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Synopsis Journalist, poet, and dramatist, Anil Saari was one of the earliest and best-known film critics in India. Saari began writing on the nature and popularity of Hindi cinema more than thirty years ago, much before this cinematic genre gained credibility in academic circles.

A passionate advocate of Hindi cinema, Anil Saari emphasized the value of its popularity as well as its roots in Indian folk theatre traditions. Hindi Cinema, a collection of Anil Saari's writings spread over almost thirty years, shows how Saari combined his knowledge of Indian society, history, and culture to interpret the narrative structures, aesthetics, and institutions of Hindi cinema.

Spanning the entire ambit of modern Hindi cinema, these essays discuss issues as varied as the social consciousness of Hindi cinema, violence in Hindi films, and the dubious aesthetics of the latest remake of Devdas. Not only Hindi cinema, Saari brings to bear his vast knowledge and penetrating insights on issues of tremendous contemporary relevance in Indian cinema as well: from political themes in films to children's cinema, from the future of parallel cinema to the renaissance in films produced down south.

This volume also includes Saari's tributes to and incisive comments on the legacy of actors like Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Pran, Sanjeev Kumar, and the screen goddesses Nargis, Meena Kumari, and Madhubala, among others, as well as his seminal essay `The Dynamics of Tradition and Modernity in Hindi Cinema'.

With an introduction by noted film critic Partha Chatterjee which helps to contextualize the writings, this book will appeal to general readers interested in knowing more about the Hindi film industry as also scholars of film studies, postcolonial studies, and cultural studies.