Dhrupad is the oldest known major vocal style of Hindustani classical music, a slow and austere form built around devotional and heroic themes. Its name comes from Sanskrit words meaning fixed and verse. Performers begin with an alap, an unmetered improvisation sung on syllables such as ri and na, which can last an hour in most styles and gradually builds rhythmic pulse. The composition then follows four sections, sthayi, antara, sanchari and abhoga, returning gently to the opening melody. It was a major court form at Gwalior under Man Singh Tomar in the 15th-16th centuries, and the Mughal court later recognised several styles of it. Khyal developed from it later, adding ornament and shorter, livelier forms.

In 1909 D. W. Griffith made a 14-minute film about a speculator who corners the wheat market and doubles the price of bread. A farmer sows his field while a 'Wheat King' gambles in the Chicago wheat pit; bakers raise the loaf from five cents to ten and the poor line up for bread. Griffith cut back and forth between the farm, the feast and the breadline, a technique called parallel editing, so audiences saw both ends of the economy at once. The film drew on Frank Norris's stories and on a real scheme: months earlier Chicago financier James Patten had cornered wheat, sent bread prices up and made about $5 million, roughly $185 million today.