Abstract
Reema Kagti, part of a relatively new group of female Indian directors of popular cinema beginning in the 1990s, is known for her collaborations with fellow director Zoya Akhtar as well as her three directorial features, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd(2007), Talaash(2012), and Gold(2018). While contemporary female directors such as Nandita Das and Kiran Rao are known for their social engagement, Kagti’s works seem to abide by more conventional film formulas. This chapter argues that Kagti’s works cut through the divide between popular and arthouse cinema by mixing modes and genres and refusing to conform to pressures on both sides about what makes “good” cinema. In Talaash, the use of fantasy elements within a commercial film structure offers a twist on the revenge tale. And Gold’s sports plot (like those of Lagaan, Chak De India, and Dangal) uses the conventions of the epic nationalist film to offer a more inclusive vision of the nation. In this way, Kagti’s oeuvre, alongside Akhtar’s, offers a different futurity to popular Hindi cinema beyond the simplistic teleology of Bollywood “gentrification” foreseen by many critics.
