Essays in Celebrity Culture

Book excerpt: The collection of essays in the book moves from the largest domain of celebrity culture in India – Bollywood – through celebrity life writing and biopics and, finally, to the politics of and by celebrity culture. The book begins with an exploration of films made around celebrity victims to the vernacular cosmopolitanism of Bollywood stars’ philanthropic and humanitarian work and, finally, to celebrity charisma and its role in the current era of ‘post-truth.’ Two studies of celebrity biopics and auto/biographies – from sports stars to Bollywood stars – and their disease memoirs are included. Finally, a section of essays are devoted to celebrity cultural politics, including Indian writing as a celebrity, the Narmada River as a celebrity, the desacralization of celebrity statues, Arundhati Roy’s celebrated and celebrity activism and the self-fashioning of Indian authors in the age of digital culture.