A serious-looking Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar, one of the most successful Bollywood actors of all time, in 2013.[103][104][105][106][107][108]
Influences on Bollywood
Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake identify six major influences which have shaped Indian popular cinema:[109]z
The branching structures of ancient Indian epics, like the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Indian popular films often have plots which branch off into sub-plots.
Ancient Sanskrit drama, with its stylised nature and emphasis on spectacle in which music, dance and gesture combine "to create a vibrant artistic unit with dance and mime being central to the dramatic experience." Matthew Jones of De Montfort University also identifies the Sanskrit concept of rasa, or "the emotions felt by the audience as a result of the actor’s presentation", as crucial to Bollywood films.[110]
Traditional folk theater, which became popular around the 10th century with the decline of Sanskrit theater. Its regional traditions include the Jatra of Bengal, the Ramlila of Uttar Pradesh, and the Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu.
Parsi theatre, which "blended realism and fantasy, music and dance, narrative and spectacle, earthy dialogue and ingenuity of stage presentation, integrating them into a dramatic discourse of melodrama. The Parsi plays contained crude humour, melodious songs and music, sensationalism and dazzling stagecraft."
Hollywood, where musicals were popular from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Western musical television (particularly MTV), which has had an increasing influence since the 1990s. Its pace, camera angles, dance sequences and music may be seen in 2000s Indian films. An early example of this approach was Mani Ratnam's Bombay (1995).
Sharmistha Gooptu identifies Indo-Persian-Islamic culture as a major influence. During the early 20th century, Urdu was the lingua franca of popular cultural performance across northern India and established in popular performance art traditions such as nautch dancing, Urdu poetry, and Parsi theater. Urdu and related Hindi dialects were the most widely understood across northern India, and Hindustani became the standard language of early Indian talkies. Films based on "Persianate adventure-romances" led to a popular genre of "Arabian Nights cinema".[111]
Scholars Chaudhuri Diptakirti and Rachel Dwyer and screenwriter Javed Akhtar identify Urdu literature as a major influence on Hindi cinema.[16][112][113] Most of the screenwriters and scriptwriters of classic Hindi cinema came from Urdu literary backgrounds,[16][112] from Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Akhtar ul Iman to Salim-Javed and Rahi Masoom Raza; a handful came from other Indian literary traditions, such as Bengali and Hindi literature.[112] Most of Hindi cinema's classic scriptwriters wrote primarily in Urdu, including Salim-Javed, Gulzar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Inder Raj Anand, Rahi Masoom Raza and Wajahat Mirza.
[16] Urdu poetry and the ghazal tradition strongly influenced filmi (Bollywood lyrics).[16][113] Javed Akhtar was also greatly influenced by Urdu novels by Pakistani author Ibn-e-Safi, such as the Jasoosi Dunya and Imran series of detective novels;[114] they inspired, for example, famous Bollywood characters such as Gabbar Singh in Sholay (1975) and Mogambo in Mr. India (1987).[115]
Todd Stadtman identifies several foreign influences on 1970s commercial Bollywood masala films, including New Hollywood, Italian exploitation films, and Hong Kong martial arts cinema.[73] After the success of Bruce Lee films (such as Enter the Dragon) in India,[116] Deewaar (1975) and other Bollywood films incorporated fight scenes inspired by 1970s martial arts films from Hong Kong cinema until the 1990s.[117] Bollywood action scenes emulated Hong Kong rather than Hollywood, emphasising acrobatics and stunts and combining kung fu (as perceived by Indians) with Indian martial arts such as pehlwani.[118]
Influence of Bollywood india
Perhaps Bollywood's greatest influence has been on India's national identity, where (with the rest of Indian cinema) it has become part of the "Indian story".[119] In India, Bollywood is often associated with India's national identity. According to economist and Bollywood biographer Meghnad Desai, "Cinema actually has been the most vibrant medium for telling India its own story, the story of its struggle for independence, its constant struggle to achieve national integration and to emerge as a global presence".[119]
Scholar Brigitte Schulze has written that Indian films, most notably Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), played a key role in shaping the Republic of India's national identity in the early years after independence from the British Raj; the film conveyed a sense of Indian nationalism to urban and rural citizens alike.[120] Bollywood has long influenced Indian society and culture as the biggest entertainment industry; many of the country's musical, dancing, wedding and fashion trends are Bollywood-inspired. Bollywood fashion trendsetters have included Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and Madhuri Dixit in Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994).[92]
