If the West had its Swinging Sixties, Hindi cinema had its Seventies. Everything that journalists today call ‘retro’ when referring to Bollywood is a product of the 1970s. But to refer to the decade as ‘swinging’ and ‘retro’ is missing the wood for the trees. The 1970s is the most influential decade of Hindi cinema. Not the 1950s, not the 1960s which unapologetic nostalgists hark back to. In the range and quality that the decade offered in terms of the art and craft of film-making, the music, fashion trends, the coexistence of commercial blockbusters with minimalist arthouse classics – the 1970s had it all. The Swinging Seventies brings together a collection of essays that celebrate the myriad dimensions of this happening decade – the fashion, the music, the different genres of films, the iconic stars, the many moods and memories that have kept the decade alive in our collective consciousness. Put together by two film buffs who swear by the films of the decade – Nirupama Kotru and Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri – and including essays by almost every well-known name writing on Hindi cinema in India today, this is every film aficionado’s gateway to a decade of cinema like no other.

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