Society and Politics
A
Bi-Annual Refereed Journal
ISSN- 2248-9479
VL
Media Solutions
Portrayal in Reel life: An overview
Abstract
Cinema is meant and
believed to entertain, to take the viewer to the world where fantasy and
reality are blended, a world which provides escape from the daily grind of
life. Cinema is a popular media of mass consumption which plays a key role in
moulding opinions, constructing images and reinforcing dominant cultural
values. This paper deals with a Portrayal in cinema, sketching variety of shades
in mainstream Bollywood movies reflecting a range of issues. It is deemed
appropriate to examine the picture stage of B-town movies as it has a huge
impact on the audience. The paper begins with the discussion on the depiction in
hindi cinema, the journey of Bollywood movies commenced with mythological and
historical subjects did not confine itself and lifted-off to certain cult
issues that compel to contemplate. It also takes glimpses from popular films
to analyse this process to get into the reality of diverse characters portrayal
in mainstream cinema. And explores how the mainstream cinema has been
successful in portraying different shades of society.
Introduction
Cinema synonymous to a “fiction film” composed
of coherent narrations arrived in India in 1913 with Dada Saheb Falke’s silent mythological
film ‘Raja Harishchandra', followed by a string of mythological films.
The early 1920’s saw the rise of several new production houses depicting either
mythological or historical facets of India. After years of silence, the historic
day for Indian Cinema arrived on 14 March 1931 when Ardeshir Irani of Imperial
Movietone released “Alam Ara”, the first full-length Indian talkie film
at the Majestic cinema in Bombay. This film very effectively broke the golden
silent era and laid a milestone that marked the steeping into the new talkie
era as well as rang the death knell to silent films. And a new chapter of Hindi
Cinema commenced with the portrayal of variety of stories, themes and plots.
Filmmakers worked on different subject matter with influential treatment reflecting
social concerns.
A significant changes
can be heeded around 1947, the mythological and historical stories started to
be replaced by social-reformists, films that turned a critical eye on such
social practices like child marriage, prostitution, dowry system, gender
discrimination, farmer sufferings. Bimal Roy and Satyajit Ray are regarded as
the film maker who first depicted the stories revolving around the lives of
lower classes, until then mostly ignored subjects. A common feature discernible
in most of Indian films is the sensitive portrayal of Indian social reality to
varying degrees of aesthetic excellence. The transformation in the portrayal of
themes, issues and ideas in Hindi Cinema is very similar with the mutation in
the society.
Cinema
Reflects Reality
More than just an
artistic output or a tool for entertainment, films are reflectors of society’s
truths. From its origin, cinema is acting as a social mirror, simulating events
and incidents that happen in human society. In 1953 Bimal Roy released the film
“Do Bigha Zamin” based on socialist theme, an important film in the
early parallel cinema of India rightly considered as a trendsetter This immortal tale,
literally meaning 'two acres of land' depicts the plight of farmers who have to
suffer from the vagaries of nature and the local money lenders once they get
indebted. This movie depicts the mirror life of early farmers. Hindi cinema has
a bunch of movies inspired by reality, 1964 saw the release of a great
patriotic movie named ‘Haqeeqat’ based on Indo-China war. For film
makers, cinema is like a window which opens to reveal the world and help to see
the broader, deeper and richer sides of life. J.P.Dutta’s patriotic movie ‘Border’
released in 1997, inspired from real life events taken place during
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film was truly inspiring and has become a cult
movie in the legion of patriotic movies. Shoot out at Lokhandwala, No One
Killed Jessica, Guru, Once upon a Time in Mumbai, Shaheed Bhagat Singh and
lot more in the list spin the fabric of reality. These movies are not just
tales of fairy tale fantasies; they are a reflection of both the Indian society
and the tradition of organised arts in modern era.
Bollywood films reflect a lot of human values contribute
in shaping society including humanism, the adoption of ideas, the quest for
progress, and the search for communal truth. It creates awareness, promotes
education, and encourages people to play their part in fulfilling their duties
as members of society.
BOLLYWOOD
WESTERNISED
Watching and discussing
Bollywood was an experience in which all generations could share and enjoy. It
was a form of entertainment that reinforces traditional family and moral values.
Bollywood films tend to celebrate noble themes like honour and sacrifice as
with romance, this is often played out within the boundaries of the traditional
family context.
