CFN214 | Filming the Nation: Identity, Politics and Culture

Course Information

  • 2024-25
  • CFN214
  • 5-Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.), 3-Year LL.B. (Hons.), LL.M., Master's Programme in Public Policy
  • III, IV, V
  • Jul 2024
  • Elective Course

This course provides a foundational introduction to film studies, with a focus on popular Indian  cinema. Through an interdisciplinary approach and critical examination of the cinematic  medium, it will provide students with an in-depth understanding of the unique form of Indian  cinema, its role in shaping the Indian state, and constructing notions of Indianness- reflecting  social and political changes, and contributing to cultural transformations in the popular  imagination. Through a wide range of films and critical theories, we will analyse diverse  identities such as rural-urban dynamics, secular-religious tensions, gender dynamics, and caste  hierarchies and develop a critical framework to comprehend the state of contemporary India  and its changing social fabric.

Standalone but can have many interesting intersections with other social science and  humanities courses (such as history/ political thought/ sociology )being offered at NLS.

Have included some foundation readings and topics in Indian cinema studies that are taught  across all film studies programs in the world.

Lectures, discussions, weekly written assignment portfolio, film screening, group  presentations, and term paper.

Faculty

Dr. Sonia Ghalian

Visiting Faculty