Indian National Cinema - Essay Example

?Indian National Cinema Cinema, since its evolution, has emerged as one of the most stimulating means of influencing thehuman race. Whether it provides entertainment or knowledge, or a combination of the two, motion pictures have grasped the attention of every individual regardless of race, culture, religion and language. From the beginning of the 18th century, inventors focused on developing a motion picture, and eventually from live dramas to silent movies and ultimately the development of motion picture with sound surfaced. Since then, motion pictures have become a global phenomenon. National industries have been developed in many countries, to cater to the needs of people belonging to a certain culture and can speak a certain language. Countries where diversity in culture exists, national cinemas have been so vastly developed that movies are produced in various languages and are also translated from one local language to another. One of the best and most widely known examples of national cinema is the Indian Cinema. This article looks into the concept of national cinema and explores the Indian cinema in detail. The history of the Indian cinema, along with the analysis of the film industry from production to exhibition and the governmental infrastructure for films, has been discussed. The essay also reflects on the dominant ideas of what constitutes cinema in India. The Concept of National Cinema Andrew Higson (1989) has presented an innovative insight into the concept of national cinema. National cinema has been referred to mean the films that are produced in a particular country. Before the 1980s the cinema was analyzed using common-sense concepts by critics (). The past decades have shown that national cinema has long served as a means of promoting non-Hollywood films. Stephen Crofts argues that coupled with the name of the director-auteur, national cinema has subserved as a way of distinguishing between the Hollywood and non-Hollywood films. Used as a marketing strategy, he contends that national cinema has vouched for the delivery of ‘otherness’- representative of the cultural differences existing between Hollywood and films from other countries (Triana-Toribio 2003). Higson observes that there is no single, universal definition of national cinema. Looking back at the history of how cinema has evolved, the term does not confer any updated holistic meaning. Globalization has altered the perspectives through which cinema was viewed in the yore (Carroll & Choi 2006). Now there are a number of perspectives regarding the notion of national cinemas, as Higson (1989) illustrates. The notion of national cinema can be interpreted from an economics perspective, expounding upon the link between the national cinema and the domestic film industry (Higson 1989). This comes to encompass issues such as who own the cinemas, who makes the films and where are these films shot. Another perspective of exploring and studying the national cinema is to contemplate upon the nature of the films made. The approach, being text-based, represents questions such as the theme of the films produced, the nature of the projections of the national character that they portray and the degree to which these films are able to discover, survey and build a concept of nationhood embedded in the films themselves as well as in the spectators. Higson observes that there is a third perspective to national cinema, entailing an exhibition-led or consumption based approach. This view looks into the type of films that are viewed the most, with specific attention being given to foreign films, chiefly those produced in Hollywood having a high-profile distribution in one particular country. Higson asserts that the criticism based approach to national cinema also exists and rates the films produced by the industry in the context of the quality of the art cinema. Higson is of the view that in order to recognize a national cinema, it is essential to detail consistency and a unison. The identification of a national cinema requires that there is a unique identity that can be traced down to the particular cinema, along with an established conglomeration of identifiable meanings embedded in its industry. Higson (1989) asserts that the process of identifying a national cinema is ‘invariably a hegemonising, mythologising process’, entailing not only the notion of development and delegation of a set of meanings but also the endeavor to limit and confine the infringement of other meanings into this particular set. Therefore, over the period of time, national cinema has come to be used as a tactic of cultural and economic resistance and a way of reinforcing national autonomy against the primacy of the Hollywood film industry. Thus from a normative point of view, national cinema relates to the extent to which the country is able to develop and regulate the channels and resources to its own film production (Pettitt 2000). Features of the Indian Cinema The birth of Indian cinema was in 1987, when the first Indian-made motion picture was released, Panorama of Kolkata (Bindloss & Bindloss 2007). If we analyze internationally, in terms of sheer output, the Indian entertainment cinema till today governs world film production; its films are distributed throughout large areas of the Third world including