Untimely Bollywood

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Untimely bollywoo

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Globalization and India's New Media Assemblage

Amit 5. Rai

OXFORD U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS

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OXFORD U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS

YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto To With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in India by Oxford University Press, New Delhi

O 2009 by Duke University Press The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) Untimely Bollywood was originally published in 2009. This reprint published by arrangement with Duke University Press For saleldistribution in the listed territories only and not for cxport there from Published in India by dxford University Press 201 0 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information stolage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Oxford Cniversity Press. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you musr impose this same condition on any acquirer

For sale in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar only

Printed in India by De Unique, New Delhi 110 018 Published by Oxford University Press YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001

As'sia-Thara Rai, Sarah Husain, Leena Rai, Meera Rai. and Shambhu K. Rai, in appreciation and gratitudefor all you have taught me

There are two ways of considering events, one being to follow the course of the event, gathering how it comes about historically, how it's prepared and then decomposes in history; while the other way is to go back into the event, to take one's place in it as in a becoming, to grow both young and old in it at once, going through all its components and singularities. Becoming isn't part of history; history amounts [to] only the set of preconditions, however recent, that one leaves behind in order to "become," that is, to create something new. This is precisely what Nietzsche calls the Untimely. GILLES DELEUZE,

"Control and Becoming"

............................... i CONTENTS i ................................

Acknowledgments xi Introduction: India and the New Nonlinear Media Assemblage I

PART i

Cinema Becoming New Media

"First Day, First Show": Bollywood Cinemagoing and the New Sensorium 23

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Contagious Multiplicities and the Nonlinear Life of the New Media 55

PART 2

Toward an Ontology ofMedia Durations - "The Best Quality Cinema Viewing.

. . Everywhere, Everytime": On the Malltlplex Mutagen in India 133 "With You Every Moment in Time": On the Emergent Ittafaq (Chance) Assemblage 179

Conclusion: Clinamedia Notes

221

Bibliography 275 Index 291

211

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.................................................. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i

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I have been writing and rewriting this book for about a decade, so acknowledging all those who have helped me to write it couldn't be anything other than untimely. Patricia Clough and Jasbir Puar have been my secret sharers in this adventure of political thought for many years: thanks for all the affects (no, really). My colleagues at the New School, Gary Lemons, Il>c~l could not 1i;ivc li,lppcncd. 111 ol~erltime, at 1c;ist oric 1I1ingthat ciiil not 1iapl)cn cou!d I~;ive.I liinlc oftlic rnonlelir in War ant1 I'encc. ~\,Ile11 Il~l>tov.\vitli 'Iiis lieell spot-tsiliail's e!.e.' re;ilixes that if lie ; I I I ~Ilis liicli c h ; ~ r g ethe l:r-c~lcll.it this moment, they \ \ i l l rtlur rllen~,but if hc w.~its.t l ~ c configur;~rionof tile ircncll troops climl~ingtile hill ivill ch.inge anii tlic oppor-rullity will be lost. 1;ostov 111.1ycliargc (11- 110t.i ~ n dh i \ clloice m,ittrrs. Or considci1)nlitri K:~r.~m,izo\Iiolding LI pestle ovci- liis lhtlier's 1ie;rd .iiitI tryills to tlecidc \vIiethcr to Itill Iiini. I iecoultl tlo eitlicr, tli.it is tIie\vliole poi~lt.l ~ l i e t ~ \ r ~ r i i parc les eildless~'( 6 2 ) . 33 ~ \ l m o s tevery n)ovie clieater owlier 1 \polkc ivirh in I l h o p ~ h,ld l s o m e story to tell ;il)t~l~t s t l ~ d e ~ i ct s~ i i i ~ ~ ~ : i i i t I e etlie r i ~ iprojecrioli g roonl. .ind t1cm;lndillg tlic rc\crc,cning oflcc!, soiig\.

\rentiolls of\~:lrioi~s l k i ~ ~ 011 d s tlie lesser po\vcr\ . ~ r chotli common : ~ n dlcgiti~n.~tc?

L~

;I)

111considering

this e\pcriencc o f o p e n time i l l i;ollywood einernagoing it ~voiild Ihc 11sch11first to PI-ovi~lc~.ilize rlie tioll!,\vood doininant. and \econd. to question

if tioll!~\vood'\ ren~por-,ilped,agogics \vcrc c\,cr r l i ~ t o r ~ lin the first pl.ice even the West. (:crllsider in this reg.ir-d > o i i ~ "rcm~x)ral c strntcgies" of ever!. ti,i)~lift, used I)! the Siirrr,ilists .ind the Situ.itloni\t5 to incerr~iprtlic de.id time ofcnpit,iII \ [ ,ilicn.rt~o~l. ,\\ (:onr,iti Ili~ssellstL1tcs:'.,\n csaml)le of chis kind ofternpor;ll inrer~iil~tioli c;in I)e ti1111ldi i i Erccc~n'sSecond ,Ll,iliifc\tc~c ~ \urre;ilism. f '[he hinl( ~ l c sS~~i-i-c;~Iist t ;ict c o n s ~ \ r \of tl,isIii~lgtio\vn inco [lie itrcct. pistol in h;liid. , i i l t l I I ~ I I l>liriiil!~~ I ~ ; I > t ~ s '1 r s voo c.il riv,il oi the \vesrerll ~~o\\.el-.;. I Ile\e were [lie liinds of compet~tivemetropc1lit;in inrerests th.it h:ld led to imperi:~list; ~ ~ i n c \ , i r i nild o ~ ~conflicts s

ill

tllc

1c)tll

century" [ " t:~npirc.i:icr (;lol~;ilis;ition,"4156). 4 1 SIi,i~-nl:r."lndi;i's l~\l>crrcr~cc \vitli tile ,\lultil)lc\." 42 i i ~ i c I ; ~;111d i r 1 l ; ~ r r i . ; o ~'~C;loi)c~li~:itio~i, ~, N;1tit111,;11itl 'l'ele\~i.;io~~ ill ,\si,i,'' 46. 43 'l'lierc i.;. l ichdige contiilues, Ilrl d(1ul)t .I tiirlgled, co~lrr:idictoivciviii~mict l 1 ~ 1 gives force to music visn;iliz;irio~l." I ~ i t rrllc Illore iln~lledi;lccc c o i l o ~ l ~~~rcssui-cs ic seen1 clc,ir e ~ l o u g h :[lie decline

111 record

\:lies \vorlii\\,ide, the irLigrncntatioiiof

lii;irltet\, the coli.lpse o f m y Ikind of unitai-y!,onrli m,irlier" ("lligging tor l;~-it~ii~l." 14Y). 44 Gop;ll.i~l.(:inenit1 of l~lre~.rupr~on\, 129. 45 Scc llroolts. "l)eil;igog! 111 tile Oispossessed." 46 C,ilvin Sims, "'Synerg!.': 'I lie U~lspcrlienL\'c~rd."N ~ Li'orli1'11nci. C Octol1cr j. ~ y y j . C I , 18: il~rutcdi l l i3nlio. ",\ .\llajor I'rcscnce ill tlie World's ,bl;~rl;eti."203. 47 1;alio. ":\ .\l:llor I'resei~cein the Ll'orld'i il!,~rltets." 210. 48 \ee Scil.ltz. " I lie Ne\\ lioIly\tood." 192. 49 Col-bett. "'l'lle I" ,ig I'icttirc." 26. l'111: