Bollywood and borders

Early in this slim book, author Rajinder Dudrah, a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, quotes cultural anthropologist James Clifford: "How do different populations, classes and genders travel? What kinds of knowledge, stories and theories do they produce?" In his book, Dudrah applies these questions to Hindi cinema, using a broad definition of 'travel' to examine how contemporary Bollywood movies cross physical and cultural borders and form new relationships with the Indian diaspora while moving constantly between tradition and modernity and commenting on the ever-changing lives of Indians at home and abroad.

This is an intriguing discourse: if it is true that cinema 'travels' with its audience and with the people it represents, popular Hindi films have undoubtedly logged a high number of frequent-flier miles. However, these ideas are presented in the book in muddled and fragmented tones, with solemn scholarly writing sharing space with flippant asides. As a result, the seven chapters read like separate essays casually stitched together. It then comes as no surprise when the book ends abruptly with a quick discussion on three recent films – Delhi Belly, Singham and Zindagi na Milegi Dobara – released just in time for the author to accommodate his thoughts in a few pages.