Bollywood has also had a socio-political impact on Indian society, reflecting Indian politics.[121] In classic 1970s Bollywood films, Bombay underworld crime films written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan such as Zanjeer (1973) and Deewaar (1975) reflected the socio-economic and socio-political realities of contemporary India. They channeled growing popular discontent and disillusionment and state failure to ensure welfare and well-being at a time of inflation, shortages, loss of confidence in public institutions, increasing crime[65] and the unprecedented growth of slums.[69] Salim-Javed and Bachchan's films dealt with urban poverty, corruption and organised crime;[70] they were perceived by audiences as anti-establishment, often with an "angry young man" protagonist presented as a vigilante or anti-hero[71] whose suppressed rage voiced the anguish of the urban poor.[69]
Overseas
Bollywood has been a significant form of soft power for India, increasing its influence and changing overseas perceptions of India.[122][123] In Germany, Indian stereotypes included bullock carts, beggars, sacred cows, corrupt politicians, and catastrophes before Bollywood and the IT industry transformed global perceptions of India.[124] According to author Roopa Swaminathan, "Bollywood cinema is one of the strongest global cultural ambassadors of a new India."[123][125] Its role in expanding India's global influence is comparable to Hollywood's similar role with American influence.[92]
During the 2000s, Bollywood began influencing musical films in the Western world and was instrumental role in reviving the American musical film. Baz Luhrmann said that his musical film, Moulin Rouge! (2001), was inspired by Bollywood musicals;[126] the film incorporated a Bollywood-style dance scene with a song from the film China Gate. The critical and financial success of Moulin Rouge! began a renaissance of Western musical films such as Chicago, Rent, and Dreamgirls.[127]
Indian film composer A. R. Rahman wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, and a musical version of Hum Aapke Hain Koun was staged in London's West End. The Bollywood sports film Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and two other Bollywood films (2002's Devdas and 2006's Rang De Basanti) were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which won four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, was inspired by Bollywood films[72][128] and is considered an "homage to Hindi commercial cinema".[129] It was also inspired by Mumbai-underworld crime films, such as Deewaar (1975), Satya (1998), Company (2002) and Black Friday (2007).[72] Deewaar had a Hong Kong remake, The Brothers (1979),[130] which inspired John Woo's internationally acclaimed breakthrough A Better Tomorrow (1986);[130][131] the latter was a template for Hong Kong action cinema's heroic bloodshed genre.[132][133] "Angry young man" 1970s epics such as Deewaar and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) also resemble the heroic-bloodshed genre of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema.[134]
The influence of filmi may be seen in popular music worldwide. Technopop pioneers Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto of the Yellow Magic Orchestra produced a 1978 electronic album, Cochin Moon, based on an experimental fusion of electronic music and Bollywood-inspired Indian music.[135] Truth Hurts' 2002 song "Addictive", produced by DJ Quik and Dr. Dre, was lifted[clarification needed] from Lata Mangeshkar's "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" in Jyoti (1981).[136] The Black Eyed Peas' Grammy Award winning 2005 song "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was inspired by two 1970s Bollywood songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from Don (1978) and "Ae Nujawan Hai Sub" from Apradh (1972).[137] Both songs were composed by Kalyanji Anandji, sung by Asha Bhosle, and featured the dancer Helen.[138]
The Kronos Quartet re-recorded several R. D. Burman compositions sung by Asha Bhosle for their 2005 album, You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood, which was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Filmi music composed by A. R. Rahman (who received two Academy Awards for the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack) has frequently been sampled by other musicians, including the Singaporean artist Kelly Poon, the French rap group La Caution and the American artist Ciara. Many Asian Underground artists, particularly those among the overseas Indian diaspora, have also been inspired by Bollywood music.[citation needed]
Genres
See also: Muslim social
A man and woman smile at each other in an old film
Melodrama and romance are common ingredients in Bollywood films, such as Achhut Kanya (1936).
