Hyderabad, Feb. 8 -- If you walk into a multiplex in Hyderabad today, the dominance of the Telugu film industry feels ancient and natural. But according to the researcher and author, Dr C. Yamini Krishna, this is a narrative that began only a few decades ago.

Speaking to Siasat.com on the final day of the History Literature Festival at Hyderabad Public School, Yamini Krishna traced Hyderabad's cinematic history beyond the familiar Telugu timeline, drawing attention to Urdu film cultures that existed long before the industry arrived in the city.

The author of Film City Urbanism in India, Yamini Krishna was in Hyderabad as a speaker at the festival's session Cinema of Hyderabad: Pasts and Futures, alongside SV Srinivas and Srinivas Kondra...