The 9 Emotions of Indian Cinema Hoardings

“The authors have succeeded in creating a book that engages the reader in an unconventional and memorable manner…a sound piece of scholarship that accomplishes its task of introducing Indian aesthetic theory and Tamil hoardings”- Southwest Journal of Cultures

The Erotic. The Valorous. The Furious. The Terror-stricken. The Pathetic. The Comic. The Disgusting. The Marvelous. The Peaceful.

According to the Natyashastra, a second-century Indian theory of aesthetics, there is a spectrum of nine emotions that superior works of art should evoke. This book picks each of the emotions apart, exploding them into their modern context: Tamil cinema billboards, or hoardings, as they are popularly known.

A team of hoarding artists from Chennai's Kollywood movie industry have created monumental paintings expressing each of the nine emotions in their own inimitable style. For the initiated, insightful essays illuminate the intersection of culture, commerce, and politics.