During the decade of its existence in India, the multiplex cinema has been very much a sign of the times - both a symptom and a symbol of new social values. Indicative of a consistent push to create a 'globalised' consuming middle class and a new urban environment, multiplex theatres have thus become key sites in the long-running struggle over cultural legitimacy and the right to public space in Indian cities.

This book provides the reader with a comprehensive account of the new leisure infrastructure arising at the intersection between contemporary trends in cultural practice and...