Cinema of India Exam 1
1975 State of Emergency
"Emergency" powers declared when Indira Gandhi was found guilty of corruption (press censorship; 100,000 opponents jailed)
Mughal Empire
(1526-1858) had 6 major emperors
Sultanates
- 1200s - 1800s - 1200 - Islamic invaders arrived from central Asia - 1206 -- Established Delhi Sultanate (to 1526) Land - owned by peasants (unlike feudal Europe); half of produce taxed; did not produce a landed aristocracy (unlike Europe) Tensions emerged between Muslims and Hindus (tax collectors)
Gupta Age
- 300-500 AD-- saw the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Non-Violence philosophy
11 steps of the Indian film making process
- Story selected (director/producer) Screenplay Dialogue - Casting narration of story to major star - Budget controlled by executive producer Financier/distributors Traditional stereotype - require two/three stars, six songs, and three dances - Technical unit hired - Shooting - 6 months to 3 ½ years - Editing - rough cut - Re-editing to final cut after everyone has input - Board of Film Censors - may request changes - Background score composed/edited - Re-recording of dialogue ("looping") - Released - PR/publicity campaign (5 Indian release territories + overseas market - "100 Crore Club" - earning more than $16 million USD in the opening weekend : mega-hit status
Indian languages
15 official languages Hindi - 40% of Indians (animosity from Tamil speakers) English - professional classes/mark of distinction (foreign travel, schooling, etc.) Music - universalizing communication medium (transcends language differences)
Vedic Age
1500 BC - Vedic Age-Agricultural settlements (crops, cattle)-Religious texts - four Vedas (Sanskrit)
European Colonization
1600s - Europeanization of India Italians, English, French, Dutch, Portuguese - set up trading posts and companies -1600 - British East India (Trading) Company-Goa - Portuguese settlement -- Catholic Indian Mughal dynasties - very wealthy (crumbling by 1707)-3,200 cities/towns by end of 1600s -High concentration of wealth (e.g., 73 people had 38% of wealth) -New regional languages -- Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, etc.-Religious tolerance promoted
Maratha Empire
1700s - Maratha Empire -Shivaji - powerful - took advantage of weakening Mughal power to consolidate the Maratha Empire Rise of non-Brahman castes - Maharashtra state-Increasingly ineffective against foreign invasions
British Rule
1765 - Defeated Bengal ruler East India Company consolidated power/territory to protect trade Established "Permanent Settlement" - British landed aristocracy of permanent landowners; paid tax Heavy duty/fines on indigenous industries
Sepoy Mutiny
1857 - Sepoy (Indian soldier) mutiny against British British overcame; led to Hindu-Muslim unity against colonizers
Phalke
1913 Hindustan Film Co. Between 1912-1914, Phalke releases a mythological called Raja Harischandra, India's first feature film at 50 minutes.
Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre
1919 - Jallianwalla Bagh massacre, Amritsar, Punjab British Gen. Dyer orders killing of peaceful celebrant-protestors
Quit India
1942 - Indian Congress demanded that British "Quit India"
Indian Independence
1947 -- Independence 1947 - British leave, partitioning the territory into India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)Sparked violent transitional clashes/massacres
Gandhi and non-violence
1948 -- Gandhi assassinated by former RSS (Hindu nationalist) extremist
Indus Valley Settlements
2500 BC Harappan Culture Indus Valley Towns Mohenjo-daro (Pakistan) Harappa (Pakistan) - spread via trading; worshipped male/female gods-Copper, bronze, lead, tin, bricks, writing script (not deciphered) -"Dancing Girl" - Early relic from Mohenjo-daro (c2500 BC)
4 Castes
4 working Castes Brahmana - priests Kshatriya - warriors Vaishya - merchants/traders Shudra - agriculturists Untouchables (emerged later) - scheduled caste -Goal →Moksha (salvation) related one's Karma (deeds)
Popular vs Artistic cinema
A new tension emerges in the 1950s: "artistic" filmmakers split with "popular" ones.
Dutt
Artist as tormented in post-colonized India - a moment of aesthetic rebirth? Renunciation - main mode of the character's agency - to disown and advocate the destruction of the illusory material world (represented by Meena in Pyaasa) Uses devotional songs to transform love-longing from the profane to the sacred (represented by Gulab in Pyaasa) Effect - to "aestheticize" the Hindi-film melodrama as an act of defiance, consciousness-raising in post-colonial India (e.g., co-ops the popular song-and-dance format for higher artistic purposes)
Kapoor film
Awaara
1992 Ayodhya riots
Ayodhya - Dec. 6th, 1992 - destruction of the Babri Mosque by fundamentalist Hindus; sparked massive Hindu -Muslim riots/killings (Mishra - justified by Hindu fundamentalists with the Ramayana story) Other hotspots -- Kashmir, Punjab
6 Major Emperors
Babur Humayun Akbar Jahangir Shah Jahan Aurangzeb ("B-H-A-J-S-A")
4 modes of dance
Bharat Natyam Khatak Cabaret Modern
Stereotypes of Indian cinema
Bollywood is: "Two stars, Six songs, and Three Dances" "full of stereotypically superficial romantic plots" "Lovers are just 'dancing around trees'" "just a Plagiarizer of "Hollywood"
Roy film
Do Bigha Zameen, Devdas
6 key influences on Indian cinema
Epics - Mahabharata and Ramayana Classical Indian Theater Stylized, episodic storylines (Mythologicals) Sanskrit Theater - up to 10th century Folk Theater Post 10th-century (Mughal-era) - song/dance/humor Regional/peasant performers (highly competent) Parsi Theater19th century - travel historical/social dramas Songs, humor, mix of fantasy and reality Elphinstone Dramatic Company Hollywood films MTV
Mishra Auteur Theory
French Critics in the 1940s-1950s Central question: if film is simply a mechanical reproduction of reality, then why do some directors exhibit consistent stylistic features in all of their films, while others do not? Truffaut's "Politique des auteurs" -- first published in Cahiers du Cinema journal How a director becomes the "controlling consciousness" -- stamps his/her personality onto the collective filmmaking process Often applied by critics to many Indian filmmakers +Raj Kapoor, Mehboob, Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, etc.
