The Departments of Cinema and Digital Media and Middle East/South Asian Studies at UC Davis present Ajay Gehlawat, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Theatre and Film, at Sonoma State University in a talk titled “Bollypolitics.” Free and open to the public, the event begins at 5:10 p.m. on May 14 in Cruess Hall 1003.

Gehlawat will offer an in-depth exploration, based on his recent book (Bollypolitics: Popular Hindi Cinema and Hindutva), of the evolving landscape of Bollywood cinema in response to recent socio-political changes in India, including a surge in sectarian violence and the ascent of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Ajay Gehlawat is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Theatre and Film, at Sonoma State University. He is author of Reframing Bollywood and  Twenty-First Century Bollywood. He is also the editor of The Slumdog Phenomenon and co-editor of The Evolution of Song and Dance in Hindi Cinema.