June 13, 2011—The Christian Science Monitor: Bollywood’s global push.
The Christian Science Monitor contacted Sangita Gopal, UO associate professor of English and a Bollywood expert, for a feature article on India’s prolific film industry.
“Sangita Gopal attributes the enduring popularity of Indian films abroad to the extravagant song-and-dance sequences that don’t require viewers to understand the language in order to enjoy them. But the [co-editor] of Global Bollywood says it goes beyond that. ‘On one level they are utterly commercial, but they also probe themes … that are incredibly resonant in societies battling between tradition and modernity’ – themes such as class, family, and interreligious conflict. ‘These films often take up the question of how to live with people who are different from you.’”
Gopal is a CSWS faculty affiliate. Her book Conjugatons: Marriage and Form in New Bollywood Cinema, is due out in fall 2011 from the University of Chicago Press. An interview with Professor Gopal will appear in the 2011 CSWS Annual Review, due out October 1.
