1993/05/01 by Sara Dickey
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Art #Cinema and Media Studies #Entertainment #History #Law #Literature #Media studies #Movie theater #Political science #Politics #Popularity #Sociology #South Asian Cinema and Culture #Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies #State (computer science) #Visual arts
paper · doi:10.2307/2059651
openalex publication_date 1993/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Popular south Indian cinema is a highly melodramatic entertainment form, plotted around improbable twists of fate and set in exaggerated locales, filled with songs, dances, and fight scenes. Patronized primarily by the poor, it is typically dismissed by critics, who find its vast popularity either bemusing or indicative of viewers moral and intellectual degradation. Even more confounding for many observers has been cinema's critical role in state and national politics.