RTF 370 From Bombay to Bollywood: The Transformation of Hindi Film-W

Unique No. 07395

Faculty: Mehta

Class Time: TTH 930-11

Room: CMA 5.136

Screening Time: W 5-8P

Room: CMA 3.116

Writing Comp: Yes

Comm/Culture Req: No

Closing Limit: 20

Cross-listed: ANS 372, AAS 320

Prerequisites

Must be an RTF major with a UT GPA of at least a 2.25 and have upper division standing. The following coursework with a grade of at least C in each course: RTF 305, either 314 or 316, and 6 additional hours of lower-division coursework in RTF; for others, consent of instructor.

Consent requirements

This course does not require consent. Registration is open via the online registration system to all RTF majors.

First class day policy

Students must attend the first class day or make prior arrangements with the instructor.

Course description

This course will trace the trajectory of Bombay cinema's transformation into Bollywood. The products of the Bombay film industry, Hindi films, have dominated the national imagination. Furthermore, they have been Indian cinema's most successful exports. Through readings and screenings, we will examine shifts in Hindi films' narratives as well as Bombay's industry practices. Some of the topics that we will explore include film exhibition, the development of melodrama, censorship, the emergence of the multi-starrer, the shifts in music and dance, the representation of political events, the construction family and gender, the relationship between the Bombay film industry and the state, and the rise of new genres in the era of globalization. The discussions on specific films will attend to formal features of Hindi films such as narrative form, darsan, intermission,

and song/dance sequences, placing Hindi films in productive dialogue with film theory.