A very old machine: the many origins of the cinema in India, 1840-1930

Review “Sudhir Mahadevan does the impossible in A Very Old Machine … He shows how various technologies that emerged in nineteenth-century India shaped its current cinema.” ― H-Net Reviews (Jhistory)“…methodologically and theoretically wide-ranging.” ― BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies“Sudhir Mahadevan’s A Very Old Machine is a work of great theoretical sophistication and rigorous historical scholarship. A revisionist and definitive treatment of early Indian film, the book shows how prevailing attitudes toward technology, photography, empire, commodity, and mass culture made the cinema a socially and culturally distinct form in India. Drawing on a wealth of primary research, A Very Old Machine fills many gaps. Anyone who wants to know how Indian cinema became Indian will need to consult this book.” ― James Morrison, editor of Hollywood Reborn: Movie Stars of the 1970s Product Description Argues that Indian cinema’s deep nineteenth-century past continues to play a vital role in its twenty-first-century present. About the Author Sudhir Mahadevan is Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature, Cinema and Media at the University of Washington.