![]() ![]() From the OED, we learn that infrastructure is etymologically composed of two parts: “infra” is a Latin prefix that has a dual meaning of both “below, underneath, beneath” or “within,” and “struct-” that in classical Latin was the past participle stem of “struere,” or to build (Sack, 2015). Given the centrality of the term, it is important to provide a better definition. Already, I have begun to use “infrastructure” in a general sense to refer to logistical aspects of distribution. Again, while there is a significant body of work on Indian cinema that has focused on the textuality of film to engage with a varied range of themes such as national identity (Chakravarty, 1993), spectatorship (Vasudevan, 2011) and urban history (Mazumdar, 2007), there has been scarce theoretical attention paid to the material aspects of film production, specifically its infrastructural underpinnings. Although the fracas settled quickly with cinema proprietors ceding to Khan, the event calls attention to a surprising oversight in South Asian cinema studies-apart from Lalitha Gopalan’s Cinema of Interruptions (2009), the intermission itself is an entirely under-theorized subject of critical inquiry.īut what would a study of the intermission entail? To return to the image of the concession stand in the theater, the challenge is not just to critically examine the vast body of interstitial advertising projected during the break, but also follow the action out of the cinema hall, i.e., to think of cinema as infrastructure. On the other, cinema owners (especially of the newer multiplexes) responded with vocal resistance, complaining mostly about lost revenues from food sales at concession stands. On one hand Khan’s request garnered praise from fellow filmmakers and cultural critics in India who supported his argument for an uninterrupted, “pure” filmic experience. This was the first time in the history of popular Indian cinema that a filmmaker, or any entity for that matter, had tried to disrupt this entrenched practice. ![]() So, when veteran Bollywood actor Aamir Khan declared a “no-intermission” exhibition contract for his film Dhobi Ghat in 2011, the debate that followed was to be well expected. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the mechanics are quite simple-about halfway through a film (be it a Bollywood, Tollywood or even Hollywood release) at a cliffhanger or crucial plot point, the theater lights turn back on, interstitial advertising is displayed on the screen and the audience can stretch their legs and visit the concession stand. While the intermission has long been phased out from cinemas in most parts of the world, the “samosa break” (as it is referred to in Bombay vernacular), is very much a routine and ongoing experience for audiences in India. ![]()
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