"This beautifully crafted, path-breaking book situates south Indian 'classical' dance in the genealogies of modernity. Krishnan's argument—that Bharatanayam emerged in symbiosis with a cinema permeated by dance and its hereditary practitioners—is simply compelling."—Indira Peterson, Mount Holyoke College

"A striking achievement, Celluloid Classicism deepens and broadens conventional histories of South Indian performance. Meticulously researched and conceptually rich, Krishnan's work illustrates the aesthetic debt modern bharata natyam owes to South Indian cinema while also demonstrating cinema's reliance on local dance and theatre traditions."—Janet O'Shea, author of At Home in the World: Bharata Natyam on the Global Stage