Description
This book is about the history and influence of Bollywood cinema in India. It discusses classic films and recent films and argues that Indian cinema is shaped by the desire for national community and a pan-Indian popular culture. It also discusses the implications of diaspora for Indian cinema.
India is home to Bollywood--and to the largest film industry in the world. Movie theaters are said to be the "temples of modern India," with Bombay/Mumbai, the center of Bollywood, producing some 200 of the 800 films per year that are viewed by roughly 11 million people per day. In
Bollywood Cinema, Vijay Mishra argues that Indian film production and reception is shaped by the desire for national community and a pan-Indian popular culture. Seeking to understand Bollywood according to its own narrative and aesthetic principles and in relation to a global film industry, he views Indian cinema through the dual methodologies of postcolonial studies and film theory. Mishra discusses classics such as
Mother India (1957) and Devdsa (1935) and recent films including
Ram Lakhan (1989) and
Khalnayak (1993), linking their form and content to broader issues of national identity, epic tradition, popular culture, history, and the implications of diaspora. Persuasively arguing for the centrality of movie-going in the construction of self and community,
Bollywood Cinema is an indispensable guide to Indian cinema for both scholars and fans alike.
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