Media and film studies

Indian Cinema: Popular Hindi Film

Module code: P5057
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Film, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

This module introduces you to popular Hindi cinema, the dominant Indian film industry. Students explore the distinctive formal conventions of the Hindi film, and trace its relationship with Indian society from the post-independence era to the contemporary period of globalization. You will consider specific periods (the 1950s, the 1970s and the 1990s) in order to investigate Hindi cinema’s response to social and political change in India. Specific topics of inquiry may include:

• realism and politics
• gender and sexuality
• diaspora and community
• stardom and performance
• rebellion and morality
• music and emotion

In addition, you will deepen their skills in independent research and contextual and textual analysis.

Module learning outcomes

• Deploy critical and systematic analysis of a range of Hindi films
• Demonstrate the ability to situate Hindi films according to their social and historical contexts
• Demonstrate appropriate understanding of critical debates on the cultural and political significance of Hindi films
• Demonstrate appropriate capacity for individual research and skills in written communication
• Demonstrate appropriate understanding of methodological issues raised in approaching Indian cinema from a Western European perspective