non-Hindustani speaking areas and even parts of Soviet Union (Eleftheriotis & Needham 2006). Thus, the Indian cinema shares a large portion of popularity, production and viewing worldwide along with other major national cinemas in the world such as the European and the American cinema. One of the striking eras in the evolution of the Indian cinema industry, is from the beginning of the 21st century. Massive development, revolution in movies and western influence has changed the dynamics of the film produced during this period of time. The Indian cinema has come to encompass a diverse variety of films such as those representing the culture of Tamil, Southern India, Bombay, Punjab, Orissa and West Bengal. Indian films have gained repute throughout the South Asia, and are also gaining popularity in the Middle Eastern countries. When the cinema started to gather importance as a medium, the number of films produced in India rose to an average of about a thousand films per year (G. V. Films Limited 2005). People who have moved abroad provided the major audience of the films in foreign countries such as the US and the UK. The modern century has been witness to the transformation of the Indian cinema into an international activity. As the world has transformed into a global village, foreign influences have greatly affected the script, costumes, storyline and every diminutive detail of the films developed. The Indian cinema has also been seen to contribute to the political formations in the country. The Bombay Hindi Cinema in particular attracted a large proportion of the language market, and for several years was the ruling force in Indian cinema. This has impregnated an emblematic narrative of national hierarchy associated with the political fabric of the country into the substance of the Bombay Hindi Cinema (Vasudevan 2000). However in the 1980s, other cinema industries such as Telugu and Tamil started to emerge as substantial industries. At the end of 1980s and beginning of 1990s, the Indian film industry faced issues such as piracy and under-world influence, which greatly affected its modernization and development. Gradually as time moved on, the industry began to rapidly recover from this slump. In terms of infrastructure, the government has always been keen on investing in the development of infrastructure for the promotion of film industry in India and to attract more people to head towards the cinemas. The government promoted building of cinemas all over the country including multiplexes and cineplexes, one example being the PVR cinema chain which is among the largest of cinema chains in India. Lalitha Gopalan has pointed out three main conventions that set the Indian cinema apart from other national cinemas. In her seminal work, Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema, Gopalan provides an interesting account of the characteristics of the Indian movies. She observes that the typical Indian film is different from other films produced all over the world for three elements: the song and dance sequences, the ten-minute interval in the film half-way through its screening and the strictly regulated censorship policies of the Indian government. These three elements combine together to present a ‘constellation of interruptions’, which are the characteristic that make the Indian national cinema unique (Khoo & Metzger 2009). Expounding upon the constellations of interruptions, Gopalan notes that the dance and song sequences in the movie help to holdup the development of the plot since they draw the attention of the viewers away from the one-dimensional evolution of the narrative and causing a halt in the enjoyment of narrative development via this ‘spatial and temporal disjunction’ (Khoo & Metzger 2009). The ten-minute interval acts as a punctuation mark that helps to engage the viewer in the narrative by developing opening and closing of the narrative strand, effectually creating two openings and two closings of the film. Censorship is discussed later in the essay. Golden Age of Indian Cinema The golden age of Indian cinema is considered to be from the late 1940s to the 1960s (Gokulsing, Gokulsing & Dissanayake 2004). The period traverses the independence of India and is witness to some of the most critically acclaimed films of Indian cinema history. The era is exemplified by some of the best directors of the Bollywood industry such as Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan and Bimal Roy. Bimal Roy took a start from New Theatres, whereas the rest of these directors were impacted by Prabhat and New Theatres studios. The Indian Government showed its support to the industry and organized the first International Film Festival of India in 1952. The festival went to different cities such as Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta and brought the Indian filmmakers into contact with foreign concepts such as Italian neorealism; as a result, some of the directors such as Bimbal Roy interspersed the theme into their films. However the most significant efforts of incorporation of these European art cinema approaches was seen to have been undertaken by Satyakjit Roy. One of his renowned films, the Pather Panchali, a Bengali-language film, although not strong enough to initiate a revolution in the film industry, greatly affected the upcoming filmmakers (Benegal & Heide 