According to Butalia
(1984) Indian cinema is the single largest medium of communication with the
masses, and close to 12 million people are watching films every week in cinema
houses and theatres. New York Film Scholar Tejaswini Ghanti (2004) explores Hindi
films, though comprising only 20% of the film product of the nation, are the
ones that circulate nationally and internationally dominating discourses of
Indian film. Hindi film represents Indian cinema internationally and is
regarded as the standard archetype to follow or oppose. Hindi film industry
entertains an enormously large population the portrayal of various themes and ideas
is an important issue considered.
Nowadays, however, the
influence of Hollywood is being experienced in Hindi Cinema. Larger budgets are
resulting in films with a greater degree of sophistication and a broader
variety of themes. With this territory, however, seems to be coming content of
a more mature variety not previously experienced by Bollywood film audiences.
Films like Jism (2003), Kaante (2002) and Company (2002) represent the new
breed of ‘more Westernised’ Bollywood films. Film makers are depicting
contemporary issues, non-traditional gender roles, and also increasingly sexual
and violent content.
Movie makers work on
the vast canvas for the portrayal of different issues prevailing in the society.
Bollywood has perhaps entered in a new chapter in its history where the world is
now paying closer attention. A drastic change can be heeded in the portrayal of
Hindi cinema, striving with new and brilliant idea with wonderful execution to
reflect certain social issues as a mirror. The portrayal of films can be
categorized in diverse group, reflecting various shades of life.
Portrayal of Women in Hindi Cinema
The Hindi film industry
is largely perceived as being male dominated. Long years back women have mainly
played decorative objects in Hindi Cinema. The first full-length Hindi feature
film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’, had an all-male cast and the role of
Harishchandra’s wife Taramati was given to a delicate-looking character. However, in a span of
twenty years, women stroked the B-town and make their presence felt in the
cinema circuit. They were projected as figures who commanded respect and
presented with modesty, thereby keeping in tune with the times and culture.
A 1957 release ‘Mother
India’ starring Nargis, a classic example of the “rising” of women on the
silver screen. Nargis as Radha comes across as a woman of substance, who fights
all odds to raise her children despite constant pressures put forth by an evil
landlord who tries to seek sexual favours from her. Yet, Radha shows stiff
resistance and succeeds in bringing him to book. “Mother India” is a strong
Political Proclamation on woman who can do anything to establish that “Justice
is more important than motherhood”.
And then parallel
cinema in the late 1970s-80s gave women the much needed limelight. Films like ‘Arth’,
‘Bhumika’, ‘Mirch Masala’, among others, came across as flicks with strong
feminine characters depicted that women had the power to stand for their own
right, fulfil their own needs and desires. Shoma.A.Chatterji in her Study
“Portrayal of Women in Hindi Cinema” refers that the Stereotypical portrayal of
women, which ruled Indians films till a very recent time, has been witnessing a
remarkable change. Each decade has presented its own brand of women in Hindi
Cinema. 1993 released “Damini” the theme revolves around the female
protagonist who represents truth and innocence. After her marriage in renowned
wealthy family, Damini happens to see a cruel act done by her brother-in-law.
Damini played by Meenakshi Sheshadri tries hard to get justice for her maid who
can’t fend for her own rights. In the process she challenges her husband’s
family and society itself. This movie represents the true essence of womanhood
and her never say die spirit.
Today film makers and producers are becoming
more conscious and are making more heroine oriented films where the woman plays
the protagonist. Such films have had a successful running at the box office and
have also broken perceptions, given power to the women. Women are batting a
strong character than before, forcing society to think very hard.
In recent years, some extremely interesting
films have released and in each of them the character of female protagonist has
been changed. The stereotypical portrayal of women has observed astonishing
transformation in Hindi Cinema. Be it the blood thirsty Priyanka Chopra from “7
Khoon Maaf” who tries to be a docile wife eventually becoming the nonsense
girl, who systematically kills all her husband as they become unbearable.
Another surprise click at the box office ‘Band Baaja Baraat’, Anushka
Sharma plays an ambitious Wedding Planner who has the courage to break out of
an established firm to make a mark on her own in the industry.The box office
exploits with another hit like “Fashion” where Priyanka Chopra is
featured as an ambitious model. Rani Mukherji’s character was beautifully
presented as a blind, deaf and mute woman named Michelle McNally in Sanjay
Leela Bhansali’s ‘Black’.
Today women is not
making martyrdom, she wants to be heard and how to express herself. Parineeti
Chopra’s character Zoya in ‘Ishqzaade’ does not sit and cry when she is
betrayed. Vidya Balan’s The Dirty Picture, Kahaani, Ishqiya and No
one killed Jessica earned the tagline of women oriented movie.
