DANCING WITH THE NATION COURTESANS IN BOMBAY CINEMA
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Ruth Vanita
As is the case with dancers in item numbers today, courtesans in Hindi cinema have often been dismissed as overly sexualised, marginal figures. Yet, from the 1930s onwards, courtesan characters were depicted as single, independent working women at a time when the main characters in most Hindi films were far more conservative and tethered to religious and social norms. In this book, the scholar Ruth Vanita analyses over 200 films featuring courtesans, and uncovers an alternative feminist history of cinema in Mumbai.
Speaking Tiger, 272 pages, Rs 450
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