"Quit India" The Image of the Indian Patriot on the Commercial British Film and Television, 1956-1985

Quit India is a refreshing look at the changing image of India's struggle for independence. The book focuses on the images of two protagonists, namely the Indian Patriot and the British Official, and the recurring theme of the Indian Collaborator with the British Occupying Forces in British Indian film and television during the Cold War Era, 1956-1985. Emphasizing this time period allows insights into how old habits die hard in Indian film, and how in the first decade the Indian Patriot, was still considered a villain, while the collaborator and the British Officials were portrayed as noble and kind models of behaviour, a trend first beginning in 1930s British colonial epics. However, from 1967 onwards, there is shown to be a radical change, and the Indian Patriot emerges as a pure, courageous, and even saintly figure, while both the Indian Collaborator and the British Colonial Officials began to exhibit more negative traits. By using a variety of primary and secondary sources, and utilizing Gramsci's theory of Common Sense/Folklore, and the theory of reception studies, this book traces the evolution of these central figures in British Indian film and television, and provides a cohesive narrative of a story, which began in 1935 and ended 50 years later, in which one character began as a villain and ended a saint, while the others began as saints, and ended as villains.