Reading Indian Cinema

HS3050
 Course Content:
• Overview of Indian Cinema; Aesthetics of
Indian Cinema; Nature and Evolution of
Genres (Mythological, Social, Realistic and
Melodramatic); Globalization and Indian
Cinema and Cinema and Politics
 Overview of Indian Cinema

• Indian Cinema was recognized

internationally in 1955
By Satyajit Ray

• Bollywood
• 1896- first clip shown by Lumiere brothers in Bombay

• 1913- first full length feature film (Silent)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zevm0Zjc-k
The Silent Era
• It was directed by Dada Saheb Phalke
• Inspired by the film The Life of Christ
(1906)
• Released on 3rd May 1913 at Coronation
and Cinematograph and Variety Hall
• Female roles were played by men
 Cont…
• 1916- Fist Tamil Silent Film Keechaka Vadham by R.
Nataraja Mudaliar

• 1919 First Bengali Silent Film Bilwamangal

• 1921 First Telugu Silent Film Bhishma Pratigna

 What is a feature film?

• The term feature film originally referred to the main,

full-length film in a cinema program that also included
a short film and often newsreel.

• It lasts for 75-210 minutes.

• The first (proto)-feature-length film adaptation was 

Les Misérables (1909, U.S.)
 What is a talkie film?

• A talkie film has sound unlike silent films.

 Talkie Films
• 1931-Alam Ara (had 7 songs) Indrasabha had 71 songs

Dir. By Ardershir Irani produced by Imperial Film Company

 Regional Cinema marked their beginning of Talkie films in
1931

• 1St Bengali Film Jamai Sasthi

• 1st Telugu Film Bhakta Prahalad
• 1st Tamil Film Kalidas
 Indian Cinema from 1930’s to 1950’s
• Themes were social injustice 5. Mehboob’s Watan
Example; 6. Ek Hi Raasta
1. V Shantaram’s Duniya Na Mane 7. Aurat
2. Admi aur Padosi
3. Franz Osten’s Achhut Kanya
4. Damle and Fatehlal’s Sant Tukaram
 1930’s Decade
• Ardeshir Irani attempted color picture in 1937 with Kisan Kanya
• In this decade many regional talkie films released
- Ayodhiyecha Raja (Marathi)
- Narasinh Mehta (Gujrati)
- Dhruv Kumar (Kannada)
- Sita Bibaha (Odiya)
- Joymali (Assamese)
- Sheila (Punjabi)
- Balan (Malyalam)
• Movie Wrath (1930) was banned by British Raj in India as it depicted actors as
Indian Leaders
 Cont…
• 1936 the film Karma had a bold ‘kissing seen’ was ahead of its
time.
 New Indian Cinema
• Emerged towards the end of 1960s
• It was a reaction to the popular cinema
• It showed social significance
• Artistic sincerity
• Humanistic perspective
 New Indian Cinema/Parallel Cinema
• Emerged towards the end of 1960s
• Color cinema ‘Kisan Kanya’ by Irani in 1937
• Mother India(1957) by Mehboob Khan was nominated for the
Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6LzF-GMovU
• Mughle Azam by K. Asif (1960)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7hP9UNp0Hw
 It was a reaction to the popular cinema

• Though commercial cinema was at rise, Parallel cinema

movement emerged, mainly led by Bengali cinema
• Movies like;
• Neecha Nagar (1946) by Chetan Anand it won the Grand Prize
at Cannes Film Festival
• Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen (Two Acres of Land) (1953)
Famous Parallel Cinema Directors
 It showed social significance
• Pyaasa (1957) By Guru Dutt
Vijay a poet writes about the social
issues such as unemployment and poetry
rather than romance. Also the hypocrisy
of the worlds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJK45r-j6TU
• Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) By Guru Dutt
• Failures of a director as a father,
husband, lover and as a person, male ego
Also Neecha Nagar
 Artistic sincerity

• Being sincere to art

• Reform society through art
Humanistic perspective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9KAoTQlEWs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMsIXfGdfXE
 Modern Cinema the age of Angry Young Man

• Late 1960s and early 1970s

• Romance movies
• Action movies
• Actors like; Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna,
Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Helen followed
by Hema Malini, Mithun Chakravarty, Jaya Bachachan,
Anil Kapoor and Rekha.
• Art Film was at its epitome
• But with Sholay (1975) commercial cinema
regained its status as popular cinema

• Deewar (1975)
The Era of 80s and 90s
Family centric movies and romantic
musicals
• Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
• Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
• Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994)
Stars of the New Generation
 Action Comedy and Entry of New Actors
• Introduced
Govinda
Akshay Kumar
Raveena Tandon
Karishma Kapoor
 2000s
• Break through movies
Lagaan (2001)
Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Devdas (2002)
Koi Mil Gaya (2003)
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
Munnabhai MBBS (2003)
Veer Zara (2004)
Swades (2004)
Dhoom (2004)
Rang De Basanti (2006)
Krrish (2006)
 2010-2021
• A Wednesday (2008) 
• Special 26 (2013)
• OMG: Oh My God! ( 2012)
• Karwaan (2018)
• Newton (2017)
•  Article 15 (2019)
•  Section 375
• Udaan 
• Love Sex Aur Dhokha 
• Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara -Wanderlust
•  Ishqiya-hit-and-miss run with thrillers
• Delhi Belly- heist dark comedy
• Kahani- thriller
• Gangs of Wasseypur 1 and 2- redefining gangster era
• Vicky Donor- Sperm Doner
• English Vinglish-Tale of a housewife
• The Lunchbox- unconventional love story
• Highway-journey of a young woman's acceptance of her childhood
and adult trauma, and a representation of how love can both, heal
and destroy. 
• Queen- Satire on Indian Marriage System
• Haider
• Dum Laga Ke Haisha
• Masaan- Indian society's parochial set-up
 Film Associations
• In 1927, the British Government, in order to promote the market in
India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian
Cinematograph Enquiry Committee.
• The ICC consisted of three British and three Indians, led by T.
Rangachari, a Madras lawyer.
• Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu was an Indian artist and a pioneer in the
production of silent Indian movies and talkies.
• The industry had set up its associations like the IMPPA (Indian Motion
Pictures of the producers Association) in 1937.
• In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the Hollywood and
Chinese film industries, became a global enterprise.
• In 1949, the Cinematograph Act was amended to make
censorship a central subject, as per recommendations of the
1927 Enquiry Committee
• Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-
certification body in the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition
of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952.
 Brownie points
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVdY68-bTs
• https://thewire.in/film/top-10-indian-movies-released-on-ott-
platforms-in-2021
• PRASADS IMAX THEATRE HOUSES AT HYDERABAD
apparently one of the largest IMAX-3D in the world (along with
the world's largest in Sydney, Australia).
• PVR CINEMAS in Bangalore is one of the largest cinema chains
in India
• RAMOJI FILM CITYBased in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in India,
Ramoji Film City, the world's largest integrated film studio.
Mission OTT
Aesthetics of Indian Cinema
 Some Questions
• What are our eyes attracted to?

• What is the motive behind camera?

• What is visual information of an image?

 Aesthetics of Cinema
• Mise-en-scène- refers to everything that appears before the camera
• Originally a French Theatrical Term which means Placing on Stage
1) composition
2) sets 
3) props 
4) actors
5) costumes
6) lighting
• The various elements of design help express a film's vision by
generating a sense of time and space, as well as setting a
mood, and sometimes suggesting a character's state of
mind. 

Example- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chi9hsfYcDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeDOMOEFx0g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQzlgI9vKwY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3lYnw1jThE
• "Mise-en-scène" also includes the composition, which consists
of the positioning and movement of actors, as well as objects,
in the shot
• It is important to evaluate all the visual information you have in
front of you. Then you can take that frame and move into
celluloid.
• . In Ra.One, when SRK dies, he has a Christian burial...

• ... and in the next scene, his wife does this!

• In Pyaar Ka Punchnama, did the bike magically evolve into a
Jeep?
• Hritik Roshan Arrives in a Red Car to college in K3G and later
the movie shows that he has a silver one.
• Sonam Kapoor dancing in Bhag Mikhla Bhag has a mobile
tower in the background.
 Mise-en-shot
1)The way the scenes are filmed
2)The position of the camera • Style of movement • scaling of
shots • One shot duration (8mins) • Progress of editing
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuffUZjbDKk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNE4LKDg-Ts
3) Using a long take- Changes from time to time

4)Using deep focus photography- All three, Foreground, middle-ground,

background are focused all the time during the photography of deep focus which
provides space for several action shot at the same time. These shots can be edited
together to present action..

5)Using continuity editing- Continuity editing is a lot like creating a synthetic

unity of space and time from the scene or cuts. Filmmakers may undeniably use editing
instead of the long take.
6) The 180° Rule- means of enabling the viewer to maintain a sense of
continuous space within a location is to avoid any shots that might apparently reverse
the posture of the characters. This is achieved by imagining a line running across the
set or location, over which the camera cannot cross; this is known as the 180° Rule.

7) Setting- No matter how fine the set, there is a difference in feel between studio
and location footage – the dynamism of characters driving real cars through real streets
 Cinematography and Shots
Cinematography
• -affects tone or general atmosphere of
a film
• -requires a wide angle lens to capture
the beauty and depth
• - it also depends on the
cinematographers pre-conceived
imagination
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRnX0iljCBU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWc6wbiazw
 The Cinematic Response
• The aesthetic of the film largely depends on the theme you choose
for your movie
• If you choose to show rich the shot
will be wide whereas when you
choose to show poor the shot
will be cramped
• The color also changes accordingly
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nDSBaoVZw
 Class Assignment
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xif0evTuVk – song from
Mughl-E- Azam

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6lHUn20J5g – song from

Baji Rao Mastani
• Word limit 250 to be submitted in google classroom
 Aesthetics of Indian Cinema
1) Theme
2) Dance, Song and Music
3) Masala movies
4) Ideologies
5) Melodrama
6) Representation
 Technology-Realism-Tradition
• Functioning of cinema
• Exact re-presentation of physical reality
• Good cinema also constituted as cinematic aesthetic
• Technology is driven by cost
• Stardom and its fundamental to the current system of
commercial production and distribution
• 1951- KGF-1 1951- Awara

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=galli+galli+mein+phirta+hai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3IdW8Q6Yw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMY8f2qW3Xk
 Themes
In Indian Cinema
• Mythological
• Social
• Love
• Historical
• Realistic
• Humanistic
• Nationalist Cinema
 Mythological

• Amar Chitra Katha (1967)- Anant Pai

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWf_sETEFUE
• Inception of mythological films-
• Films like Raajneeti and Raavan or Ra One simplistically implies
mythological characters and story and has been presented to
the audience with the glimpse of the actual storyline in politics
and technology.
 Karna Yudhish
tir/
(Ajay Krishna
Devgan (Ranbir
) Kapoor

Duryodh
an
(Manoj Raajneeti
Bajpayee

Shakuni
 Ramayan

Raavan Ra One
Raavan/Raavanan (2010) by Mani Ratnam

Raavan (Abhishek
Bachaan)/ (Vikram)

Ram (Vikram)/(Prithviraj)

Sita (Aishwarya Rai)

Tamil Hindi
 Raavan

Stockholm Syndrome

Grey character Ambiguous in nature tribal

• Assignment-1
• Analyse the movies Raavan and Ra. One along with the original
myth Ramayana and focus on the character of Raavana as
represented in the myth and in the films.
• Complete the Assignment and submit before mid sem it carries
15 marks and should be original work. Submit in word format
and should not be more than 3 pages.
 Social
• From films like Do Bigha Zameen (1953) to Article 15 and Jai Bheem
(2021)
• Land issue
• Widow remarriage
• Caste issue

Prem Rog 1982

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5YraEqukYI
 Water-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RewNn2r2P3g
• May 26, 2006 — -- A film about Hindu society's treatment of widows is under attack for a second time by Hindu
nationalists in the Indian holy city of Varanasi.

• "Water," which premiered recently in New York, is Indian-born film director Deepa Mehta's portrayal of widows
living in subhuman conditions in a Varanasi ashram -- or sanctuary -- in the 1930s.

• When Canada-based Mehta filmed by the Ganges River in Varanasi in 2000, angry Hindu mobs launched violent
protests, demolishing the set and equipment and threatening Mehta because the film was "anti-Hindu.“

• Hindu nationalists say that these conditions no longer exist but a visit to the ashram where widows live --
whether in Varanasi or Vrindavan in north India that is known for its large widow population -- can vouch for the
fact that little has changed.
 Class Assignment 2
• Write at least 5 points about the social issue in the movie that
you feel were vital.( Minimum 100 words)
• Address the issue of widows as presented in the movie and
share your views. (Minimum 60 words)
• What other social issues did you witness in the movie other
than the age long shackles of religious codes of conduct for
widow women. (Minimum 60 words)
 Historical
Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) Historical
by Satyajit Ray- only Hindi film by him. Based on • Mughle-azam (1960)
Munshi Premchand’s short story of the same • Gandhi (1982)
name.
• Lagaan (2001)
• Pinjar (2003)
• The Ledgend of Bhagat Singh (2002)
• Mohenjo Daro
• Rang De Basanti
• Panipat
 Love

Girl and boy High class boy A boy falling A girl falling for Gay and
from different falling for a poor for a much a married man lesbian
religion girl and vice-verse older women and vice-versa relationships

Dil Chahta Life in a Kapoor

Hai Metro and Sons
 Realistic and Humanistic

Realistic Humanistic
• The Great Indian Kitchen
• Realistic cinema can be defined as
something hat happened in reality • Manjhi the Mountain Man
• Bandit Queen (1994) • Hirak Rajar Deshe 
• Aandhi (1975 • The Sky is Pink
• No One Killed Jessica (2011)
• Satyagraha
• Guru
• Mary Kom
• Bhag Milkha Bhag
 Song, Dance and Music

Evolved choreography Evolution

• 1930s with features such as Alam Ara (1931), India’s first

• Movies like ABCD
sound film, the use of music, song, and dance
ABCD2 ABCD3 • ‘brashness’ and ‘verve’ of their instrumental
• Indian movies have combinations (Ray)
lots of dance numbers • shifting from little more than impromptu moves around
• 1)Hindi tree trunks to highly choreographed affairs featuring
• 2) Telgu
scores of professional dancers and exotic backgrounds
• recordings, choreographies and —how they interact with
the rest of the film
• Can song and dance be considered as scholarship?
• Gregory Booth examines song and dance as storytelling devices
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0N1tL7kdL4 -1930s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thF7srd0tzY -1940s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdfYk1BbOOQ -1950s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=617JeAGw_84 -1960s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5t894l5b1w -1970s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjN8LVK_pE -1980s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7C5dcTW93Q -1990s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0YEug9EiE -2000-2009
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erCHgiDPq8U -2010-2022
 Nationalist Cinema
• “Cinema is an immense force which by the subtlety of its nature moulds the
opinion of millions in the course of its apparently superficial business of
merely providing entertainment.” — Panna Shah, 1950
• Films have been an important component in the nation-building
process.
• newsreel films documented the ongoing nationalist movement, such
as the "Great Bengal Partition Movement: Meeting and Procession"
(1905), "The Terrible Hyderabad Floods" (1908), "Delhi Durbar and
Coronation" (1911), and "Cotton Fire at Bombay" (1912).
R P Paranjape, the mathematician on whom
The Return of Wrangler Paranjape is based. • 1902
• The Return of Wrangler Paranjape
• “The Return of Wrangler Paranjpe to
India” was a newsreel film by
Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar
which celebrated the achievements of
the Indian mathematician R P
Paranjpe, who had attained the
distinction of being made a Senior
Wrangler at Cambridge University.
 List of nationalist cinema

• 1947 Chalis Karod- by Nanabhai Bhatt showed Hindu and Muslim protagonists
opposing the vivisection of a map of India. Members of the All India Muslim League
opposed the film and, in some theatres, cut the screen with blades.

• Razia Begum- Earlier in 1924, Dhirendranath Ganguly, an award-winning director, made

“Razia Begum” to promote the message of communal harmony. It was financed by the
Nizam of Hyderabad, but because Ganguly had fictionalised the film, the Nizam withdrew his
patronage, and Ganguly was asked to leave his court.

• 1920 — 1950-There were also other films like V Shantaram’s “Padosi” (1941), Nazir’s
“Bhalai” (1943) and G K Mehta’s “Bhaichara” (1943), all of which had a message of
communal harmony.
• 1900 — 1910
• Other newsreels and documentaries
produced at this time were also in support of
the political causes and social reforms
propagated by the anti-colonial movement. T
Jansen, an American freelance cameraman,
made a newsreel called "The Great Bonfire of
Foreign Clothes" (1915), in which M K Gandhi
was shown as the most prominent figure
among the nationalist leaders. It ran for two
consecutive weeks at the Globe Theatre and
the West End Theatre in Bombay.
1910-1920
Nationalism From a Glorious Past
• “Raja Harishchandra,” which was
based on the mythological king
from ancient India.
• Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, one of
India’s pioneering filmmakers,
aimed to promote the ideas of
nationalism and economic self-
dependence
• glorified portrayals of a
mythological past.
Nationalism as Communal Harmony

• Communal tensions in British India grew in the

first part of the 20th century. During this time,
Hindi cinema played both a negative and a
constructive role. Though the film industry was
largely divided along religious lines, there were
several filmmakers, writers, and poets belonging
to the Progressive Writers’ Association, as well
as members of the Indian People’s Theatre
Association, who sought to spread the message
of communal harmony through film. On the
other hand, films that showed communal
differences were also made at this time.
 Post-Independence

• Nationalism as Development
• Nehruvian Socialism- development was a national goal that India was
put in pursuit of.
• Five-year plans were formulated to promote industrialisation in the
country and to support the agriculture sector.
• Silver Screen also adapted “Five Year Plan Hero,” who represented the
“ideal” in many ways, largely because of his support of Nehurivian
socialism and its ideals.
• Dilip Kumar was projected as an ambassador of Nehru, promoting the
Prime Minister’s vision of India in his roles.
Still from "Dharti ke Lal"
 1970s

• communalism was among the many domestic problems that continued to plague
the country. Communal tensions were a legacy of Partition that had largely been left
unexplored in film
• Garam Hawa” (1973)-was directed by M S Sathyu and was released in 1973.
• 1972 Pakeezah-During this time, the Muslim social genre of films also began to
decline. This decline is mainly attributed to changes in values due to modernisation,
especially with regard to the status of women. The new changes clashed with the
traditional idea of the begum, who was the embodiment of all the traditional
feminine values associated with the Muslim community.
 1980s
Nationalism From a Glorious Past 2.0
• During the 1980s, as the Ramjanmabhoomi movement gained traction,
• Mythological serials such as Ramayana emerged.
• These serials projected a time where India was constructed as a homogenous religious and
cultural identity. Political parties used the leading characters of these serials to exploit public
sentiment for electoral gains.
• The 1980s–90s also witnessed the beginning of militancy in the Kashmir Valley, which helped
further consolidate Hindu nationalism in India. This new nationalism projected Muslims as
aliens who were responsible for the militancy in Kashmir, as well as other parts of India.
• 1988-Mahabharat
• 1992 Roja-Hindutva was making headway in film as well. Mani Ratnam’s “Roja” (1992), for
instance, offered Hinduism as a framework to transcend not only regional differences, but
also to extend the national territory, while demonising the Kashmiri militant as a Muslim
fundamentalist who threatens national integrity.
• 1990s-Economic Nationalism in the Post Liberalisation Era
example-Dilwale Dulhania Le jayenge (1993)
• 2010s Consolidation of Indian Identity in Global World
• Example- My Name is Khan (2010)

• Baby
• Bharat
• Bell Bottom
• Gold
• Air Lift
• Mission Mangal
 Masala Movies
• 1970s saw the advent of Masala movies

• The audiences were captivated and mesmerised by the aura of actors like
Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, and many others.

• The most prominent and successful director, Manmohan Desai once said“I want
people to forget their misery. I want to take them into a dream world where
there is no poverty, where there are no beggars, where fate is kind and god is
busy looking after its flock.”
 Essence of Masala Films
• Only found in India
• Who is the target audience
• How is it different from other genres
• Regional Masala films are exploding
• Why audience like such films
 Tamil Telgu Hindi
Semi Mild
Aggressive
aggressive Aggressive

Less Less Highly

romantic romantic Romantic

Comedy
Comedy Forced
spontaneou
excellent comedy
s
 Observations
• It has been observed that actors have tasted success in this
genre as it is a popular culture.
• In all languages in India Masala Movies have performed
exceptionally on an average in terms of generating revenue.
• They have paved ways for formula films
• Producers do not understand the production of films so they
want to make quick money so Masala Movies are easy.
 Ideology
• Films are believed to reflect the fundamental beliefs of a
society 
• Raymond Williams summarizes the term in three senses:
• System of beliefs characteristic of a particular class or group
• System of illusory beliefs – false ideas or false
consciousness – which can be contrasted with true or
scientific knowledge
• General process of meanings and ideas
 Like his predecessor Phalke who was more indigenous and
worked within the Swadeshi project
The Nehruvian Consciousness
The Hindutva ideology
Politics of Rape- earlier movies with rape scenes indicative of the
time practiced the ‘protection of women’ by men.
Movies like NH-10 indicates otherwise.
Co-existence of modernity and tradition.
 How Ideology works in Indian Cinema
• Example
• Alibaba formulated the legitimizing ideal of the powerful populist state, which was the self-image
that both the Soviet Union and India promoted. But even as the film is organized to fit the official
ideology, it displays powerful contradictions and anxieties that lie behind such a state organization.
These anxieties are most directly manifested in the figurative status of "false" versus "true" fathers,
and in the representation of the rebellion of "daughters" as a response to the constant threat of
sexual violence and symbolic objectification (economic and sexual, often at once). Their rebellion of
both the patriarchal state (they refuse the role of dependent) and commodity culture (they refuse
the role of object of exchange). While the conventional ending neutralizes both anxieties, the
narrative logic of the film necessarily depends on the possibility not only of exterior threat from
criminals or paramilitaries but also of a libidinal threat from within, from the daughters. While not
contradicting in any way the pleasures Soviet and Indian audiences derived from the film, the
existence of such threats complicates the issue of the ideological import of entertainment cinema.
 Melodrama (melo+drama)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4pu5MCKrZ0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cLUCDkWlLw
• Dramatic piece of music
• Indian cinema has long been noted for its melodrama, both as a
strength and a weakness.
• narrative architecture and expressive form, which connects the public
and the private, the personal and the political.
• it stands as a counterpoint to realism, poses important questions
that are enhanced precisely because they are presented in
melodramatic ways.
• melodrama was a strongly emotional narrative form centred
on domestic subjects
• Rise of bourgeois in bollywood
• Sentimental novels, romantic fiction, and theatrical melodrama
built on this heritage
• Earlier it was thriller or horror that was called melodrama.
• Movies like Anand, Deewar, Mother India, Mughl-e-Azam,
Sholay, Guide
 Representation
• How cinema represents class, caste, socio, political and economic
topics?
• Class- post independence the feudal class and the tenant class
was discussed in movies
• In 1970 and 80s class meant cars, suits, parties, adherence to new
westernization, industrialists. It also meant vendors, mill workers,
taxi drivers and labroures, Bawarchi, House helps; Ramu Kaka
• Post 1990s-liberalization, urban setting, elite India, glamour and
glitz
• The world inhabited by the upper class is the new normal
 Caste