Thus the picture of
Bollywood movies has knocked remarkable change in Hindi Cinema and women
characters are batting well at their end.
COPS And
Bollywood
Bollywood Cinema has a long tradition of
depicting cops. Vinujadhav in his article “Portrayals of Police Officers in Bollywood”
deals with the detailed analysis of characterization of police roles in Hindi
Cinema. He refers Khakhi has remained an important ingredient of film industry
long years back.
Hindi cinema’s ‘khakiness’ began with Iftekhar
Khan, known for donning the maximum number of cop roles in Bollywood, Iftekhar
was nothing less than ‘the’ B-Town inspector. Earlier Bollywood had Police Officer
only in supporting characters but 1990’s knocked a change and the character of
Police Officers became very integral to the plot and heroes were cast in Police
Officers’ roles.
Amitabh Bachchan changed it all with his 1973 release ‘Zanjeer’, playing a cop was no longer the role of a
sidekick; it was one for the heroes. As the angry inspector Vijay Khanna, Big B
changed the face of the Bollywood cop. Honesty, righteousness and fearlessness
were some of the characteristics that became a standard formula for the man in
uniform. Tinnu Anand directed ‘Shanshah’ where he
played a crusading police officer who acts as a lazy cop during the day and dry
cleans the city in the night. Sanjeev
Kumar in Sholay or Shashi Kapoor in Deewar or Vinod Khanna in Amar
Akbar Anthony, the onscreen
policeman held the moral torch in the ‘70s.
The early ‘80s Bollywood cop was not entirely different either. Dilip
Kumar played the beaten by life yet holding strong DCP Ashwini Kumar in the 1982
released “Shakti” and Vishwa Pratap Singh aka Rana in “Karma” (1986).
However, it was Anil Kapoor’s role as a corrupt inspector Lakhan Pratap
Singh in the 1989 released Ram
Lakhan that changed the face of
the Bollywood cop significantly. While Jackie Shroff, who also played the
titular role of inspector Ram Pratap Singh in the movie, was the regular honest
khaki man, inspector Lakhan was the ‘money’ maker.
The ‘90s was all about trapping the demons of society and setting things
right. With terrorists and bomb blasts making headlines those days, the glitzy Bollywood
world banked on them to create ripples at the box office. In Khalnayak (1993), Jackie Shroff portrayed the urban inspector
Ram, who successfully traps a wanted terrorist Ballu. It was in the ‘90s too,
that Akshay Kumar’s tryst with uniforms began as well. Donning the role of inspector
Karan Joglekar, Akshay played the scheming, plotting khaki man in the 1994
release “Main Khiladi Tu
Anari”. Among others, he has
played a cop in Khakee and in his latest Khiladi
786. B-Town
perfectionist Aamir Khan also made it big as IPS officer Ajay Singh Rathod in
the 1999 release Sarfarosh. The ever-so-serious Khan also takes the credit of
bringing back the ‘70s cop image to the 21st century with his role as inspector
Shekhawat in his 2012 release Talaash.
Whether it is Manoj Bajpai as inspector Samar Pratap Singh in the 1999
release “Shool” or Nana Patekar as inspector Sadhu Agashe in “Ab Tak Chhappan” or as police commissioner Srinivasan in “Company”, they all had one thing in common “encounters”.
The tall and groovy Abhishek Bachchan started it all with his portrayal
of the very stylish non-uniformed ACP Jai Dixit in the Dhoom series. Critically appreciated ‘Singham’
is successful in leaving good impression on the audience, in which Ajay Devgan
with his man-of-steel image as
inspector Bajirao M Singham plays a straight arrow police officer who
falls into the bad books of politician businessman.
Bollywood has indeed seen a number of khaki changes; Salman plays two
different shades of cops in action packed movie ‘Wanted’
and ‘Dabangg’. ‘Wanted’
is all about young IPS Officer who goes undercover as a gangster to infiltrate
the Criminal Underworld whereas a
big blockbuster ‘Dabangg’ depicts the story of a corrupt but upright cop,
Chulbul Pandey in Northern India.
Hindi Cinema reflects Various Maladies
Cinema is considered to
be a powerful medium that reflects the happenings in a society. While it is
caught up between the real and reel life, it still performs as an important
medium of entertaining people, educating them and bringing a behaviour change
in their practice and attitudes. The focus of Hindi Cinema on certain social
theme is remarkable especially when it is following a line of investigation on
various ailments issues, highlighting the most uncommon diseases and portraying
it with well execution.
