Film Noir and the Dark Spaces of New Hindi Cinema

Abstract

This chapter explores another dimension of the urban uncanny and dark imagination by dealing with a cinematic form, which has become if not dominant, then visible in most of the new Hindi films—film noir. The chapter argues that the emergence of film noir globally always coincides with a state of crisis, be it social, cultural, political or economic, or a mixture of all. Film noir began to emerge in India as a key film form of new Hindi cinema in early 2000s—a decade after the neoliberal reforms, and signified the uncertainty, isolation and violence in an urban space in India. The chapter analyses the work of Anurag Kashyap, one of the key filmmakers of film noir in India.