• Do Bigha Zameen, Prem Rog, Achut Kanya (1936), Ravaan(2010)

• the majority of Bollywood movies do not narrate stories based on the caste system
or Dalit discrimination though it is deeply rooted in the culture. The depiction of
characters in mainstream Bollywood movies is also deeply rooted in the interest of
dominant castes. Hardly and hero plays the character of a Dalit.
• Sujata—1959, Ankur—1974, and Sairat—2016- Characters are Dalit.
• Bollywood films remain highly castist in the context of character portrayal, especially
in the case of love and marriage.
• Tanu Weds Manu Returns- Brahmin hero falls in love with a Jatt girl but in the end
he does not marry her.
 Socio, Political and Economic

• Slumdog Millionaire, Rajneeti, Chandani Bar, Chandidas

(Bengali fim), Thapad, Pink, Article 15,
• Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,
Duvvada Jagannadham, Monsoon Wedding, Namaste London,
Patiala house, Hum Tum
• Purab aur Paschim (1970)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jlRTvXSh9w
• More than comfortable life
• Dubai is the new go to place
• Studying abroad
 Nature and Evolution of Genres
• Mythological
• Social
• Realistic
• Melodramatic
 What has been the nature?
• Mythological (1930s)
• Indian heritage and culture not only corresponds to Gods but to ‘objectified values
and symbols or rationality’
• Realism and its valorization that is topical to the beholding eye
• Religious-mythological icons
• Allegories of tradition
• Examples- Sant Tukaram, Raja Harischandra, Sant Dnyaneshwar
• Thiruvilayadal (1965), Saraswathi Sabatham, Thiruvarutchelvar and Thillana
Mohanambal
• Movies prior to 1930s were; Satyawan Savitri(1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Sri
Krishna Janma (1918)
• Regional films like Telgu cinema also had its inception with
mythological cinema. Bhism Pratigya (1922), Bhakta Prahlad
directed by Hanumappa Munioappa Reddy was made in
Surabhi theatre.
• Second Sift
• The icon was increasingly replaced by a ‘narrative structure’.
• Mahabharat (1965)
• Raavan (1984)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hindu_mythological_films
• Narrative structure again changes its spectrum when movies like
Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999) idolized the characteristics of
Ramayana
• Another shift was digitalized mythological characters with little or
no allegory but an aspect of a particular myth
• Rudraksh (2004)
• Gamification of mythological characters in Ra One (2011)
• Represented God in human avatar in kalyug in theOh My God
(2012)
• Raajneeti, Raavan,
• All the movies under the genre of mythology ascertains that
tradition is the ultimate normative expression
• Upcoming mythological movies
 Social

• Emergence was first evident in Bengali cinema with the movies

of Satyajit Ray. His Pather Panchali (Song of the little road)
(1955) is significant as it got him recognition in the global level.
• What is the nature of Social films?
• There nature is to instigate social stigmas such as caste, gender,
prejudices surrounding woman, erectile dysfunction, Sex,
drugs, widow remarriage etc.
• At times it is didactic in nature
• It stirs the underlying prejudices of a society along with
addressing the stigma and giving resolutions.
 Evolutional of Social Films
Post Independence 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 and beyond
Caste Peasant, class and Dogmas of the Indian A common man as Jolly LLB (2013)
Do Bigha Zameen industrialization society saviour Nil Battye Sanata
Satyam Shivam Bandit Queen 1994 Stalin (2006) (2015)
Sundaram (1978) Fire (1996) Red (2002) Pink
Prem Rog (1982) Nayak (2001) Article 15
Arth (1982) Thappad
Maharshi (2019)
Sarkar (2018)
Jai Bhim (2021)
 Role of women
• Social films also escape to represent women in the appropriate light.
• Women is made to believe that having an infidel partner leads her to self
discovery. Agitation is a tool for men and such movies make the women
believe that they are calmer in nature.
• Women as ‘abla’ is quiet frequent in Indian Cinema though the trend is
changing yet it seems as if it took around 90 years to change.
• Women as part of the society has always been presented as secondary to the
male actors.
• Actresses shelf lives have been comparatively shorter than men.
 Realistic
• Parallel cinema owed too much to numerous foreign influences like
Italian Neo-Realism or French New Wave, Avant Garde cinema
movements etc.
• Among the best known New Cinema directors, were Bimal Roy, Chetan
Anand, Ritwik Ghatak, and Satyajit Ray. Few of the best known films of
this genre are the Apu Trilogy (Bengali) by Satyajit Ray and Do Bigha
Zameen (Hindi) by Bimal Roy. Undoubtedly Satyajit Ray was the most
affluent among the parallel cinema directors.
• Akrosh (1980
• Ardh Satya (1983)
• directed by Govind Nihlani and written by
Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI3FxjNP1YY
• Malayalam movie makers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G.
Aravindan, and M. T. Vasudevan Nair were quite successful.
Starting the 1970s, Kannada film-makers from Karnataka state
produced a string of solemn, low-budget
films a few directors, such as Balachander, Bharathiraja, Balu
Mahendra, Siddalingaiah, Dr.K.Vishwanath, and Mani Ratnam
have achieved fair amount of success at the box-office
balancing elements of art and entertainment together.
Years
1920s and 1930s The infusion of Realism in Indian cinema as one of the earliest examples was V. Shantaram’s 1925 silent film classic
Sawkari Pash (Indian Shylock), about a poor peasant (portrayed by Shantaram himself) who loses his land to a greedy
money lender and is forced to migrate to the city to become a mill worker. Acclaimed as a realistic breakthrough, its
shot of a howling dog near a hut has become a milestone in the march of Indian cinema.
The 1937 Shantaram film Duniya Na Mane (The Unaccepted) also critiqued the treatment of women in Indian society.

