From Blackface “Baboos” to Bollywood
Abstract
What could Dave Carson, a US American minstrel in British India, have in common with Ardhendu Sekhar Mustafi, pioneer of Bengali public theatre? Or with Hindi cinema superstar, Amitabh Bachchan? These seemingly unrelated actors are yoked together across time and space by their distinct Indianized interpretations of the urban dandy, each of which shares an unexpected ancestry with blackface characters like Long-Tail Blue and Zip Coon.
Fields of Study & Subjects
South Asian Cinema and Culture
Theatre and Performance Studies
South Asian Studies and Diaspora
Publication details
- Journal / source
- TDR/The Drama Review
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 126–141
- Publication date
- 1 March 2026
- Language
- EN