History suggests a lot
many films that have been made on different diseases at different times but the
recent trend on the rare disease is new innovation achieving tremendous
popularity with good business. This trend is an effort of filmmakers to make
the disabled people differently labelled and uncover many hidden disorders
related to disability for creating awareness among the audience in India.
Hrithik Roshan’s recent portrayal of a
paraplegic who appeals for euthanasia in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Guzaarish”
is the indication, film makers are raising certain issues, really need to be
contemplated and such things can be a point of discussion in high society
circles too, as shown in the movie.
Mega Star Amitabh
Bachchan stunned people with his National Award Winning stint as a Progeria
affected 12 year old in “Paa” and Aamir Khan brought to the shore
Anterograde Amnesia in Hindi Cinema biggest grosser “Gajini”.
Hrithik Roshan also
tried putting forth the problems faced by developmentally disabled individual
in “Koi Mil Gaya”. In this he portrays as developmentally disabled young
man who tries to continue the work his father did in communicating with
extra-terrestrials from outer space, which leads to something miraculous and
wonderful.
Superstar Shahrukh Khan
also strive highlighting Asperger Syndrome in “My Name is Khan”. It focuses more on some of the negative
preconceptions that can arise due to a lack of understanding of Asperger’s and
how those with it are affected by the condition. On the other hand Aamir
created an impact by depicting the problems faced by dyslexic children in “Taare
Zameen Par”
2008 Bollywood’s comedy film directed by Jaideep Sen and produced by Rakesh Roshan ‘Krazzy
4’ where Arshad Warsi and Konkana Sen introduce audience Schizophrenia –a
mental disorder.
Ranbir
Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starring Anurag Basu's latest film Barfi! has changed Bollywood's perception about the
abilities of the disabled. The physically and mentally challenged have been
portrayed as characters that deserve to be either pitied or mocked, but hardly
ever simply accepted.
Barfi!
tells the story of the bond between a deaf and mute hero (Ranbir) and an autistic
heroine (Priyanka). It is the latest hit in the Bollywood malady films that portray
physical disabilities from a different perspective.
Samir
Parikh consultant psychiatrist Max Healthcare writes Cinema has very good reach
in society, it has the power to educate people and make them sensitive to
medical issues and when done with good research and presented with facts and
sensitivity, it is a welcome step.
Homosexuality in Hindi Cinema
Homosexuality,
generally considered a taboo subject by both Indian Civil Society and
Government is now a common subject in the portrayal of Hindi Cinema. Gay,
Lesbian, Transgender, Eunuchs fall under this Hindi category of sexual
minority. As per the article of Global
Media Journal, Cinema is portraying sexual minorities in more realistic
manner, is successful in raising, expressing and suggesting possible solutions
to their problems in more effective manner. Now there have been more depictions
and discussions of homosexuality in Bollywood movies.
Harshita.S.Chaudhary in
her article “Representation of
Homosexuals (LGBT) in Indian Literature, Media and Cinema” aims at
socio-legal study of the representation of Homosexuals (LGBT) in the
literature, media, and cinema with respect to Indian society. The article refers
that Homosexuality became very much contentious because of the representation
it got through media and because of media’s attention given to this issue. Homosexuality
gave directors an opportunity to direct movies on the controversial issues
going around and gave representation to homosexuals in film industry.
The Delhi High Court on
July 2, 2009 decriminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults
throughout India, where section 377 of Indian Penal Code was adjudged to
violate the fundamental Right to Life and Liberty and the Right to Equality as
guaranteed by the constitution of India. The High Court did not strike down
Section 377 completely – it held the section was valid to the extent it related
to non-vaginal intercourse and it expressed the hope that Parliament would soon
legislatively address the issue.NAZ FOUNDATION (India) TRUST, THE NATIONAL
AIDS CONTROL ORGANIZATION, LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA, UNION HEALTH MINISTRY,
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION and THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF INDIA come
implicitly or expressly in support of decriminalizing homosexuality in India.
But Hindi Cinema is
portraying homosexuality from decade’s back. In 1981 “Mast Kalender”
featured Bollywood’s first out and out ‘gay’ character Pinku. If Hollywood’s
first gay characters were either comic or villainous, Pinku was both. He is a
new generation gangster in yellow or pink outfit, both pansy and comic rolled
into one. A gay tune strikes up whenever he enters on the screen.
And just to make it
real that you are left in no doubt about him, in the opening scene Pinku runs
his finger over his father’s brawny body and asks Daddy “Hamara body aapke
jaisa muscular kyon nahi hai.”