1950s and the They felt the necessity of creating a novel genre of films which would depict the reality from an artful perspective.
1960s Most films made during this period were funded by different state governments to promote an authentic art genre
from the Indian film fraternity.

1970s and the Parallel cinema entered into the limelight of Hindi cinema to a much wider extent. This was led by such
1980s directors as Gulzar, Shyam Benegal, ManiKaul, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Kantilal Rathod and Saeed Akhtar
Mirza, and later on Mahesh Bhattand Govind Nihalani, becoming the main directors of this period's
Indian art cinema. M. S. Garam Hawa was released in 1973. In 1982, the National Film Development
Corporation of India (NFDC) was involved in co-financing Richard Attenborough’s biopic Gandhi and
throughout the early 1980s, it experienced it’s most instrumental and productive decade.
This period of prominence includes award winning films such as Aakrosh (Cryof the Wounded, Govind
Nihalani, 1980), Anantram(Monologue, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1987),Ardh Satya (Half Truth, Govind
Nihalani, 1983),Bhavni Bhavai (A Folk Take, Ketan Mehta,1980), Chakra (Ravindra Dharmaraj,
1980),Ghare-Baire(The Home and the Word, Satyajit Ray,1984), Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (Who Pays the Piper,
Kundan Shah, 1983), Khandhar (Mrinal Sen, 1983),Salaam Bombay (Mira Nair, 1988),Sati (Aparna Sen,
1989) and Tarang Kumar Shahani, 1984).
 Cont…

• A trend of decline in making and promotion of parallel cinema

was seen in the early 1990s.
• The increasing costs involved in film production and
introduction of then costly digital technologies, the
commercialization of the films had cast a negative impact.
• Underworld financing, political and economic turmoil,
television and piracy proved to be fatal threat to parallel
cinema, as it lost its old glory.
 Regional Cinema and Realism
• Malayalam director Adoor Gopalakrishnan extended the Indian
New Wave to Malayalama audience with his film
Swayamvaram in 1972. Long after the Golden Age of Indian
cinema, Malayalam cinema experienced its own Golden Age in
the 1980s and early 1990s. G. Aravindan, John Abraham,
Padmarajan, Bharathan, T. V. Chandran were among his
contemporaries.
 Melodramatic

• Whether it was the mythological, the historical, the stunt, or the

social, melodrama appeared again and again as the connective tissue
that linked genres
• appearing primarily through the dramatization of conflicts between
good and evil, and through the repeated manifestation of novel
forms of suffering.
• melodrama was both familiar and unfamiliar-(from the perspective of
western film theory and history).
• Peter Brooks’ defining conception of western melodrama as “the
principal mode for uncovering, demonstrating, and making operative
the essential moral universe in a post-sacred era.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9oCmqAt3xw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju5rTRjKslA
Cont…
• Loss of the sacred meant the destruction of religious and
monarchical institutions such as the church and the monarchy.
• Indian cinema’s sacred meant in its first genre, the mythological
(a film with religious themes that tells familiar stories about
gods and goddesses, drawn from the puranas and ancient epics
such as The Ramayana and Th e Mahabharata).
• Melodrama is different from the western perspective and has
often been cited as :
• nautanki (Hindi folk theater),
• drama, dukh-bhari gatha (a story filled with suff ering),
• bhavuk kahani (sad tale).
 Cont…
• Indian melodrama discontinued and violated the western tradition of
time and space
Example- free spatio-temporal interaction between men and gods
• Audiences delighted in the display of flying chariots, disguises, and
sudden costume changes, including those of cross-dressed heroines and
adventurous heroes
• compelled to produce acoustic images that recalled the musical mode,
or melos, of Indian theatrical precedents in elaborate (song and) dance
sequences, much of which were reconfigured through a renewed
emphasis on gestures, facial expressions, and new ways of representing
moving bodies, which were carefully staged through picture sequences.
 Cont…
• Shift from mythological to social was a much larger cinematic force-
field, a modality that expressed shifts, modifications, and innovations
that spurred melodrama to take root in a new cinematic environment.
• Heightened realism and expressive drive
• Engagement with contemporary experience but also a productive set
of experiments with;
 style,
 content,
 technique, and
 aesthetics, with wide institutional and popular appeal
Cont…
• social cinema with the help of melodrama offers rich and
complex insights into the key domains of cinema’s
standardization in India.
Evolution Melodramatic cinema
Silent Films Lanka Dahan by Dada Saheb Phalke
Bhishma Pratigya is a 1921 Indian silent film. Produced and
directed by Raghupati Surya Prakash,
Lava Kusa by R. Nataraja Mudaliar
Talkie Films Vishnu Puran
Bhakta Prahlad
Bhagwan Parshuram is a 1970 Bollywood drama film directed
by Babubhai Mistry. The film stars Abhi Bhattacharya and 
Jayshree Gadkar.

