The volume celebrates commercial Hindi cinema over the decades, tracing the link between these movies and the society even as they provide an escape route from mundane reality. It provides an overview of commercial Hindi cinema by studying the many themes of Hindi films and their popular characters. Entertaining through the text as well as stunning photographs from films and of characters that spell landmarks in the evolution of the cinema, it explores the love themes, the invincible ‘mother figure’, singing and dancing, the emotional highs and lows, famous villains and enchanting sirens, and the genre of comedy as expressed in commercial Hindi cinema.