A scene from Dil Se, clips of which feature in the guide

London, Oct. 9: The first-ever British teaching guide on Indian cinema, called Bollywood and Beyond, has been produced for pupils who want to take the subject in the school-leaving A-level exams.

The guide, released yesterday by the British Film Institute (BFI), costs £ 34.99 and includes an education pack comprising a CD-Rom and a video with clips from popular Indian films.

At present, only the Welsh Joint Examination Committee (WJEC) allows A-level pupils to take an Indian film option as part of film studies, but the BFI wants to encourage other exam boards to offer courses in Indian cinema.

The Indian film picked for in-depth study in the WJEC option is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a distinction which even its producers probably did not expect when the blockbuster was made.

The BFI, established in 1933 to “promote greater understanding, appreciation and access to film and television culture”, says it is taking a pro-active role in making the guide available to students. It had not been produced in response to a demand from Britain’s exam boards.

“It’s here if people want it,” said Lucy Skipper, the BFI spokeswoman. “As far as I know, no one has requested for it to be there.”

The BFI, however, feels that interest in Indian cinema has been growing but courses for school students have been hampered by a lack of teaching guides. The BFI said: “The guide offers a comprehensive overview of Indian cinema, from the early days of silent film to the big budget Bollywood extravaganzas of today.”

“Covering a wide range of films from classics to recent releases such as Monsoon Wedding, the guide also covers British Asian film, including the recent box-office hit Bend it Like Beckham,” the BFI added.

The activity-based guide, supplied on a CD-ROM, is supported by a video compilation of film clips. The latter includes Raja Harishchandra, Pather Panchali, Mother India, Mughl-e-Azam, Sholay, Dil Se, Bombay, Mr India and Bhumika.

This selection reflects the personal tastes of the people who compiled the guide, among them two academics, Maureen O’Brien and Keith Withall, and two filmmakers, Behroze Ghandy and Nasreen Munni Kabir.

The word Bollywood, however much purists in India may disapprove of the term, is now taken to mean all of Indian cinema, and, in a wider sense, anything Indian that is exotic and colourful (as in “Bollywood fashion”).

The guide explores Indian music and dance, contains an introduction to Indian film stars and examines Indian popular and arthouse cinema, according to the BFI.

“Designed for use on media and film studies courses, Bollywood and Beyond can be a useful resource in other subject areas such as music, drama, history and geography,” it adds.

The BFI wants to encourage the study of Indian cinema at A level and also at the slightly lower A-S level.

Wendy Earle, BFI’s education resource editor, said: “Bollywood and Beyond provides a valuable resource about this fascinating area of world cinema. It has been produced in response to the growing interest among students and teachers in this cinema — which, after all, is the biggest in the world — and as part of ImagineAsia, the BFI’s eight-month celebration of South Asian film.”

She said that the guide had made recommendations on how courses on film studies, offered as part of increasingly popular media studies, could integrate elements on Bollywood.

She told The Telegraph that one examiner had approached the Oxford & Cambridge Board with a proposal that it should offer courses in Bollywood.

The presence of Bollywood stars has certainly helped the growing popularity of Indian movies. Today, for example, it was announced that Aamir Khan has agreed to attend a film festival called Bite the Mango in Bradford. The festival is one occasion in which local residents of Indian and Pakistani origin come together in celebration of Bollywood.