Golden Age Deewar,

Amar Akhbar Anthony
Anand
Heer Ranjha

90s Kuch Kuch hota hai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9eg0fwhuKY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-ruWWg4kM
Post 2000 Bahubali
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=763B_J3Sosk
Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PJQkK1KJj8
 Globalization and Indian Cinema and Cinema and Politics

• What is globalization?
- Interconnectedness
- increase in advanced modes of transportation and technology
- the development of an increasingly integrated global economy
marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping
of cheaper foreign labor markets (Merriam dictionary)
• Indian cinema influenced in particular by European and
Hollywood cinema.
• Himanshu Rai made Indo-German collaborative films. Starting
with silent films and moving on to the talkies.
• Rai was also responding to the colonial experience by
constructing self conscious Indian images and narratives, not
only for the Indian audience but for the European market.
• The very nature of his collaborations (the early historicals -
Shiraz, Prapanch Pash) unavoidably fell within the discourse of
orientalism leading to a certain glamorisation of Indian history
• Rai used a number of Eurasian actresses to play the female lead
characters. These women were given Hindu names like Sita Devi -
and were introduced to the public as "educated Hindu women".

• This anomaly of Eurasian actresses representing

Indian historical/mythological characters sets up
an interesting colonial moment and underlines
the problematics of its representation.
• Its an early moment of global forces in
operation - where an European technical
team, a set of Eurasian actresses, an Indian
scriptwriter and director - set about
filming Indian narratives.

• Devika Rani In Achyut Kanya introduced

the village belle look (a curious blend of
western sophistication and Indian costumes).
• Mother India -The making of the new nation

• first International Film Festival in Delhi

• The identity of woman was used as nation only to politicise

• A number of films were made by Aparna Sen, Sai Paranjpye,

Vijaya Mehta, Aruna Raje and Kalpana Lajm which were sensitive
portrayals of women protagonists, in search of social and sexual
identity, women firmly located in specific socio historical
contexts
Aparna Sen Teen Kanya (1961)
36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) Directorial debut

Sai Paranjpye Sparsh

Katha
Chasme Buddoor
Disha.

Vijaya Mehta Kalyug (1981) - Actor

Smriti Chitre (1982, TV film) - Director, Actor a
Shakuntalam (1986, TV film) - Director
Party (1984) - Actor

Aruna Raje 1988 Rihaee

1982 Sitam (co-directed)
1980 Gehrayee (co-directed)
1976 Shaque (co-directed)
Kalpana Lajm Ek Pal (A Moment), starring Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin
Shah and Farooq Sheikh. 
 Dharmputra (1961) by Yash Chopra
• The film opens in 1925, during the British rule in India and at the height of the Indian
independence movement it is the tale of two Delhi families, that of Nawab Badruddin
and Gulshan Rai. The two families are so close that they virtually share the same house.
The Nawab's daughter, Husn Bano, has an affair with a young man named Javed and gets
pregnant. When the Nawab attempts to arrange her marriage with Javed, he finds that
Javed has disappeared. Amrit Rai and his wife Savitri assist Husn with the birth of a baby
boy, Dilip, and even adopt him and give him their family name. Young Dilip is the apple
of the Badruddin and the Rai households. Husn is then reunited and marries Javed. In
the meantime, while participating in a protest to force the British to leave India, the
Nawab is killed. Years later, Husn Bano and Javed return to a warm welcome by the Rai
family. Then she meets Dilip - not the Dilip she had left behind - this Dilip is fascist, a
Muslim-hater, who has joined forces with other extremists, in order to force Muslims to
leave India and even go to the extent of burning buildings and killing them. How can
Husn and Dilip adapt to each other with so much hate and distrust between them?
 Dharm (2007) by Bhavana Talwar

• The story is based in Benares and is about Pandit Chaturvedi (Pankaj Kapoor), a

highly revered and learned Brahmin priest. A baby is abandoned by a woman and
brought to his house by his daughter. He agrees to adopt the child due to requests
from his wife Parvati (Supriya Pathak) and his daughter Vedika (Ananya Tripathi).
Life takes a turn when the boy's mother returns and says that she lost her child
during the communal riots. After the family finds out that the boy is Muslim after
they have become attached to him. The family gives back the boy to his mother.
Chaturvedi engulfs himself in purification processes to cleanse his body, mind, and
soul due to contact with a Muslim soul. By the time Chaturvedi thinks he is fully
purified, the child reappears; seeking refuge, due to Hindu-Muslim riots and a
group of people chasing a Muslim man to slay. This is when Chaturvedi realizes the
true meaning of scriptures, that the true religion is humanity. The movie ends with
a message of communal harmony that "Dharm is not just penance and practice,
Dharm is unity, Dharm is brotherhood, Dharm is non-violent
 How has India/ South Asia been represented
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtHz7zLaBUI
 Indian Cinema and Globalization
• The rise of the urban in 'our time' was given a certain urgency
by globalization. Globalization, with its mixture of enforced
commodification, spatial transformations and urban ruin,
excavated the city from margins of academic and literary
writing to a new public discourse that suddenly assumed the
given-ness of urban space... 'Newness', the old battle cry of
modernity. . . was now fused into the sensorium (senses) of
urban life.
 Cont…
• Globalization and modernity in India go hand in hand
• According to Dipesh Chakrabarty it was only after the 1970s that changes
were significant in India after anticolonial, feminist, environment and
other new movements radicalised our sense of democracy that
modernity was evident.- it was a gesture of the powerful
• Ashish Nandy sees the movement toward the urban from the rural as
representative of the desire to be modern, and the city, resultantly, as
the repository of modernity's ills.
• "imagined city in South Asia symbolizes the belated attempts of defeated
civilizations to break into the hard 'realism' of the world of winners"
 Cont…
• Just like De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief, Ray’s movies have also sensed the
modernity from rural to city.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVRHN4uYuU0

