Liberalisation in India has not only affected humdrum life, but also popular cultural forms. This is palpable in the changing dynamics of the big screen. Indian cinema has become even more 'urbane' now than ever before. No longer can the elite take a 'dekko' at rural India via the silver screen. The movies portray villages that look more like perfect farmhouse retreats, and not spaces where one struggles for the basics of life. Looking at mainstream Hindi films, SOPAN JOSHI finds the 'true' rural settings obliterated from the big screen