
Seeing Things
Spectral Materialities of Bombay Horror
Kartik Nair(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 13. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-520-39228-1 (ISBN)
Description
In 1980s India, the Ramsay Brothers and other filmmakers produced a wave of horror movies about soul-sucking witches, knife-wielding psychopaths, and dark-caped vampires. Seeing Things is about the sudden cuts, botched makeup effects, continuity errors, and celluloid damage found in these movies. Kartik Nair reads such "failures" as clues to the conditions in which the films were made, censored, and seen, offering a view from below of the world's largest film culture. By combining close analysis with extensive archival research and original interviews, Seeing Things reveals the spectral materialities informing the genre's haunted houses, grotesque bodies, and graphic violence.
Reviews / Votes
"Peeling off the monstrous mask of the horror genre, Seeing Things reveals a broad historical scope that encompasses independent film production, circulation, and regulation at a critical turning point in India's film history." * Film Quarterly * "Nair's Seeing Things marks a milestone in contemporary scholarly attention to the history of Indian cinemas." * South Asian Review *More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
26 b-w figures
Dimensions
Height: 152 mm
Width: 229 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
424 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-39228-1 (9780520392281)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2024
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Kartik Nair is Assistant Professor of Film Studies in the Department of Film and Media Arts at Temple University.
Content
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Accidental Exposures
1. Paper Cuts: Inside the Bureaucratic Encounter with Darwaza
2. Celluloid Splatter: The Graphic Violence of Jaani Dushman
3. Unsettling Design: Built Atmosphere in Purana Mandir
4. Making Monsters: Veerana and the Craft of Excess
5. Hidden Circuits: Kabrastan from Film to Videotape
Epilogue: An Archive of Failures
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Accidental Exposures
1. Paper Cuts: Inside the Bureaucratic Encounter with Darwaza
2. Celluloid Splatter: The Graphic Violence of Jaani Dushman
3. Unsettling Design: Built Atmosphere in Purana Mandir
4. Making Monsters: Veerana and the Craft of Excess
5. Hidden Circuits: Kabrastan from Film to Videotape
Epilogue: An Archive of Failures
Notes
Bibliography
Index