2006). Some of the films that receive great critical acclaim during this time period were Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, (both directed by Guru Dutt), Awaara and Shree. The films delineated the social themes and the social afflictions of the society particularly the urban class. Awaara showed the city from being both a peaceful haven and a nightmare whereas Pyaasa spoke out against the harsh realities of the life. Awaara is an example of one of the foremost influences that Indian cinema had on a global scale. The film is an insightful piece on the struggle for one’s identity. The film is a criticism of the inflexible concepts of social hierarchy as seen in the social setup of the society. With the juxtaposition of the parallel realm of pleasure and the narrative, Raj Kapoor is able to effectively portray the disinherited social forms in a dismal yet enchanting way (Vasudevan 2011). The golden period is also notable for producing some of the most famous films of its time, such as Mother India, directed by Mehboob Khan, and Mughal-e-Azam, directed by K. Asif. Mother India was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Other notable and famous films produced during this time were V. Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath,Bamil Roy’s Madhumati. The names of these directors are still famous today, some half a century from the golden era, mainly because of their transformation of the ‘film song into an art song’ (Hayward 2006). Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Nargis and Raj Kapoor were the most remembered names of actors during the golden era. Mother India has achieved the status of an epic film in the Indian cinema. The film delineates the ‘great dharma of India’ (Mishra 2002). Mehboob Khan is lauded for creating a character of such drama out of a complicated and assorted religious and social history. According the Lalitha Gopalan the character of Mother India in the film is that of an avenging woman. The film can be regarded as a cultural artifact. This is because the film can be traced to have originated from the cultural imaginary of North India, and is responsible for the surfacing the subject of cultural representation. Mishra (2002) argues this point saying that the cultures employ their artistic forms to express themselves. Amidst the melodrama and the supposed detour of the film from reality, one can appreciate that the film is able to provide an insight into the segregated elements of the country i.e. political, social and cultural. This symbology is promoted in the film, and these elements are arranged to revolve around the main element of the film, i.e. the Mother. As Mishra (2002) observes that Mother India symbolized the aggregation of these elements into ‘the most symbolic statement on Indianness and was instrumental in giving it such a wide currency’. As other aspects have changed over time, the theatrical needs of viewers have also changed. Since cinema has been established in this part of the world, movies are considered to be a source of entertainment. India is the one of the leading countries in poverty and corruption. With surrounding social and political instability, cinema has proven to be an outlet for people to be driven away from the harsh realities of life. If we look back and analyze the productions by the Indian cinema, in every motion picture we see an element of fantasy. Whether it is from lip syncing songs to dancing in the rain, most of the Indian movies have the characteristic Desi element to them. The tradition of film song in India claims that almost all popular film should have a balance between spectacle, speech with singing and gestures of acting with the choreography of dance (Badley, Palmer & Schneider 2006). Over the period of time as Indian cinema has emerged at a global level, the old concept of having this balance has changed. Movies are now being produced focusing more on reality based issues, the real life scenarios or reenactment of incidents which reflect the history or culture of India. Another distinct group that has gained attention over the years in India is parallel cinema. The main ideology behind this group of alternate filmmakers, who emerged in 1970’s, is to reject the popular film making culture of India, and to adopt a realistic and self-consciously political style (Hogan 2008). Thus diversity even among film making has surfaced as the cinema grew older. Censorship Lalitha Gopalan notes that censorship in India has evolved in an interesting way. On one hand the government is intensely supportive of promoting this industry; on the other hand it has had strict policies over censorship as well. The censorship policies can vary from being internalized to being externally exposed. The intent of these policies is to narrow the focus of the filmmakers, and hence the viewers, towards an array of acceptable and appropriate narrative objects. Censorship in India has mostly been taken in context with clashes between democracy and modernization. Majority of the films produced are certified through the Central Board of Film Certification located in Bombay (Kaur & Mazzarella 2009). As times have changed, censorship policy has mitigated and censorship has been performed more leniently, partially because in India film industry has taken the role of business which has tremendously