JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Bollywood audience we were waiting for? Pathaan 's dancing-fans.

  • Published In: New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film, 2023, v. 21, n. 1. P. 109 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Magazine, Aakshi 3 of 3

Abstract

This article analyzes the widespread social media celebration of the "dancing-fans" who vocally expressed their fandom during the release of the Bollywood film *Pathaan*. It argues that this contemporary performative fandom, often linked to organized fan clubs, represents a professionalized and gentrified version of the historically marginalized and pejoratively termed "frontbencher"—lower-class, vocal cinema audiences of single-screen theatres. The article situates this shift within the broader context of the "gentrification" of Hindi cinema exhibition since the 1990s, marked by the rise of multiplexes that have increasingly excluded lower-income viewers. It cautions that the uncritical celebration of these new dancing-fans obscures ongoing issues of accessibility and class-based exclusion in Indian cinema spaces.

Additional Information

  • Source:New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film. 2023/03, Vol. 21, Issue 1, p109
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Film
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:1474-2756
  • DOI:10.1386/ncin_00045_1
  • Accession Number:179635424
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