While journalists and other writers have examined these transformations, tracing their causes and their impact in the social, political and economic realms, it remains difficult to know how people have adapted to the changes, how they interpret them, what their hopes and fears are, how they see their future and how they look at their pasts. These changes have been so rapid and so pervasive that their impact can barely, as yet, be understood. Long acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest and most ancient civilizations, and notorious too for being home to many of its poorest people, India now enjoys a new and unaccustomed role as a potential emerging superpower, and is producing some of the planet’s richest individuals and one of its largest middle classes. India is changing rapidly, and in the last twenty years following liberalization in 1991 social and economic transformations have been occurring at an unprecedented speed. This book explores the nature of Hindi cinema – now best known as ‘Bollywood’ and whose non-realistic depictions of the everyday are often dismissed as ‘escapist entertainment’ – by considering how escapism and entertainment function and are mobilized to think about life and the world. Preface 7 Introduction 12 Unity: The Nation, Its History and Trans-nationalism 37 Diversity: Region, Caste and Class 79 Religion: Myths, Beliefs and Practices 116 Emotions: Sadness, Anger and Happiness 151 Home: Romance, Love and the Family 184 The World: Education, Work and Lifestyle 223 Agneepath/The Path of Fire, 1990–2012 248 Filmography 259 Further Reading 266 Acknowledgements 278 Index 280Ĭhaudhry Baldev Singh (Amrish Puri) feeding birds in Trafalgar Square in Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge.īollywood’s India is an investigation of the imagined worlds of mainstream Hindi cinema, whose interpretations of India over the last two decades are, I argue, the most reliable guide to understanding the nation’s dreams and hopes, fears and anxieties. Published by Reaktion Books Ltd 33 Great Sutton Street London ec1v 0dx, uk First published 2014 Copyright © Rachel Dwyer 2014 All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell & Bain, Glasgow A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isbn 978 1 78023 263 8 1 Unity: The Nation, Its History and Trans-nationalismĦ The World: Education, Work and Lifestyleīollywood’s India Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Contemporary India Rachel Dwyer
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