BBC Radio 4’s ‘Screenshot’ to air Indian blockbusters special

BBC Radio 4’s ‘Screenshot’ is to air a special programme on Indian blockbusters. Inspired by the record-breaking success of the huge action epic ‘RRR’, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore contemporary Indian cinema, with the help of some of its key players.

Ellen takes a closer look at the box office smash that is ‘RRR’. She talks to the film’s director SS Rajamouli, who is responsible for three of the top five highest-grossing Indian films of all time. They discuss Rajamouli’s role in the Pan-Indian Cinema movement and why he thinks ‘RRR’ has become such a hit across the world.

Mark, with the help of two time Academy award & BAFTA winning superstar composer AR Rahman and British-Tamil film & TV critic and broadcaster Ashanti Omkar, investigates how Indian cinema has gone global over the last two decades and asks whether it might be time to retire the term ‘Bollywood’.

British actor Nikesh Patel, star of hit romcom Starstruck, also shares what he’s been watching recently.

The ‘Screenshot’ series guides through the ever-expanding world of the moving image. Each episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

The Indian blockbusters special airs on Friday 23rd September at 19:15 – 20:00. The show will also be available on BBC Sounds.