The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 drama based on a Stephen King novella, following banker Andy Dufresne, who is wrongly sentenced to life in prison. Released in September 1994, it earned only about $16 million in its first run, which was blamed on competition from Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the unpopularity of prison films and its title. Over 320,000 VHS copies were shipped, and on the strength of seven Academy Award nominations and word of mouth it became the top video rental of 1995. It was later shown regularly on TNT from 1997, and a re-release lifted its gross to $73.3 million.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.