Bollywood films are primarily musicals, and are expected to have catchy song-and-dance numbers woven into the script. A film's success often depends on the quality of such musical numbers.[139] A film's music and song and dance portions are usually produced first and these are often released before the film itself, increasing its audience.[140]
Indian audiences expect value for money, and a good film is generally referred to as paisa vasool, (literally "money's worth").[141] Songs, dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills are combined in a three-hour show (with an intermission). These are called masala films, after the Hindi word for a spice mixture. Like masalas, they are a mixture of action, comedy and romance; most have heroes who can fight off villains single-handedly. Bollywood plots have tended to be melodramatic, frequently using formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers, angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, political corruption, kidnapping, villains, kind-hearted courtesans, long-lost relatives and siblings, reversals of fortune and serendipity.
Parallel cinema films, in and outside Bollywood, tended to be less popular at the box office. A large Indian diaspora in English-speaking countries and increased Western influence in India have nudged Bollywood films closer to Hollywood.[142]
According to film critic Lata Khubchandani, "Our earliest films ... had liberal doses of sex and kissing scenes in them. Strangely, it was after Independence the censor board came into being and so did all the strictures."[143] Although Bollywood plots feature Westernised urbanites dating and dancing in clubs rather than pre-arranged marriages, traditional Indian culture continues to exist outside the industry and is an element of resistance by some to Western influences.[142] Bollywood plays a major role, however, in Indian fashion.[142] Studies have indicated that some people, unaware that changing fashion in Bollywood films is often influenced by globalisation, consider the clothes worn by Bollywood actors as authentically Indian.[142]
Casts and crews
A smiling Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit in 2012; she is considered one of the greatest actresses of Indian cinema for her critical and commercial success during the 1980s and 1990s.
Divya Bharti beautiful smile picture
Divya Bharti, often regarded as the "youngest female superstar of Bollywood". She created a world record by appearing in 14 consistently successful Hindi films during the early 1990s in a year span, which is to date an unbroken record in Hindi Cinema.[144]
See also: List of Indian film actors, List of Indian film actresses, List of Indian film directors, List of Indian film music directors, List of Bollywood actors, List of Indian playback singers, and List of Hindi film families
Bollywood employs people from throughout India. It attracts thousands of aspiring actors and actresses hoping for a break in the industry. Models and beauty contestants, television actors, stage actors and ordinary people come to Mumbai with the hope of becoming a star. As in Hollywood, very few succeed. Since many Bollywood films are shot abroad, many foreign extras are employed.[145]
Very few non-Indian actors are able to make a mark in Bollywood, although many have tried. There have been exceptions, however, and the hit film Rang De Basanti starred the English Alice Patten. Kisna, Lagaan, and The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey also featured foreign actors, and Australian-born actress Emma Brown Garett has starred in a few Indian films.[146] Bollywood can be insular, and relatives of film-industry figures have an edge in obtaining coveted roles in films or being part of a film crew. However, industry connections are no guarantee of a long career: competition is fierce, and film-industry scions will falter if they do not succeed at the box office. Stars such as Dilip Kumar, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan lacked show-business connections.
