Indian Cinema A Very Short Introduction [Paperback]

One film out of every five made anywhere on earth comes from India. From its beginnings under colonial rule through to the heights of Bollywood, Indian Cinema has challenged social injustices such as caste, the oppression of Indian women, religious intolerance, rural poverty, and the pressures of life in the burgeoning cities. And yet, the Indian movie industry makes only about five percent of Hollywood's annual revenue.

In thisVery Short Introduction,Ashish Rajadhyaksha delves into the political, social, and economic factors which, over time, have shaped Indian Cinema into a fascinating counterculture. Covering everything from silent cinema through to the digital era, Rajadhyaksha examines how the industry reflects the complexity and variety of Indian society through the dramatic changes of the 20th century, and into the beginnings of the 21st.

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Preface
1. The political popular
2. Imperatives of cinematic realism: Late colonial India
3. The 'all-India' film, partition, and new careers for the cinema
4. The new cinemas
5. Bollywood
References
Further reading
Index

Ashish Rajadhyakshais a film historian and film curator. He is the co-author of theEncyclopaedia of Indian Cinema(with Paul Willemen, London: British Film Institute, 1994/1999), and author of several books on the Indian cinema. He has curated major exhibitions and film festivals,You Don'tBelong, Film season of 35 Indian films in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming and Hong Kong (2011), the exhibition l“p