zemin dar<BR>

Movies: A passage to India<BR> Heat and Dust<BR> City of Joy<BR> Monsoon Wedding<BR><BR>Books: Midnight Children<BR> The god of small things<BR> A passage to India<BR>

India's greatest film maker was Satyajit Ray. You can rent many of his films at Blockbuster (they are in the Foreign Film section). His best-known films are the Apu Trilogy. These simple allegories, filmed in b/w, are so beautiful, they will have you longing for India.<BR><BR>I read "A Fine Balance," by Rohinton Misty, which tells the story of a Parsi woman in a seaside city in India during the 1975 State of Emergy instituted by Indira Ghandi. It was a joy to read.

I second the vote for "A Fine Balance" - an amazing book. Also read Mistry's "Such a Long Journey" (I think that was the title) - not AS good, but still good.<BR><BR>Bollywood movies? Gosh, they're on TV here 24-7... make me laugh my head off, all that violent dancing and breaking into song every three minutes...!

*Lagaan [nomminated for an Oscar]<BR>* Kubhi Kushi Kubhi Gham-It is a long movie but god are the songs good, the story good, and the actors- very nice to look at! <BR>*Yaadein

*all those I listed were movies<BR>Arabella

The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Leheri<BR>East into Upper East by Ruth Prawer Jhabwala

"Ghandi" definately needs to be on the list of movies.

Ryan, I'm sure you mean "Gandhi". Another movie I saw recently, a comedy, is called 'Bollywood Calling'. Its primarily in english with a bit of the Indian languages and is about a small time hollywood actor who is quite destitute and is forced to take on a role in an Indian movie and spends a few months there. Excellent film.

Cobra Road by Trevor Fishlock and India:A wounded Civilization by V.S. naipaul are good.Not novels but enlightening.

(some repeats)<BR>BOOKS<BR>The Jewel in the Crown Paul Scott<BR> (also made into a BBC TV series, wonderful, maybe available on tape)(really, try to see this)<BR><BR>Passage to India E.M. Forster<BR><BR>MOVIES<BR><BR>Shakespeare Wallah (an early Merchant-Ivory movie)<BR><BR>Bombay Talkie (ditto)<BR><BR>

Hey Chris, i was backpacking in india for 3 months last summer. I went from kashmir to kerala. It was great. Am sure u'll have fun. As far as the movies go, they don't give u much of a vision on what u are gonna encounter when u land there. For the books, the best bet is lonely planet guide. <BR><BR>If u really want to see an indian movie, give a visit to ur local indian store, they have a bunch of bollywood movies u can select from.<BR><BR>If u need anything specific do drop in an email at [email protected]

Nothing better explains the Raj and the legacy left by it than Paul Scott's Raj Quartet, which begins with The Jewel in the Crown. British Television, either BBC or Granada also produced an excellent dramatisation of it, which is available in the US on Video. Scott's last book, Staying On, deals with the post Raj period, is also excellent, and was also dramatised and is on video. Midnight's Children is excellent in tandem with these, for movies, anything by Sanjit Ray. I also loved reading The Snow Leopard by Matthiesen while I was there, but that is the about the Himalaya, where you might not be going.<BR>Have a wonderful time!

I think Lucy above meant 'movies by Satyajit Ray'.

A few movies:<BR><BR>Salaam Bombay<BR>Bandit Queen<BR>The Warrior<BR>

Not sure if you are looking for fiction novels or non-fiction travelogues. There is one that I found quite interesting. It is called India Unveiled. This deals more with rural India than contemporary one but it is interesting nonetheless.