The gay sidekick
emerged as a staple comic character from 1990’s onwards in films like Hum Hain
Raahi Pyar Ke (1993), Raja Hindustani (1996) and Taal (1999).A big
blockbuster “Fashion” in 2008 featured the gay fashion designer, played
by Sameer Soni, who eventually settled for a marriage of convenience (to please
society) and family with a model and buddy Mugdha Godse.The film raised the
hackles of several gay communities in the country for Bhandarkar’s caricature
and moralizing of the way of life and sexual choices.
One of the first films
to depict a lesbian relationship was Deepa Mehta “Fire” (1996) starring Shabana
Azmi and Nandita Das. It is a poignant portrayal of complicated relationship by
fine artists. The characters were somewhat synonymous with the subject of
homosexuality. Here two women came together to fulfil their passions not out of
choice but due to lack of acknowledgement from their spouses.
Another movie
portraying lesbian characters came with “Girlfriend” in 2004, where
Tanya (Isha Koppikar) and Sapna (Amrita Arora) are housemates who have been
friends since college. Karan Razdan’s “Girlfriend” was a mockery of lesbian
relationship or a painful masquerade of so-called stereotypes.
Hindi Cinema also
featured “Sensitive” hijra portrayals in films like Bombay (1995), Tamanna
(1997) and Darmiyaan (1997). But Hijra turned as antagonist in Sadak
(1991) and Murder-2. Another eunuch portraying character film “Shabnam
Mausi” it was a biopic of high profile Indian hijra who was elected as a
member of legislative assembly in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. This
trend of portrayal of Homosexuals in Hindi Cinema moves ahead with the
acceptance of audience.
Portrayal of Journalists in mainstream
The trend of portraying
actors as Journalist in Mainstream Cinema continues, since the audience is
ready to accept anything that adds authenticity to the film.Prof. Radhika
Parmeswaran of School Of Journalism, Indiana University in her article “Moral
Dilemmas of an Immoral Nation: Gender Sexuality and Journalism” in Page-3
venture explores uncharted terrain of Journalism and explains that media is
playing well at sketching Journalists in Hindi Cinema.
Madhur
Bhandarkar’s gritty 2005 film “PAGE-3:The
inside Story” deals with the life of Journalists, focuses mainly on its
chief protagonist Madhavi Sharma a woman reporter who lives in Mumbai and works
for the Page-3 section of film fictional English language newspaper Nation
Today.
Another critically
acclaimed in 2011 ‘No One Killed Jessica’ based on Jessica Laal murder
case, Rani Mukherji plays a character of Delhi based reporter in the film who
investigates the case. The movie tries to highlight that media had a big role
to play in clamouring for Justice for the victim and her family. The
speculation for Rani’s character was that it was based on a particular
journalist but later the actor explained that her persona is an amalgamation of
several journalists who were following the case.
Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Rann’
explains the relevance and responsibility of Media and Journalism where Amitabh
Bachchan characterises a senior Respected Journalist Vijay Harshvardhan Malik.
The film’s portrayal of a certain kind of Hindi news Journalism may not be far
from truth, it didn’t clicked at the box office.
Sketching Terrorism
In mainstream
The
real life terrorist incidents kept providing the film makers with the story lines
for their movies. Terrorism an issue which has baffled one and all with its
growing stature and complexity, Hindi cinema works on this snag profoundly and
portrays it brilliantly.
South
Asian Cinema- Victoria College in their article Bollywood and the Crisis of
Representation Terrorism US, Them and 9/11 states Popular Indian Cinema has
witnessed a steady rise in the production of movies related to terrorism and
threat to National Security since 2001.While critically and aesthetically
examining the perpetual threats that India lives under, the Hindi Cinema has
successfully captured the jingoistic fervour and pride that have repeatedly
trumped such adversity.
Essaying the terrorist’s grey
persona and his/her inner conflict became a challenge for leading actors. Hrithik
Roshan in Fiza and Mission Kashmir; Chandrachur Singh in Maachis; Manisha Koirala in Dil Se
played the role of suicide bombers, much akin to ‘human bombs’ used in many
notorious terror attacks on important places and political leaders Aamir Khan in Fanaa, Anurag Sinha
in ‘Black And White’.
Naseeruddin Shah in “A Wednesday” played
a memorable character, this movie effectively show that a Common man, who has
suffered a lot, is coerced into taking action against Terrorism. Depicts
finally it is up to the common man to recognize the dangers of both living in
constant fear of terrorism and falling into the trap of becoming an instrument
of terror or giving them a smashing reply.
