Stories of Indian Cinema. The latest and arguably most lavish film adaptation of the famous 1899 Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada depicts the life of the titular Lucknow courtesan and poet’s rise to fame and her struggle to find love. Made at a time when the use of Urdu in popular Hindi cinema was almost unthinkable in India and from a director known for his patriotic works, this film is remarkable for J. P. Dutta’s sheer audacity to envision it.

$7 members, $10 nonmembers, $5 students with ID

Stories of Indian Cinema. After the immense commercial and critical success of his historical drama Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, producer/writer/director Ashutosh Gowariker decided to tackle a pressing contemporary issue—and do so in a slightly more contemplative way. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan plays a brilliant scientist working for NASA, who discards a shining international career to return to his home country and apply his knowledge and skills to the development of Indian countryside. Swades became an instant cult classic in India, further cementing the status of Khan as the “King of Bollywood” while demonstrating that he is also perfectly capable of serious roles.

$7 members, $10 nonmembers, $5 students with ID

One of the biggest sensations of modern Indian cinema, Lagaan is an epic tale of love and power (and sports!) set in a small village under British occupation. In the year 1893, a rebellious young farmer rallies his community to oppose the tax imposed by the foreign oppressor. An English captain challenges the protesters with cricket, a game then completely unknown in India. The stake is nothing less than the villagers’ lives. A triumph of romance, choreography (in the exhilarating musical numbers), and heart-stopping action, Lagaan displays the genius of the Bollywood style at its very best.

See the exhibition! On view in the museum, Stories of Indian Cinema: Abandoned & Rescued tells the behind-the-scenes tale of how the Eastman Museum acquired the largest collection of contemporary Indian cinema at any museum or archive in the world.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. to offer a hands-on opportunity for you to observe and interact with film archivists from the museum as they inspect reels of film from the George Eastman Museum's Indian cinema collection.

Stories of Indian Cinema: Abandoned & Rescued. Music! Romance! Drama! Suspense! The greatest box office triumph in the history of Indian cinema at the time of its release is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Bollywood in its most popular and beloved form. Spanning three decades—from the 1970s to the new millennium—this cinematic extravaganza is about the magic of love, filmmaking, and reincarnation. Directed by the most acclaimed female director and choreographer of the Indian film industry of modern times, the film stars screen legend Shah Rukh Khan and features no less than 42 celebrities in the musical set piece of the film’s climactic sequence. Its sources of inspiration are two classics: Bimal Roy’s Madhumati (1958) and Rishi Kapoor’s Karz (1980); Kapoor himself is seen dancing in the opening sequence of this exhilarating tribute to cinematic illusion.

$6 members, $8 nonmembers, $4 students with ID