New Books in History C. Yamini Krishna, "Film City Urbanism in India: Hyderabad, from Princely City to Global City ,1890-2000" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Nov 1, 2025
C. Yamini Krishna, a historian and author, dives into the interplay between cinema and urban development in Hyderabad. She discusses how cinema shaped the socio-political landscape of the city from its princely roots to its global status. Krishna explores the impact of Urdu and Telugu on cultural identity and the film industry. She highlights the evolution of Hyderabad's urbanism, including the rise of multiplexes and real estate, while reflecting on nostalgia for single-screen theaters. Her insights connect history, culture, and urban change in a dynamic narrative.
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Archives Rewrote The Research Agenda
- Archival chance discoveries reshaped the book's scope from a narrow question to a century-long history.
- C. Yamini Krishna credits Telangana State Archives finds for reframing cinema-city relations back to 1890s.
Match Methods To Historical Periods
- Krishna used mixed methods across periods: archives for pre-1948, oral histories and union records post-1948, and expert interviews for contemporary shifts.
- She emphasizes changing source languages and archival density across eras as methodological constraints.
Princely Hyderabad Reframes City-Cinema Theory
- Hyderabad challenges colonial-centric city-cinema frameworks because it was a princely state with different patronage and power dynamics.
- Studying Hyderabad expands city-cinema scholarship beyond British India to princely geographies.