Another hit and critically acclaimed
John Matthew Matthan’s “Sarfarosh”, shows a Pakistani singer Ghulfam
(played by Naseeruddin Shah) coming to India with the aim of vengeance, where Aamir
Khan plays a patriotic ACP and Mukesh Rishi played a Muslim police officer who
has to prove himself doubly to establish that he is a patriot.
Depicting Terrorism in movies has
not only the aim, to raise the issue prevailing in the world but filmmakers
also claim to have some meaning in their mean machinations. The scripts are
such portrayed which gives intense idea of the problem, conveys the message to
the audience, aware them and also asks a big question that after suffering a
lot from terrorism “What step the government is taking to fight with it and Its
repercussion on common man?”
Thus media is playing a significant
role to put forth the snag in very ingenious style and working positively from
their ends.
Small Towns is in Vogue in Hindi Cinema
After a number of hits that
portrayed small towns, the film makers are focussing their scripts that revolve
around small city. Anecdote
of ordinary people from small towns and poor rural areas are back with a bang
in popular Indian cinema as a new breed of Indian filmmakers increasingly chooses
small towns for their movie backdrop.
Chhavi Bakaria in “Bollywood
Receives a Dose of Reality” refers that Mainstream Cinema is focussing the
storyline on small cities and revealing the facts with fiction. With the UP and Bihar moving to the forefront of Hindi Cinema, the
films are shot in India's poorer rural
heartlands, portray the lives, dreams and yearning of real women and men of
small town.
The
trend has dominated Indian cinema for the past couple of years, and many
believe it is here to stay. A 2010
big blockbuster “Dabangg” directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by
Arbaaz Khan was laid down in a small town Laalgunj, Uttar Pradesh which
revolves around a cop Chulbul Pandey.
Drawing real politics, corruption in the
police, and the hopeless nature of small town India, where men turn to crime
because there is nothing left to do outside.
“Ishqzaade”
meaning ‘Love Rebels’ that steps in 2012 is a story that takes place in a small
town of Northern Uttar Pradesh. An innovative script that reflects the life of
small village was ‘Peepli Live’ directed by Anusha Rizvi and produced by
Aamir Khan. Where plight of farmers were
highlighted and it was a scathing satire on the country’s apathy towards the
rural class, especially towards the farmer.
Critically acclaimed “Gangs of
Wasseypur” represents the people of Wasseypur, just two kilometres from
Dhanbad Station. It is an incorporation of facts with fiction. It centres on Power Struggles, Politics and
Vengeance between three crime families.
As it is said “Change is the requirement
of Nature”, Film makers also base the Portrayal in their movies on the same
concept. No one could ever imagine that small-town guys from unlikely places
like Faizabad and Gorakhpur, Allahabad and Patna, Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh
would wield the megaphone and direct projects that would resonate across the
country.
Portrayal of Gangsters in Hindi
Cinema
Bollywood films revolving around the Indian
mafia, particularly the Mumbai underworld, have been common in Indian cinema
since the 1950s, evolving into a distinct genre known as Mumbai noir in the
late 1990s.
This genre has its origins in the 1950s, with
the Raj Kapoor films Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955) being
some of the earliest films involving the Mumbai underworld. In the 1960s,
Shakti Samanta's “China Town” (1962), starring Shammi Kapoor and Helen,
dealt with the criminal underworld that existed in Chinatown, Kolkata, at the
time. It was the earliest film to introduce the plot element of a look-alike
working as an undercover agent impersonating a gangster, an idea that was used
again in Don (1978) and many later films inspired by it.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, many of the most
well-known classic Bollywood movies were based around themes of fighting
criminals and corruption at a time when crime was rising and authorities were
powerless. Classic Amitabh Bachchan played a number of characters where the
protagonists attempts to overcome underworld, including Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer
(1972), Yash Chopra's “Deewar” (1975), Manmohan Desai's “Amar Akbar
Anthony” (1977), and Vijay Anand's Ram Balram (1980).
In particular, “Deewar” which Danny
Boyle described as being “absolutely key to Indian cinema”, was a crime film
pitting "a policeman against his brother, a gang leader based on real-life
smuggler Haji Mastan", portrayed by Bachchan. Most Bollywood crime movies
at the time were fairly unrealistic with the masala style of action and plots.
