From cinema to television to streaming platforms, South Asians have been part of some of the most iconic projects — from Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and Indian Matchmaking to Bollywood classics such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Rangeela to diaspora gems such as Bend It Like Beckham and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle to masterpieces such as Jallikattu.

We’ve also profiled some of the biggest movers and shakers in the industry, from Riz Ahmed, Mira Nair, Aneesh Chaganty, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Neeraj Ghaywan to Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Aparna Shewakramani.

Why it matters: The Hindi film industry was technically founded in the Indian subcontinent only a year after Hollywood, in 1912. Yet, most media coverage of our rich contribution to cinema and television goes unexplored or reduces analysis to “representation.” We re-examine films or shows we might have loved earlier, the geopolitics of filmmaking today, and where the industry is going.

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