Bollywood is a significant part in the life of many Indians. It fuels childhood dreams and ambitions. Bollywood celebrities are treated as darlings of the country. Today’s needull is about a photo book by an outsider. The pictures represent Bollywood from an outsider’s perspective.
A striking aspect of some of the photos is their lack of glamour. The idea of the book is to show the acting world as it really is. Perhaps that’s why the subjects who pose most eagerly aren’t the stars but the strugglers, on dusty roads and in cramped tenements. Bennington’s five-year-long project, for which he shuttled between New York and Mumbai, gives equal importance to TV actors, the theatre circuit and reality-show celebrities. “People ask me if this book is about Bollywood stars or if it is about strugglers,” he says. “I have followed no such hierarchy.”
Needull in a haystack 