Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid
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Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid

From Bollywood to the Emergency
Ashish Rajadhyaksha
Distribution: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Publication date: 10/16/2009
Format: Hardback 210 b&w photos
ISBN: 978-0-253-35268-2
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Description

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.

Author Bio

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.

Reviews

“Taking as his timeframe the era of celluloid, Rajadhyaksha examines three moments of crisis for the Indian State in which cinema played a central role. "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”

“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, author of Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

PART I: THE 'CINEMA-EFFECT' OUTSIDE THE CINEMA: 'BOLLYWOOD' AND THE PERFORMING CITIZEN

2. 'Bollywood' 2004: The Globalized Freak Show of what was Cinema

3. When Was Bollywood?

4. The 'Cinema-Effect': Cultural Rights Vs. The Production Of Authenticity

5. Social Lineages of the Cinema-Effect: Demonstrating Spectatorial Ability

Afterword: Bollywood And The Cinema-Effect: A Concluding Note

PART II: ADMINISTERING THE SYMBOLS OF AUTHENTICITY-PRODUCTION: THE CINEMA-EFFECT AND THE STATE - AND REVISITING A 1990s CONTROVERSY

6. Administering The Symbols Of Authenticity-Production

7. 'You Can See Without Looking': The Cinematic 'Author' and Freedom Of Expression in the Cinema

8. 'People-Nation' And Spectatorial Rights: The Political 'Authenticity-Effect', the Shiv Sena and a Very Bombay History

PART III: 1970S QUESTIONS: THE CINEMA-EFFECT, THE NATIONAL SYMBOLIC AND THE AVANT-GARDE

9. The Nation Detours

10. The Indian Emergency

11. The Problem, and a 'Coproduction Of Modernities'

12. 'Taking' The Shot': Alternative Beginnings To The Mechanism

13. The Practice: Two Films And A Painting (1): Bhupen Khakhar's List

14. The Practice: Two Films And A Painting (2): Mani Kaul And The 'Cinematic Object' - Uski Roti

15. The Practice: Two Films And A Painting (3): Gautam Ghose's Maabhoomi, Territorial Realism And The 'Narrator'

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