This authoritative and accessible guide is written specifically to help students understand the complexities and intricacies of Indian cinema. It covers the vast range of the cinemas of India, plus the meteoric rise of Bollywood, and discusses the key theoretical approaches to the analysis of films, the cinema audience and audience segmentation.The book describes how an Indian movie is made and explains the technology entailed. All the major issues are discussed: the relationship between cast and crew, the contributions of designers and choreographers, the impact of the corporatization of the film industry, censorship, taxation, insurance and advertising. The fascinating case studies of filmic analysis illuminate the theoretical approaches and concepts that students require for analyzing Indian film. And teachers will find that the comprehensive coverage, extensive bibliography and suggestions for further reading, the discussion of pedagogical issues about the teaching of Indian cinema and the sample questions make it an indispensable resource for teaching Indian cinema.