Video #13 - India: "Bollywood" Movie-Making

Monday, January 09, 2006

sources | lesson plan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The beginning of India's film industry can be traced to an advertisement which appeared in the Times of India on July 7, 1896, inviting people to witness "the wonder of the world," Lumiere Brothers' moving pictures. In 1913, Rajah Harischandra, a film by Dadasaheb Phalke received a public screening and was an extraordinary commercial success. Phalke was later to become famous in the Indian film industry for using themes from Indian epics. However, among the middle classes in India, acting was associated with being immodest and was considered an unrespectable profession for women. Accordingly, director Phalke had to hire a young man in his early film, A. Salunke.

The most successful early product of the studio system in India was Devdas (1935). Its director, P.S. Barua, also appeared in the lead. Legendary in actor Kundanlal Saigal's career was established by the Hindi re-make of this Bengali film, also directed by Barua. The Prabhat Film Company was established by V.G. Damle, Shantaram, S. Tatehlal, and two other men in 1929. Its film, Sant Tukaram (1936) was the first Indian film to gain international recognition. Many of these were films with a social commentary. They dealt with questions about the institutions of marriage, dowry, widowhood and the inequities of caste and class distinctions in India.

Interestingly, the next set of films which punctuate the Hindi cinema in the 1950's also explored the class differences in Indian society, as expressed in such practices as arranged marriages. Generally, critics see the Hindi cinema of this era as one characterized by a maudlin sentimentality.

The 1970's brought the new or alternative Indian cinema. Led by Bengali, Hindi and other Indian language filmmakers, these anti-commercial films went against the song-and-dance routines, trivial plots and family dramas of the time. According to Manaas, these film makers, "were inclined to explore the caste and class contradictions of Indian society, the nature of oppression suffered by women, the dislocation created by industrialism and the migration from rural to urban areas, the problem of landlessness the impotency of ordinary democratic and constitutional procedures of redress, and so on."

The same moral concerns it seemed lead these films to success in the West. "The sheer riot of color and the effervescence make an Indian film different from other movies," noted Komal Nahata, editor of Film Information. Holly Kernan, reporting for NPR's "All Things Considered", described a Bollywood film as "three to four hours long, chock full of songs, and never sticking to just one genre." Lisa Tsering, Entertainment Editor for India West, was also interviewed in the same program. Ms Tsering called these films "masala movies" (because masala means a "mixture of spices) consisting of a mixture of romance and melodrama, featuring teary mothers and religious scenes, and then violence and fisticuffs and love songs and romance.

PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted this year that India's film business will earn $1.12 billion by the year 2006, from $617 million in 2001. By the end of this year the industry is expected to earn $703 million. Much of this success is driven by global popularity. Thirty percent of the Indian film's overseas revenue comes from North America. Deepak Kapoor, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers' technology, information communications and entertainment department said, "This is evident from attention two Indian films - 'Laagan' and 'Devdas'- attracted at Cannes very recently. ..The market for Indian films abroad is not just limited to the non-resident Indian audience any longer." Additionally, the Oscar nomination of Lagaan has given Indian movies a broader audience.

The Indian film industry, better known as "Bollywood," produces 800 films per year, the largest number produced the world over. Nevertheless, the average Indian movie's budget is $500,000 compared to the average $14 million spent in the United States. To address this, the Bank of India has recently announced guidelines which allow financial institutions to finance up to $1 million of a picture's budget or up to about 40 percent of the total production cost.

"The Indian film producer has realized that he has a whole new market waiting to be tapped," stated Komal Nahata. As a result, the industry's marketing strategies are being improved. Now, more money is being spent to attract Western audiences.

Bollywood is not without critics. Yasmin Aibhai-Brown states, "After decades of holding out, Indian cinema finally may have bartered its soul to become only a third-rate copycat of an already second-rate Hollywood. All the actors are now as light skinned as it is possible for Asians to be. The women who make it to the top also have grey or light brown eyes and bodies like Madonna. Old Hindi movies had their heroines plump and round and of every age, deliciously dark too.." She also objects to the name Bollywood, "...indicative that the Indian film industry can be taken seriously only if it associates itself with Hollywood."

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SOURCES

Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin, "Bollywood is about morality as well as musicals." Independent, July 1, 2002, pp 15. www.elibrary.com Basu, Indrajit , "World is not Enough for Indian Showbiz." United Press International, July 4, 2002. www.elibrary.com Hansen, Liane and Robert Siegel, "Profile: Indian film presence in North America, which makes up 30 percent of Bollywood's overseas revenue." All Things Considered (NPR), May 23, 2002. www.elibrary.com Kishore, Valicha. The Moving Image. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1988. Panangadan, Anand, "New Indian Cinema." Manaas, 2002 . www.elibrary.com Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994 Vasudev, Aruna. The New Indian Cinema. New Delhi: Macmillan, 1986.

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LESSON PLAN

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 10-12/Economics, International Relations, World History, Geography, International Baccalaureate Programs(IB), Current Events.

PURPOSE:

To present activities to be used in a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of the Asian economy and its significance globally.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to:

1. Describe the history of the Indian film industry.
2. Compare and contrast the Indian film industry to that of the United States.
3. Evaluate the future of Bollywood.
4. Analyze how the globalization of the Indian film industry may affect India socially and economically.

MATERIALS:

1. Background information provided.
2. Resources on India available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
3. Background information available through Internet "search engines."

ACTIVITIES:

May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.

1. Create a time-line illustrating the most important events in the Indian film industry.
2. Illustrate a map of India to indicate the areas where the major languages spoken in Indian films originate.
3. Create a time-line to illustrate the most important events in the American film industry.
4. Use charts and graphs to show financial information on both, the Indian and the American film industry.
5. Write a list of conclusions derived from the above information.
6. View one of the acclaimed Indian films mentioned and write a review about it.
7. Use the various student reviews to analyze the nature of Indian films.
8. Research and evaluate the effect of Indian films on Indian culture. Has social change come about due to its content? What are the benefits of its financial rewards? What shortcomings can you foresee?
9. Write an editorial about the globalization of the Indian film industry and how you feel it will affect India and the world.

EVALUATION:

Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria.

Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale:

Content Creativity Clarity

1 = Superior (A) 2 = Excellent (B) 3 = Good (C) 4 = Fair (D) 5 = Poor (F)

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