On the contrary, the Parallel Cinema in the late
1980s portrayed more realistic Bombay underworld films. Mani Ratnam's Tamil
film Nayagan (1987), depicted the life of the Bombay don, Varadarajan
Mudaliar played by Kamal Haasan. “Nayagan” was included in Time
Magazine's "All-Time 100 Best Films" list, in 2005.
The Bombay underworld was also depicted in
Mira Nair's Academy Award nominated Hindi film Salaam Bombay! (1988).
The underworld was also depicted in several other National Film Award winning
films, including Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda (1989) starring Anil
Kapoor, Mukul S. Anand's Agneepath (1990).
In the late 1990s, Ram Gopal Varma's Satya
(1998) marked the introduction of a new genre of film making.The critical and
commercial success of Satya led to an increased emphasis on realism in
later Mumbai underworld films. Varma's next Mumbai noir film was Company
(2002), based on the D-Company, a real-life mafia syndicate. Satya and Company
both gave "slick, often mesmerizing portrayals of the Mumbai
underworld", and displayed realistic "brutality and urban
violence." Satya won six Filmfare Awards, including the Critics Award for
Best Film, while Company won seven Filmfare Awards. Varma also directed an
Indian adaptation of The Godfather novel in a Mumbai underworld setting, called
Sarkar (2005), and has more recently filmed an original sequel called Sarkar
Raj (2008).
Mahesh Manjrekar's “Vaastav: The Reality”
(1999) is another film that depicts the Indian mafia. Anurag Kashyap's Black
Friday (2004) is based on S. Hussein Zaidi's book of the same name about
the 1993 Bombay bombings, which involved the underworld organization, the
D-Company.
Vishal Bharadwaj's Maqbool (2004) and Omkara
(2006) are modern-day Indian mafia interpretations of the William Shakespeare
plays Macbeth and Othello, respectively. Farhan Akhtar's Don - The Chase Begins
Again (2006) is a remake of Barot's original 1978 Don with Shahrukh Khan
taking Bachchan's place in the title role. Apoorva Lakhia's Shootout at
Lokhandwala (2007) is based on a real-life 1991 incident involving
Commissioner Aftab Ahmed Khan and the Lokhandwala Complex. The Mumbai
underworld has also been depicted in Madhur Bhandarkar's Traffic Signal
(2007) and Rajeev Khandelwal's Aamir (2008).
Indian mafia was widely portrayed in 2009
Bollywood's 2009 critically acclaimed film Kaminey and 2010 released Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, Indian period
gangster film directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Ekta Kapoor. The film
portrays the story of 1970s Bombay, when it was ruled by smuggler Sultan Mirza
(Ajay Devgn), and how Mirza's downfall led to Shoaib's rise to power. B-town is
not just sketching the characters but also turning the audience towards the
issues, need to be heeded.
Sports and Bollywood
Filmmakers have incorporated
several sports with the celluloid, sketched certain themes that revolves around
it. As these movies evoke inspiration and a sense of team spirit and patriotism
in viewers mainstream portrays the intricacies of respective sports. Sports and
cinema may have very little in common but when put together they make one hell
of a combination. One of the earliest sports film released in 1983 Hip Hip
Hurray revolves around the life of a football coach of Ranchi school,
essayed by Raj Kiran. 1984 saw the release of another sports film Boxer,
starring Mithun Chakraborty. This movie was inspired by Sylvester Stallone’s
Rocky series. A super hit film of 1992 Jo Jeeta wohi Sikander was
set against the backdrop of a lesser known sport in our country, cycling. The
story revolves around an annual inter-collegiate cycling event. The film is a
morale booster and also portrays true sportsman spirit where a player fights
till the very end and emerges victorious.
Bollywood and
Cricket rule the hearts of every Indian and these two are treated on par with
religion so it is inspiring to see both these themes coming together.
Cricket being the
favourite sport of the country, several Hindi films have been centred on this
sport in the last few year that includes a 2001 Indian epic sports drama film Lagaan
(Land Tax). The film is set in the Victorian period of India's colonial British
Raj and revolves around the peasants from a barren village who are oppressed by
high taxes imposed by their rulers. They attempt to persuade the British
officers to reduce the taxes because of poor agricultural production. Instead,
a wager is offered: If their village team beats a British team in a game of
cricket, their taxes for three years would be cancelled. Lagaan set the
ball rolling at the box office and its huge success led to create string of
films with cricket as the backdrop like Iqbal, Haattrick, Victory, Stumped,
Patiala House, Jannat and many others in the bag.
