Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency

Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency

In Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid, Ashish Rajadhyaksha argues that any exploration of the social uses to which cinema is put in a place like India can only make sense if it transforms our understanding of cinema itself. Taking as his timeframe the era of celluloid, which is also marked by public experiences of spectatorship and uses of cinema by the state, Rajadhyaksha examines three moments of crisis for the Indian State in which cinema played a central role. By analyzing theories of spectatorship, Rajadhyaksha defines the aesthetic that is Bollywood. . . . Recommended.May 2010 ― Choice One of the finest writers on Indian cinema . . . shows once again his imagination in posing new questions and his use of largely neglected primary sources. -- Rachel Dwyer "One of the finest writers on Indian cinema . . . shows once again his imagination in posing new questions and his use of largely neglected primary sources." --Rachel Dwyer, author of Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema Ashish Rajadhyaksha is Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore, and a critic and writer on cinema, art, and culture. He is author and editor (with Paul Willemen) of the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema and author of Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic.