50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995-2015 - Paperback

by Shubhra Gupta (Author)

Hindi cinema was trapped in formulaic cliches for decades: lost-and-found themes, sacrificing mothers, brothers on opposite sides of the law, villains lording over their dens, colourful molls, six songs, the use of rape as a plot pivot, and cops who always arrived too late. It hit an all-time low in the 1980s.

Then, in 1991, came liberalization, and a wave of openness and aspiration swept across urban India. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released in 1995 - and Hindi cinema became Bollywood.

A new crop of film-makers began to challenge and break away from established rules. Over the next twenty years, a number of Hindi films consistently pushed the envelope in terms of content and technique to create a new kind of cinema.

Among other innovations, film-makers came up with ways of crowd funding a film (Ankhon Dekhi), did away with songs if the narrative did not need them (Gangaajal), addressed different sexual preferences (My Brother... Nikhil) and people with special needs (Black) like no one had ever done before.

As film critic with the Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta has stayed the course these twenty years and more and experienced the transition first-hand. In 50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995-2015, she looks at the modern classics that have redefined Hindi cinema - from DDLJ and Rangeela to Satya and Dev D to Queen and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Gupta offers a fascinating glimpse into how these films spoke to their viewers and how the viewers reacted to them - and, ultimately, how they changed us and how we changed them.

Author Biography

Shubhra Gupta is film critic and columnist with the Indian Express. Reviewing and critiquing films, and writing on major trends emerging from Indian and international cinema, for over twenty years, she has joined the dots between how we watch our movies and live our lives. One of the most well-regarded, influential film critics in India, she has been a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), has travelled to film festivals around the globe and been part of several cinema juries. She received the Ramnath Goenka award for Best Writing on Cinema in 2012.