ABSTRACT
Indian Cinema is a growing global phenomenon, particularly as a resilient competitor to Hollywood. Originating in Mumbai, commercial Hindi cinema, better known as Bollywood, is the most widespread proponent of Indian Cinema. In 2008, Selvaraj Velayutham highlights the often overlooked diversity of Indian cinema, attributing this to a general preoccupation with Bollywood. Rahul Verma states that a new wave of Indian independent film is breaking the all-singing, all-dancing stereotype of Bollywood via low-cost, offbeat movies and edgier subject matter. Art films made between the 1940s and the early 1960s were trenchant expositions on social issues and themes. Tejaswini Ganti considers songs to be a vital constituent of Bollywood films to ensure their popularity and marketability. She argues that a film bereft of song and dance is indicative of its positioning outside the mainstream Mumbai film industry. Ravi Vasudevan sees censorship as a crucial regulatory drive, arguing that Indian films with trenchant socio-political narratives have been the greater focus of regulation.
