This course introduces students to the representations and practices of “love” in Bombay Cinema and Bollywood. Bollywood is saturated with stories of love, its contradictions and challenges, and is a major cultural, commercial and political force in the shaping of love in modern India. Through a study of iconic films in post-independence India, students will learn about the kinds of love (romantic, nation, family), the hurdles in love (caste, class, sexuality, religion) and the commerce of love (wedding industry, music). Students will learn how social and cinematic conceptions of love shape each other, how the practice and experience of love have changed and how the history of modern India can be read through a history of love in Bollywood.