• With its urban colonial milieu Ray would encounter a modernity that was
a direct result of the East-West fusion
 Cont…
• Calcutta was still the country's most cosmopolitan city as well as its
foremost cultural centre, with a vibrant intellectual life
• Aranyer Din Ratri, in which a holiday in a remote forest area acts as
a rejuvenating space for a group of young urbanites who have in
various ways lost their perspectives on life.
 Cont…
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s abolition of sati was emancipation for the
society
• The pursuit of 'enlightened' social reforms also resulted in the
endorsement of English dress and manners, and a class of educated
'westernized' Bengalis took on the garb and food habits of the
British while remaining Bengali at heart.
• Indian Cinema in the true sense saw progress in Bengali Cinema
Cont…
• Few Bollywood cinema that marched along the modernity and
globalization were
• Manoj Kumar’s Purab Aur Paschim (1970) and Dev Anand’s Des
Pardes (1978) were some of the earliest takes on the diaspora.
But somehow, it never mattered as much as in the 1990s, when
the work of three filmmakers—Sooraj Barjatya, Aditya Chopra
and Karan Johar—brought in what film critic Anupama Chopra
calls “a generational change".
 Liberalization

• Economic Crisis
• Foreign companies were allowed in India and government also
allowed private companies to flourish without control.
• The NRI inspiration DDLJ
• The big question was, can you wear brands like Polo, or a necklace
that says ‘cool’ and still be Indian? And the answer was yes
• Shah Rukh Khan was the perfect embodiment of that idea. As his
characters in a host of films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)
and later Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
show, he could be suave, witty and cool, but also totally Indian and
grounded.
 Cont…

• Even though the Indian diaspora started watching Indian Cinema for
its Indian values and cultures but certainly they also at times
challenged the stereotypes and regressive thoughts
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOjjJuL0TU
• For the first time a man slacked in Indian-ness or Indian culture and
tradition
• New form of identity in the global context
• Cinema popularized capital driven phenomena such as basketball
and Valentines day which opened the gates for capitalist
merchandize.
Cont…

• Karva Chauth gained popularity through Cinema and was

commercialized pan India.
• It was globalization of Indian Cinema that actually created a place
for Popular Culture in academia post globalization.
• Increase in numbers and visibility of NRI filmmakers such as
• Mira Nair- Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, A
Suitable Boy
• Deepa Mehta- Water, Earth, Fire, Bollywood Hollywood,
Midnight’s Children
• Nagesh Kukunoor- Hyderabad Blues, Rockford
• Gurinder Chada- Bend it like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice
Links
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DNwS_CwEAw
• Travel Films showcase the new bourgeois class
• Dil Chahta Hai (Goa)
• Tamasha (Corsica)
• Ye Jawani Hai Deewani (Manali)
• Highway (punjab)
• Dil Dhadakne Do (Turkey)
• Zindagi Milegi Na Doobara (Spain)
 Propaganda

Shaurya Movie (2008)

 Politics in Cinema
• the pre-globalisation Hindi film defined the mainstream and
colonised the marginal
• In most films the protagonist could be poor but generally not dalit,
Christian, Sikh or Muslim
• Examples like Do Bigha Zamin or Sahib Biwi Ghulam, Ravaan were rare
• The mainstream Bombay cinema of the 1950s and 1960s defended
patriarchy as essentially Indian. Women could be shown being
slapped for as little as lighting up! In non-Hindu plots manicured
minorities prevailed.
• former nawabs', 'zamindars' and 'jagirdars. Everyone spoke chaste
Urdu, wore 'sherwanis' and loved shaaya
• Barsaat ki Raat, Mere Mehboob, Ghazaly Mere Huzoor (My Master
in Urdu the beloved is often called one's superior), Mehboob ki
Mehendi (The Beloved's Henna), etc, a stereotyped Muslim
ambience was present
• Consumerism was promoted via ‘Indianness’
• Women wearing skimpy clothes before marriage but then after
marriage she is shown as an ideal women as the requirements of the
society
• Cultural values morality ‘Parampara’ (tradition) promotes patriarchy
• Example- Water, Prem Rog, Mohabbatein, Kuch kuch hota hai
• Christians in movies have been shown as liberal and drunkards
• Sikhs have been referred to as soldiers or party people
• Representing Punjabi music as popular only because the lyrics
suggest women as gold diggers and men as show-offs.
• South Indians are made fun off for their English
• Bihar and UP is nothing but land of the gangsters
• Male returns with a foreign degree and never a woman entitled in
this role and helps nation building Example- Swadesh
• Women wearing skimpy clothes before marriage but then after
marriage she is shown as an ideal women as the requirements of the
society
• Cultural values morality ‘Parampara’ (tradition) promotes patriarchy
• Example- Water, Prem Rog, Mohabbatein, Kuch kuch hota hai
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9boXq4uetbM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5aHPEVDrtA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV6k-aMm-Us
• Any violence for that matter should be called out
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIWQ4m-nf0M (Manmarziyan)
• Songs like Gandi baat, balam pichkari, ye uska style honga …, tera
dhyan kidhar hai … jhandu balm…
• Rape was a national sport
• Hero was also a molester but got away with the girl.
• Indian Cinema is obsessed with paedophilia, what does it implicate?
• Pagglait – rewriting the narrative about women
 Propagating the Indian Bourgeois nation

• Opposed British rule in movies but cultivated respect for

modernity
• Indian bourgeois wanted to reform and preserve the Indian
society and traditions with specific reference to class, caste and
woman
• Secular political agenda was combined with a colonially
derived history but was unsuccessful
• Feeding on the fancies of the subaltern for the bourgeois