South and Southeast Asian 24: Bollywood cinema: Contexts, politics and spectatorship

South and Southeast Asian 24: Bollywood cinema: Contexts, politics and spectatorship

This seminar will provide an introduction to the cultural, social and political significance of Hindi cinema and the development of popular Indian cinema since the 1930s. The course will examine the evolution of the Bollywood form and narrative strategy across a wide repertoire of films from 1940's to the present moment. Topics include the contemporary global moment associated with the category "Bollywood," the impact of social media technologies, new economies of consumption, and wider export markets of Indian visual culture.