Film Studies 270BC - National/Transnational Cinema: 'Bollywood: A Cinema of Interruptions'

Indian popular film, known commonly as Bollywood, is usually understood to have weak storylines interrupted with overblown cinematic spectacles and distracting dance numbers. The course explores the narrative and visual structure of Bollywood for what scholar Lalitha Gopalan has called a "constellation of interruptions." We will analyze a selection of films closely, read scholarly articles, participate in debates, write guided assignments, and pursue independent research papers. We will learn to develop provocative historical and theoretical approaches to Indian films both, as a vibrant cultural form as well as intelligent filmmaking that challenges us and contributes to our understanding of world cinema.