increased the influx of foreign investment into the country. However, Gopalan observes that filmmakers have manipulated around the policies to further their own interests. Instead of strictly adhering to the rules and regulations that the state has imposed and regarding them simply as a system of check and balance, filmmakers have become experts at ‘negotiating codes of censorship’ and making them work in their benefit (Khoo & Metzger 2009). The fact that the Indian film industry has been engaged in ways to bend the rules can be cited in the films produced. The purpose of the rules and regulations and censorship policies is to promote a relative degree of non-vulgar and decent quality in the film. However the films still try to feature sensual scenes, but due to the restrictions on not being very exposing, the filmmakers adopt another strategy for achieving results that are similar in nature to those produced with the picturization of obscene and sensual scenes. The producers cause the camera to withdrawal enticingly during the midst of a steamy love scene, thus creating a characteristic ‘crucial source of surplus pleasure’ (Khoo & Metzger 2009). This method of censoring the scenes themselves allows the filmmakers to evade the possibility of the film being sent for review by the censorship board. Gopalan is of the view that these interruptions in the Indian films should not be considered negative; rather they should be seen as instrumental tools that help to sequence and direct or block the flow of the film in a certain direction in order to generate more interest. Therefore Gopalan comes to the conclusion that these interruptions provide for a more enjoyable viewing experience, and thus the ‘Indian cinema is marked by interrupted pleasures’ (Khoo & Metzger 2009). The classic Indian film making style is still more prevalent and popular than other styles, though with few modifications. As Indian cinema has grown into one of the largest productions houses in the world, more diversity has been seen now over the past few years. Movies from different styles, languages, costumes, themes and morals are being produced to not only cater to the needs of the large population inhabiting the country, but also to be screened abroad to depict the cultural and social aspects of the nation. With more and more progressive development in the film industry, foreign filmmakers and actors have considered working with the actors in the Indian film industry. Over the period of time Western and Indian collaborative movies have been produced and exhibited at an international level. Undoubtedly, Indian cinema had influenced the western minds greatly, thus attracting them to invest and gain interest in joint ventures of film production. References Badley, L, Palmer, RB & Schneider, SJ 2006, Traditions in world cinema, Rutgers University Press. Benegal, S & Heide, WV 2006, Bollywood Babylon: interviews with Shyam Benegal, Berg Publishers. Bindloss, J & Bindloss, S 2007, India, Lonely, Planet. Carroll, N & Choi, J 2006, Philosophy of film and motion pictures: an anthology, Wiley-Blackwell. Eleftheriotis, D & Needham, G 2006, Asian cinemas: a reader and guide, University of Hawaii Press. G. V. Films Limited 2005, Letter of Offer, Securities and Exchange Board of India, viewed on 22 January, 2011, Gokulsing, KM, Gokulsing, K & Dissanayake, W 2004, Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change, Trentham Books. Hayward, S 2006, Cinema studies: the key concepts, 3rd edn, Taylor & Francis. Higson, A 1989, ‘The Concept of National Cinema’, Screen, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 36-47. Hog.an, PC 2008, Understanding Indian movies: culture, cognition, and cinematic imagination, University of Texas Press. Kaur, R & Mazzarella, W 2009, Censorship in South Asia: cultural regulation from sedition to seduction, Indiana University Press. Khoo, O & Metzger, S 2009, Futures of Chinese Cinema: Technologies and Temporalities in Chinese Screen Cultures, Intellect Books. Mishra, V 2002, Bollywood cinema: temples of desire, Routledge. Pettitt, L 2000, Screening Ireland: film and television representation, Manchester University Press. Triana-Toribio, N 2003, Spanish national cinema, Routledge. Vasudevan, R 2011, Awara, Film Reference, viewed on 22 January, 2011, Vasudevan, RS 2000, ‘National pasts and futures: Indian cinema’, Screen, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 119-125. Filmography Awaara, dir. Raj Kapoor, feat. Raj Kapoor, Nargis (Esquire Ltd., 1951) Do Aankhen Barah Haath, dir. V. Shantaram, feat. V. Shantaram, Sandhya (Rajkamal Kala Mandir1957) Kaagaz Ke Phool, dir. Guru Dutt, feat. Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman (Guru Dutt Films Pvt. Ltd 1959) Madhumati, dir. Bimal Roy, feat. Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala (Bimal Roy Productions 1958) Mother India, dir. Mehboob Khan, feat. Nargis, Sunil Dutt (Film Center, 1957) Mughal-e-Azam, dir. K. Asif, feat. Dilip Kumar, Madhubala (Sterling Investment Corp. 1960) Pather Panchali, dir. Satyajit Ray, feat. Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee (Government of West Bengal 1955) Pyaasa, dir. Guru Dutt, feat. Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman (Guru Dutt Films Pvt. Ltd 1957) Shree, dir. Raj Kapoor, feat. Raj Kapoor, Nargis (R.K. Films Ltd 1955) Read More