Description: An in-depth exploration of how 20th century Indian art cinema shaped class identity and its often overlooked place in film studies, eclipsed by the popularity of Bollywood.
Brief description: Jyotika Virdi is Associate Professor in Communication, Media, and Film Studies at the University of Windsor, Canada. She is author of The Cinematic ImagiNation: Indian Popular Films as Social History (2003). Her essays have appeared in Jump Cut, Screen, South Asian Popular Culture, and Visual Anthropology. She serves on the board of Jump Cut: Review of Contemporary Media and Studies in South Asian Film and Media.
Review Quotes: "Anchored firmly in the sociology of film, Virdi re-examines the Indian art cinema of the second half of the twentieth century, astutely decoding and contextualizing its stories of middle-class belonging and anxiety. You will never see the same way again Pather Panchali or dozens of other festival "masterpieces" that followed." --Thomas Waugh, Professor Emeritus of Film Studies, Concordia University, Canada