Cinema India: The Art of Bollywood - Public programs and special events

Mother India, Seth Studios.
© V&A Images/Courtesy Mehboob Productions Private Ltd.

Don't miss the closing weekend of the exhibition, Cinema India: the art of Bollywood and at the same time celebrate the Diwali Festival
Come and enjoy three Bollywood blockbusters and hear the interesting talk by Divia Patel, curator of Cinema India and Curator of Asian Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Saturday 10 November 10.15am
Sholay (Flames of the sun) 1975
Directed by Ramesh Shippy 199 mins Starring Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan India's best known 'curry' western, is a tale of revenge, love and friendship. The highest grossing Bollywood film of all time.

2.00pm Teesri Manzil (Third Storey) 1966
Directed by Vijay Anand 158 mins Starring Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Rau Mehra, Prem Chopra A romantic comedy whodunit with fantastic song picturisations and killer soundtrack. A Bollywood classic!

Sunday 11 November 10.30am
Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin (We are no less than anyone) 1977
Directed by Nasir Hussain 162 mins Starring Rishi Kapoor, Zeenat Aman, Kaajal Kiran A classic marsala story of love, mistaken identity, abduction and diamond smuggling featuring Elvis Presley costumes and another great R D Burman soundtrack.

* All films in Hindi with English subtitles. All films courtesy of Eros Australia

2 - 3pm Talk 'Cinema India: the art of advertising'
Hear Divia Patel, Curator of Cinema India and Curator of Asian Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum This talk will start by looking at early cinema advertising in India and at some of the aesthetic developments and stylistic changes that defined it. It will then explore in more detail some of the posters and themes that form part of the Cinema India exhibition and will aim to show how these images should not be discarded as ephemeral pieces of mere advertising but how, as examples of popular culture they are able to convey social, political, historical information about the society in which they are produced.