complex narrative function/tradition
Hindi cinema . . . has its own world, its own tradition, its own symbols, its own expressions, [and] its own language" -- Lyricist Javed Akhtar Tradition and Modernity are intricately intertwined Hybridity is the mixing of genres, melodrama, music/dance, poetic dialogue, and sharp social criticism Rasa theory ensures that all nine basic emotions (navaras) are expressed. Hindi cinema features grand visual design and mise-en-scene
Major religions of India
Hinduism Islam Christianity
Annual production outputs
India has the world's largest collection of film industries Films are produced all around the subcontinent Filmi culture pervades India.
Major Architectural landmarks
Iron Pillar Qutub Minar Agra FOrt Taj Mahal
Mishra - Indian Filmmakers' Key Styles:
Kapoor vs Dutt
Mehboob film
Mother India
Asif film
Mughal-e-azam
6+ Indian film Production Centers Today
Mumbai, Hindi Chennai, Tamil Hyderabad, Telugu Kolkata, Bengali Kochi Bangalore Bhubaneshwar-Cuttack Guwahati
Major Prime Ministers
Nehru Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Vajpayee Sonia Gandhi Manmohan Singh Modi
Globalization
Period of Economic Growth/Modernization 1991 Liberalization -- banking Diffusion of computers, cable, satellite television, DVDs2004 - Sonia Gandhi (Congress Party) defeated Vajpayee (BJP)She declines PM position Rajiv's wife - Breaks stereotypes: Italian-born, widow Uses "Mother India" image to great success Manmohan Singh (Congress) - mid 2000s Modi (BJP) - current PM --- Hindu Nationalist (controversial) Criticized for handling of the Gujurat Muslim-Hindu riots in 2002
6 Major Directors
Phalke Dutt Kapoor Mehboob Roy Asif
Dutt film
Pyaasa
Phalke film
Raja Harischandra
Save Data
Save Data was India's first filmmaker- He Bought a Cinematographe and in 1899 made a wrestling film at Bombay's Hanging Gardens.
9 emotions/ rasa theory
Shringara: Love Hasya: Humor Karuna: Compassion Veera: Bravery Rudra: Anger Bhayanaka: Fear Bibhatsa: Disgust Adbutha: Surprise Shantha: Peacefullness
Family/primary social unit
Traditional - Extended - children, parents, grandparents in one household Mother India (1957) - mother as primary householder Films often emphasize "love marriage" vs. arranged marriage practices to maintain family honor, status, caste (Laj and Izzat) - Dowry demands are a continuing problem (even though outlawed)
Imperial Studios
Wadia Movietone India enter the sound film era in 1931 with Imperial Film's Alam Ara (आलम-आरा), featuring song and-dance routines, and never looks back.
Lumiere Bros Cinematographe
Watson's Hotel, Bombay, 1896 French Lumiere Company premiered the Cinemato-graphe in Bombay at Watson's Hotel on July 7, 1896
Mauryan Age
c400 BC to 200 AD Chandragupta Maurya Agrarian, Greek-influenced via Alexander - 327 BC Spawns Two Great Works of Literature Mahabharata - 200 BC-200 AD (poet Vyasa) Epic tale of Pandavas (Arjun and Krishna) vs. Kauravas (Kurus) for land (Sanskrit); Pandavas win with help of chariot-driver Lord Krishna, who gives advice to Arjun (Bhagavad Gita - Song of the Lord) Ramayana -- 200 BC-200 AD (poet Valmiki)In Sanskrit (संस्कृता)Epic tale of Prince Rama's efforts to retrieve wife Sita from the clutches of the demon king Ravana; saved with help of monkey army; found to be incarnation of Vishnu -Other works -- Sangam poems (in Tamil)Ashoka (Maurya's grandson) - 268-232 BC- Promotes Buddhism and non-violence
Kapoor
camera as voyeuristic instrument Enacts the Indian male fantasy by fetishizing the female form (e.g., Nargis in Awaara) Reduces the potential power of the [female] subject via objectification (reduction of agency); reinforces a male point-of-view (heavily challenged by other critics -Chaterji, etc.)
5 Characteristics of Indian Cinema
fantasy realism melodramatic staging artistic mise-en-scene moral stories
Mishra Focus
focuses on the film's narrative complexity Heavy use of symbolic/poetic realism-Film's signifying trope: nation = mother = soil Key metaphor in later films, too (e.g., Devdas 2002)-Laj - sense of shame-Izzat - honor and self-respect Under threat from the money-lender and renegade youth Reference to post-colonial capitalism?-Marxist stream Paints intellectualism as disadvantaging power Collectivism is privileged
4 functions of music
introduce characters advance the story enhance drama intensify emotions.
4 components of analysis
mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, narrative