Chak De India a 2007 release gave new lease of life to sports film beyond cricket where
Shahrukh Khan played an ostracised hockey Captain, takes up the role of
coaching Indian Women’s Hockey Team. The success of Chak De India made film
makers realise that there is more to sports movies than cricket, leading to
films being made on football Dhana Dhan Goal. And 2013 welcomed Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag, the film based on Indian Athelete Milkha Singh’s life. It is
the story of guts and glory where Indian Olympic running legend Milkha Singh
also known as the Flying Sikh gets the lavish biopic treatment in “Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag,” a striking and handsomely crafted sports drama that’s on
sure footing when it sticks to the track, but falls short of its ambitions to
turn Singh’s life into a metaphor for fraught Indo-Pakistani relations in the
years following the 1947 Partition. Farhan Akhtar portrayed an appealing lead
performance and excellent direction by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra highly impressed
the audience.
Sports film
requires a lot of research, expertise and time and it works only when it has
strong human element in its plot.
Conclusion
India is the largest film producing
industry in the world and its cinema is becoming increasingly popular in
various countries around the globe. Bollywood is a powerful medium that
provides useful and entertaining information on history, civilization, variety
of cultures, religions, socio-economics and politics. More and more people,
irrespective of their ethnicity, watch Bollywood films in many parts of the
world. The modern Indian cinema based in Mumbai is a better guide to the
realities of modern India than fiction. Recognising the importance of portrayal,
Hindi Cinema is focussing to work on extensive canvas to carry the taste of
audience. It is putting effort to manage with wide aspects by proper
exploration, creation and adding flavours before serving to the viewers.
It could be discovered that Bollywood
movies are not bound to entertainment and making money but also focussing to
aware, educate and inform the audience in an artistic style by adding
congregate feelings. A number of different types of Bollywood film, suggests
that these films are an unparalleled guide to the thoughts, aspirations and
attitudes.
B-town, putting forward such issues that
was considered as taboo and not discussed openly, a unique approach of Hindi
Cinema, providing information about certain topic to common man which was only
discussed by experts. These films are
the need of the hour as they are not just packaged to be commercially viable;
but are movies with messages that speak about Indian society not in the past
but in the present. The Indian cinema is gradually getting towards
path-breaking concepts in Hindi films. In this fast-changing scenario, the
new-age writers and directors are picking up stories that are realistic,
identifiable, and straight out of life. The movies are thought to be provoking
and striking a chord with its audience with a blend of emotions, drama, light
moments and reality.
These kinds of portrayal in movies
unleash the real world to us along with its various drawbacks and also provide
us some inputs with effective and novel ways of dealing with certain issues. It
is the way the treatment of the subject is done that makes them different. At
last, we have movies which cater more to the elite and the thinking viewer.
It’s interesting how films in India are changing. And if the trend continues,
the most powerful media can be used to make the most powerful statements. The
depiction of diversified subjects in mainstream cinema has raised the bar of
our cinema to an international level.
REFRENCES:
Sanjeev.K.Sabharwal, Global Media
Journal – Indian Edition/ISSN June 2002
Harshita.S.Chaudhary, “Representation of
Homosexuals (LGBT) in Indian Literature, Media and Cinema” May 2012
‘Subject Cinema, Object Women: A study
of Portrayal of Women in Indian Cinema’ by Shoma.A.Chatterji, Parumita
Publications 1998
“Mother Maiden Mistress” Women in Hindi
Cinema (1950-2010) Bhawna, Somya, Jigna Kothari and S.Madangarli
Prof. Radhika Parmeswaran of School Of
Journalism, Indiana University in her article “MORAL DILEMMAS OF AN IMMORAL
NATION: GENDER SEXUALITY AND JOURNALISM”
Vinujadhav in his article “Portrayals of
Police Officers in Bollywood” on moviezadda.com
South Asian Cinema- Victoria
College in their article BOLLYWOOD AND THE CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION TERRORISM
Us, Them and 9/11 cfp.english.upenn.edu
“Bollywood Receives a Dose of Reality” by Chhavi
Bakaria channelnewsasia.com, 2012
https://www.google.co.in/search?noj=1&site=webhp&q=mother+india&oq=mother
http://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=cr#sclient=psyab&q=jo+jeeta+wohi+sikandar+a+superhit&oq=jo+jeeta+wohi+sikandar+a+superhit&gs_
Pallavi Mishra
Research Scholar & Freelance Writer
Dept. Of Journalism & Mass Communication
University of Lucknow.
E-mail ID – pallavimishra34@gmail.com
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