The Mythological Film and its Framework of Meaning: An Analysis of "Jai Santoshi Ma"
With the unprecedented success of Jai Santoshi Ma, a glossy Bombay film which continues to play to full houses, a little known goddess has become the centre of a new cult in many urban centres. This paper seeks to explore the cultural grammar within which the story of Santoshi Ma was created and speculates about the nature of social groups and categories within which this goddess has elicited such an enthusiastic response.