New Books Network 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 is an author and scholar blending film studies with urban history, focusing on Hyderabad's transformation from a princely city to a global hub. She dives into the symbiotic relationship between cinema and the city's socio-political landscape. Topics include how cinema influenced modern Hyderabad's modernization, the impact of linguistic shifts from Urdu to Telugu, and the evolution of Hyderabad into a Telugu production center. Yamini also discusses contemporary trends in labor representation and her future work on Urdu intellectual history.
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From Corporate Life To Rapid PhD Entry
- Yamini left the corporate world after paying off student loans and joined academia with little prior planning.
- She entered a PhD program quickly and used her media background to study film and the city in Hyderabad.
Archives Reshaped The Research Question
- Archival chance discoveries reshaped the book's central question about cinema before Telugu films in Hyderabad.
- The archive revealed film-related traces across state records that reoriented the project's timeline and scope.
Hyderabad Expands City-Cinema Frameworks
- Hyderabad challenges existing city-cinema frameworks focused on colonial cities like Bombay or Madras.
- As a princely city, Hyderabad exposes different dynamics like patronage and archival silences that expand urban film studies.
