About this episode
The episode explores how the arrival of colour and film technology transformed cinema and its cultural politics.
How did the arrival of colour and film technology transform cinema and its cultural politics? Laurie Taylor explores the intertwined histories of technology, aesthetics, and identity. Swarnavel Eswaran, filmmaker and scholar at Michigan State University, introduces us to the remarkable story of Kodak Krishnan – Eastman Kodak’s “man from the East.” Krishnan played a pivotal role in bringing American film technology to India during the mid-20th century, a period when cinema was becoming a powerful medium for shaping ideas of modernity and national pride. Kirsty Sinclair Dootson, Associate Professor in the History of Art department at University College London, is one of the organisers of the Bombay Colour Research Network. Her book The Rainbow’s Gravity asked how new colour media transformed the way Britain saw itself and its empire between 1856 and 1968. Her research also examines how colour technologies – from early tinting processes to the vibrant palettes of Bollywood musicals became part of debates over race, class, and cultural representation. Kirsty Sinclair Dootson is one of the academics who has been a New Generation Thinker, on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and…
People in this episode
Host: Laurie Taylor
Guests: Swarnavel Eswaran, Kirsty Sinclair Dootson
Topics covered
- colour in film
- cinema technology
- cultural politics
- modernity
- national pride
- cultural representation
Keywords
- colour
- film technology
- cinema
- cultural politics
- modernity
- national pride
- Bollywood
- race
- class
- cultural representation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Michigan State University, University College London, BBC, Arts and Humanities Research Council
Books & works: The Rainbow’s Gravity
Places: India, Britain, Bombay
More episodes of Thinking Allowed
- Football and gambling · June 9, 2026 · 28 min
- Ethics in sociological research · June 2, 2026 · 28 min
- Suicide, Society and Liveability · May 26, 2026 · 27 min
- Debt and Wealth Inequality · March 10, 2026 · 28 min
- Extreme Sports · March 3, 2026 · 28 min
- The demise of Grand Theory? · February 25, 2026 · 28 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Thinking Allowed podcast page.