Dialogues and lyrics
See also: Bombay Hindi and Tapori (word)
Film scripts (known as dialogues in Indian English) and their song lyrics are often written by different people. Scripts are usually written in an unadorned Hindustani, which would be understood by the largest possible audience.[147] Bollywood films tend to use a colloquial register of Hindustani, mutually intelligible by Hindi- and Urdu-speakers.[15] Most of the classic scriptwriters of what is known as Hindi cinema, including Salim-Javed, Gulzar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Inder Raj Anand, Rahi Masoom Raza and Wajahat Mirza, primarily wrote in Urdu. Salim-Javed wrote in Urdu script, which was then transcribed by an assistant into Devanagari script so Hindi readers could read the Urdu dialogues.[16] During the 1970s, the Urdu writers and screenwriters Krishan Chander and Ismat Chughtai said that "more than seventy-five per cent of films are made in Urdu" but were categorised as Hindi films by the government.[17] Urdu poetry has strongly influenced Bollywood songs, whose lyrics also draw from the ghazal tradition.[113]
Some films have used regional dialects to evoke a village setting, or archaic Urdu in medieval historical films. In her book, The Cinematic ImagiNation, Jyotika Virdi wrote about the presence of Urdu in Hindi films: "Urdu is often used in film titles, screenplay, lyrics, the language of love, war, and martyrdom." Virdi notes that although Urdu was widely used in classic Hindi cinema decades after partition because it was widely taught in pre-partition India, its use has declined in modern Hindi cinema: "The extent of Urdu used in commercial Hindi cinema has not been stable ... the decline of Urdu is mirrored in Hindi films ... It is true that many Urdu words have survived and have become part of Hindi cinema's popular vocabulary. But that is as far as it goes ... For the most part, popular Hindi cinema has forsaken the florid Urdu that was part of its extravagance and retained a 'residual' Urdu".[148] However, Urdu continues to be used in Bollywood films for dialogues and (particularly) songs.[149]
Contemporary mainstream films also use English; according to the article "Bollywood Audiences Editorial", "English has begun to challenge the ideological work done by Urdu."[150] Some film scripts are first written in Latin script.[151] Characters may shift from one language to the other to evoke a particular atmosphere (for example, English in a business setting and Hindi in an informal one). The blend of Hindi, Urdu and English sometimes heard in modern Bollywood films, known as Hinglish, has become increasingly common.[15]
Cinematic language (in dialogues or lyrics) is often melodramatic, invoking God, family, mother, duty, and self-sacrifice. Song lyrics are often about love. Bollywood song lyrics (especially in older films) frequently use the poetic vocabulary of court Urdu, with a number of Persian loanwords.[19] Another source for love lyrics in films such as Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje and Lagaan is the long Hindu tradition of poetry about the loves of Krishna, Radha, and the gopis.
Music directors often prefer working with certain lyricists, and the lyricist and composer may be seen as a team. This phenomenon has been compared to the pairs of American composers and songwriters who created classic Broadway musicals.
Sound
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bollywood" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Sound in early Bollywood films was usually not recorded on location (sync sound). It was usually created (or re-created) in the studio,[152] with the actors speaking their lines in the studio and sound effects added later; this created synchronisation problems.[152] Commercial Indian films are known for their lack of ambient sound, and the Arriflex 3 camera necessitated dubbing. Lagaan (2001) was filmed with sync sound,[152] and several Bollywood films have recorded on-location sound since then.
Female makeup artists
In 1955, the Bollywood Cine Costume Make-Up Artist & Hair Dressers' Association (CCMAA) ruled that female makeup artists were barred from membership.[153] The Supreme Court of India ruled in 2014 that the ban violated Indian constitutional guarantees under Article 14 (right to equality), 19(1)(g) (freedom to work) and Article 21 (right to liberty).[153] According to the court, the ban had no "rationale nexus" to the cause sought to be achieved and was "unacceptable, impermissible and inconsistent" with the constitutional rights guaranteed to India's citizens.[153] The court also found illegal the rule which mandated that for any artist to work in the industry, they must have lived for five years in the state where they intend to work.[153] In 2015, it was announced that Charu Khurana was the first woman registered by the Cine Costume Make-Up Artist & Hair Dressers' Association.[154]
Song and dance
Group photo
Group of Bollywood singers at the 2015 Indian Singers' Rights Association (ISRA) meeting
See also: Music of Bollywood, Filmi-ghazal, Filmi qawwali, Hindi dance music, and List of singing actors and actresses in Indian cinema
Bollywood film music is called filmi (from the Hindi "of films"). Bollywood songs were introduced with Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara (1931) song, "De De Khuda Ke Naam pay pyaare".[155] Bollywood songs are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip syncing the words to the song on-screen (often while dancing). Although most actors are good dancers, few are also singers; a notable exception was Kishore Kumar, who starred in several major films during the 1950s while having a rewarding career as a playback singer. K. L. Saigal, Suraiyya, and Noor Jehan were known as singers and actors, and some actors in the last thirty years have sung one or more songs themselves.
