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Asian Children’s Literature and Film in a Global Age pp 141–156Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

In the Shadows: Tracing Children and Childhood in Indian Cinema

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Part of the Asia-Pacific and Literature in English book series (APLE)

Abstract

Children’s cinema in India finds itself problematically positioned between a number of vexed categories that form the larger production complex of Indian cinema. While Indian cinema enjoys a reputation as one of the world’s most prolific annual producers of films and has one of the biggest global markets, the number of films that are child-centric, both by definition of being for children or about children, is relatively limited. This chapter aims to shed light on this marginal section of Indian cinema, providing a history of children’s films in India, examining aspects of definition and funding, and exploring perspectives regarding the production of films for children and about childhood in India. The chapter will also trace the main themes in the portrayal of children from an Indian context and will assess the various filmic representations that have emerged over the years.

Keywords

  • Bollywood
  • Global youth culture
  • Childhood
  • Hindi children’s cinema
  • Indian children’s cinema
  • Marginalisation

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-2631-2_7
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Christ University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Sonia Ghalian

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  1. Sonia Ghalian
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tokyo, Japan

    Dr. Bernard Wilson

  2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Sharmani Patricia Gabriel

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Ghalian, S. (2020). In the Shadows: Tracing Children and Childhood in Indian Cinema. In: Wilson, B., Gabriel, S. (eds) Asian Children’s Literature and Film in a Global Age. Asia-Pacific and Literature in English. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2631-2_7

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