Ajay Gehlawat
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Theatre & Film
Contact
Office
Carson 33About
Professor Ajay Gehlawat explores how film, culture, and storytelling shape the way we understand identity, society, and the world around us.
His teaching and research focus on international cinema, Bollywood, film theory, and cultural studies, with particular attention to South Asian cinema and the global influence of popular film.
His scholarship examines the connections between cinema, politics, gender, race, and cultural identity. Through interdisciplinary learning, he encourages students to look beyond entertainment and discover how films reflect and influence the societies that produce them.
Education
| Degree | Institution |
|---|---|
| Ph.D., Theatre and Film | City University of New York Graduate Center |
| M.A., Cinema Studies | New York University |
| B.A., English | University of California, Berkeley |
Academic Interests
- International Cinema & Film Theory
- Bollywood & South Asian Cinema
- Film, Politics & Society
- Gender, Sexuality & Cultural Identity
- Race & Ethnicity in American Cinema
- Documentary Film
- Postcolonial & Critical Cultural Studies
- Global Popular Culture
Research
Cinema, Culture & Global Storytelling
Professor Gehlawat's research explores how popular cinema reflects cultural identity, political movements, gender, and social change.His work examines Bollywood's global influence, representations of race and ethnicity, and the ways films communicate ideas about culture, society, and belonging. Ajay connects film studies with broader questions about history, politics, and contemporary life.
Selected Publications & Presentations
Books
| Publication | Publisher & Year |
|---|---|
| Routledge Handbook of South Asian Cinemas (Co-editor with Jayson Beaster-Jones) | Routledge, 2026 |
| Bollypolitics: Popular Hindi Cinema and Hindutva | Bloomsbury, 2024 |
| The Evolution of Song and Dance in Hindi Cinema (Co-editor with Rajinder Dudrah) | Routledge, 2019 |
| Twenty-First Century Bollywood | Routledge, 2015 |
| The Slumdog Phenomenon: A Critical Anthology (Editor) | Anthem Press, 2013 |
| Reframing Bollywood: Theories of Popular Hindi Cinema | Sage, 2010 |
Selected Articles & Book Chapters
| Publication | Journal / Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Disco Nazia: Disarticulating Female Playback and the Heroine in Early 80s Hindi Cinema | South Asian History and Culture | 2023 |
| Hungama Ho Gaya? The Erotic Threat of Female Intoxication in Hindi Film Songs | Feminist Media Studies | 2023 |
| Female Bonds in Bollywood | International Journal of James Bond Studies | 2022 |
| Plus-Size Femininity: The Multiple Figurations of Bhumi Pednekar | Rutgers University Press | 2021 |
| From Indianization to Globalization: Tracking Bond in Bollywood | Amsterdam University Press | 2020 |
| Having It Both Ways: The Janus-Like Career of Kareena Kapoor | Springer | 2020 |
| Main Hoon Farah: The Choreographer as Auteur | Sage | 2017 |
| From Vamp to Queen: The Remixed Sound of the Bollywood Scene | Routledge | 2016 |
| Why Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: The Representation of Otherness in Mainstream Teen Cinema | Peter Lang | 2013 |
| The Strange Case of The Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race | Journal of African American Studies | 2010 |
Selected Presentations
| Presentation | Event | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Politicized End Credits Song Sequence of Jawan | Music and the Moving Image Conference, New York University | 2026 |
| All the Other -Ollywoods: Cinemas of South Asia | Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley | 2026 |
| The Modi-fication of Bollywood | Annual Conference on South Asia | 2023 |
| Soooooryavanshi! The Hindutva Soundscape of Contemporary Bollywood | Annual Conference on South Asia | 2023 |
| Black Voice, Brown Skin: Auto-Tuning Akon for Bollywood | UC Berkeley | 2017 |
| Here Comes the Bollywood Bride: Rearranging Marriages in 21st-Century Indian Cinema | Sonoma County Museum | 2015 |
| Where Is This Story Going? The Paradiegetic Pleasures of Popular Hindi Cinema | Asian Art Museum, San Francisco | 2015 |