A BOLLYWOOD STATE OF MIND
ONLINE – THURS 16 NOV 2023
Join Professor Sunny Singh for a fascinating tour through the history of Bollywood as she shares stories from her critically acclaimed new book A Bollywood State of Mind.
“Bright, brilliant and beautifully researched, this glorious book is my biggest recommendation of the year” — Nikita Gill
A Bollywood State of Mind is a personal, intellectual and emotional journey which crosses five continents and 50 years of modern Indian history and cinema and explores why Bollywood means so much to so many across the globe. Sunny describes how this exceptional cinema retains its hold on the national imagination, how Bollywood has enhanced India’s global standing in the 21st century, and how its characteristics endure despite the social and political changes.
Ranging over history, aesthetic theory and politics, A Bollywood State of Mind explores encounters with Bollywood in the market places of Dakar and Marrakesh, in the nightclubs of New York, Barcelona and Mexico City, and in the ruins of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, Petra and beyond. It shows how the pioneers and heroes of Bollywood cut across national, linguistic and cultural lines not only in India but in far reaches of Somalia, Peru, Malaysia and Russia.
Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for decolonisation and inclusion across all aspects of society. In 2017, she launched the celebrated Jhalak Prize for literature by writers of colour. She is also a founder of the Jhalak Foundation that is focused on a range of literary, artistic and literacy initiatives in the UK and beyond. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels – Nani’s Book of Suicides, With Krishna’s Eyes and Hotel Arcadia.