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A Beginner’s Guide to Indian Cinema

A Beginner’s Guide to Indian Cinema. Sneha Bagchi Dec 20, 2009. General Inspirations. Indian Epics: Mahabharata, Ramayana Sanskrit Drama Folk Theatre of India Parsi Theatre Hollywood Western Music TV shows (MTV) Indian Diaspora. Bollywood - Love your First Impressions.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Indian Cinema

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  1. A Beginner’s Guide to Indian Cinema Sneha Bagchi Dec 20, 2009

  2. General Inspirations • Indian Epics: Mahabharata, Ramayana • Sanskrit Drama • Folk Theatre of India • Parsi Theatre • Hollywood • Western Music TV shows (MTV) • Indian Diaspora

  3. Bollywood - Love your First Impressions • Bollywood is predominantly escapist and full of entertainment, no matter how artistic it is. • Full of music, dancing, colors- part of Indian culture • Romance will always be a key factor-whether focus or a subplot • Family is a key role in lives, friendship is filled with crazy times, and marriage always occurs in ultimate romance • Bonus points for always having a rain scene (mostly past films)

  4. A Typical Bollywood Impression…

  5. The Beginning: Tollywood • Believe it or not, Bengalis were the first ones to be exposed to cinema • Tollywood: Blending of “Tollygunge” and “Hollywood” • First began in 1890’s, with the introduction of “bioscopes” by the British. • First Bengali movie, “Billwamangal” produced in 1919 • First talkie, Jamai Shashthi, produced in 1931, the same year as “Alam Ara”, first Hindi talkie.

  6. The Eras Of Tollywood • The Silent Era: 1919-1930 • India still under British rule at this point • Hiralal Sen: Bengali director • Heroes: Pramathesh Barua & Debaki Bose • Rising of the Talkies • 1932 film “Chandidas” breakthrough for recording sound for Bengali film • More artistically inclined than rising Hindi movies

  7. Tollywood Eras: Cont. • The Golden Age: 1952-1972 • Rise of Directors: Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Bimal Roy, and Ritwik Ghatak • Rise of Actors: Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee • Rise of Playback Singers :Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, and Kishore Kumar • Rise of ‘Parallel Cinema’ movement

  8. Notable Films • The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) • Pather Panchali • Aparajito • Apur Sansar • The Calcutta Trilogies: • Pratidwandi (1971) • Seemabaddha (1971) • Jana Aranya (1976) • Nayak (1966) • Mrigaya (1976) • Sonar Kella (1974) • Paroma (1984) • Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)

  9. Some Bengali Films You Might Know

  10. Bollywood • Largest producer of movies in the world • Large part of mass Indian culture, whether for escapism or social commentary • Masala movies-mix of all different genres in one movie • In their history, has swung between family-friendly romance and social commentary

  11. Going to Bollywood • Developed around the same time as Tollywood • Made up of “Bombay” and “Hollywood”, which was based off of Tollywood • Raja Harishchandra (1913) was first silent feature film • Alam Ara (1931) is first Hindi talkie film made • Color became popular in Bollywood in late 1950’s

  12. Before Independence • Lots of silent movies about Indian epics • Based on Parsi plays and Indian stories • By 1930’s, India was producing 200 films per year

  13. Key Movies/Actors • Raja Harishchandra (1913) • Alam Ara (1931) • Kisan Kanya (1937) • Notable Actors: • Prithviraj Kapoor • Ashok Kumar

  14. The BW to Color Age – some say the Golden Age • From the 1950’s until about 1970 • Story-centric, focusing on realism • Social commentary and global recognition • Epic films become a genre • Social themes with urban working-class and/or rural India

  15. Notable Films • Awaara (1951) • Devdas (1955) • Shree420 (1955) • Mother India (1957) • Pyaasa (1957) • Mughal-e-Azam (1960) • Madhumati (1958) • Guide (1965) • Aradhana (1969) • Sangam (1964) • Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai (1960)

  16. Clips

  17. Notable Actors • Raj Kapoor • Rajesh Khanna • Sharmila Tagore • Guru Dutt • Nutan • Dilip Kumar • Vaijayantimala • Dev Anand • Nargis • Sunil Dutt • Shammi Kapoor • Mumtaz • Madhubala • Rajendra Kumar

  18. Notable Singers/ Songs • Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi reigned supreme • Rise of : • Kishore Kumar • Asha Bhosle • “Mere Sapna Ki Rani” • “Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe” • “Mere Saamne Wale Khirki Main” • “Tere Mere Sapne” • “Chori Chori” • “Mera Joota Hai Japani” • “Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehephil”

  19. From Romance to Masala (1970s-early 1980s) - “dishum dishum” • Represented the struggles of lower class • Represented corruption in society • Hoped for the “knight in shining armor” to solve the miseries • Male actor dominated movies – very few meaningful roles for women actors • Rajesh Khanna started the 1970s as the romantic hero and • Amitabh Bachchan - the angry young man - reigns supreme • Some art movies break-through

  20. Actors • Amitabh Bachchan • Rekha • Sanjeev Kumar • Amjad Khan • Zeenat Aman • Rishi Kapoor • Shashi Kapoor • Jeetendra • Mithun Chakraborty • Sridevi • Naseerudin Shah • Hema Malini • Shabana Azmi

  21. Clips

  22. The Low Years • Late eighties to early nineties • Affected by the rise of VCRs and piracy • Return to family-friendly films, but little effort made towards quality • Some good films rise out introduce actors of tomorrow • Searching for the right mix between action, romance, social, violence

  23. Movies • Baazigar • Daar • Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak • Maine Pyaar Kiya • Tezaab • Parinda • Mr. India • Khal Nayak

  24. Clip

  25. Key Actors • Shahrukh Khan • Kajol • Madhuri Dixit • Karishma Kapoor • Tabu • Anil Kapoor • Amir Khan • Salman Khan • Sanjay Dutt

  26. The Phoenix Rises Again • From 1995 to current era • Triggered by the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) • Rise of independent films and artistically inclined • Rise of genre Mumbai noir • More focus on youth, with college students becoming increased subjects • Newer generation of actors and actresses coming into prominence • Even commercial cinema becoming more artistically inclined

  27. Key Movies • Dilwale Duhania Le Jayenge (1995) • Satya (1998) • Lagaan (2001) • Devdas (2002) • Munnabhai M.B.B.S.(2003) • Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006) • Rang De Basanti (2006)

  28. Key Actors-Gen. Next • Hithrik Roshan • Shahid Kapoor • Abhishek Bachchan • Ranbir Kapoor • Aishwarya Rai • Rani Mukherji • Kareena Kapoor • Konkona Sen Sharma

  29. Key Songs • “Chaiyya Chaiyya” • “Dhoom Machale” • “Chand Sifarish” • “Tadap Tadap Ke” • “Ek Pal Ka Jeena” • “Ghanan Ghanan” • “Dola Re” • “Kajra Re” • “Rang De Basanti”

  30. Clips

  31. Key Composers and Singers • Composers • A.R. Rahman • Jatin-Lalit • Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy • Playback Singers • Udit Narayan • Kavita Krishnamurthy • Alka Yagnik • Shreya Ghoshal • Sunidhi Chauhan • Sonu Niigam • Shaan

  32. What about the rest of India? • All regions make movies – and they make a lot of them • Telegu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam films have created many award winning and masala movies • Other regions also make many movies, every year • My focus today was on Tollywood and Bollywood – which I am most familiar with

  33. Thank You

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