Songs can make and break a film, determining whether it will be a flop or a hit: "Few films without successful musical tracks, and even fewer without any songs and dances, succeed".[156] Globalization has changed Bollywood music, with lyrics an increasing mix of Hindi and English. Global trends such as salsa, pop and hip hop have influenced the music heard in Bollywood films.[156]
Playback singers are featured in the opening credits, and have fans who will see an otherwise-lackluster film to hear their favourites. Notable Bollywood singers are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sadhana Sargam , Alka Yagnik and Shreya Goshal (female), and K. L. Saigal, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam (male). Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi have been considered the finest singers of Bollywood songs, followed by Lata Mangeshkar (who has recorded thousands of songs for Indian films in her six-decade career). Composers of film music, known as music directors, are also well-known. Remixing of film songs with modern rhythms is common, and producers may release remixed versions of some of their films' songs with the films' soundtrack albums.
Dancing in Bollywood films, especially older films, is modeled on Indian dance: classical dance, dances of north-Indian courtesans (tawaif) or folk dances. In modern films, Indian dance blends with Western dance styles as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals; Western pop and classical-dance numbers are commonly seen side-by-side in the same film. The hero (or heroine) often performs with a troupe of supporting dancers. Many song-and-dance routines in Indian films contain unrealistically-quick shifts of location or changes of costume between verses of a song. If the hero and heroine dance and sing a duet, it is often staged in natural surroundings or architecturally-grand settings.
Songs typically comment on the action taking place in the film. A song may be worked into the plot, so a character has a reason to sing. It may externalise a character's thoughts, or presage an event in the film (such as two characters falling in love). The songs are often referred to as a "dream sequence", with things happening which would not normally happen in the real world. Song and dance scenes were often filmed in Kashmir but, due to political unrest in Kashmir since the end of the 1980s,[157] they have been shot in western Europe (particularly Switzerland and Austria).[158][159]
Contemporary Bollywood dancers include Madhuri Dixit, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sridevi, Meenakshi Seshadri, Malaika Arora Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Tiger Shroff.[160] Older dancers include Helen[161] (known for her cabaret numbers), Madhubala, Vyjanthimala, Padmini, Hema Malini, Mumtaz, Cuckoo Moray,[162] Parveen Babi[163] , Waheeda Rahman,[164] Meena Kumari,[165] and Shammi Kapoor.[166]
Bollywood producers have been releasing a film's soundtrack (as tapes or CDs) before the film's release, hoping that the music will attract audiences; a soundtrack is often more popular than its film. Some producers also release music videos, usually (but not always) with a song from the film.
Finances
Bollywood films are multi-million dollar productions, with the most expensive productions costing up to ? 1 billion (about US$20 million). The science-fiction film Ra.One was made on a budget of ? 1.35 billion (about $27 million), making it the most expensive Bollywood film of all time.[167] Sets, costumes, special effects and cinematography were less than world-class, with some notable exceptions, until the mid-to-late 1990s. As Western films and television are more widely distributed in India, there is increased pressure for Bollywood films to reach the same production levels (particularly in action and special effects). Recent Bollywood films, like Krrish (2006), have employed international technicians such as Hong Kong-based action choreographer Tony Ching. The increasing accessibility of professional action and special effects, coupled with rising film budgets, have seen an increase in action and science-fiction films.
Since overseas scenes are attractive at the box office, Mumbai film crews are filming in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Indian producers have also obtained funding for big-budget films shot in India, such as Lagaan and Devdas.
Funding for Bollywood films often comes from private distributors and a few large studios. Although Indian banks and financial institutions had been forbidden from lending to film studios, the ban has been lifted.[168] Finances are not regulated; some funding comes from illegitimate sources such as the Mumbai underworld, which is known to influence several prominent film personalities. Mumbai organised-crime hitmen shot Rakesh Roshan, a film director and father of star Hrithik Roshan, in January 2000. In 2001, the Central Bureau of Investigation seized all prints of Chori Chori Chupke Chupke after the film was found to be funded by members of the Mumbai underworld.[169]
Another problem facing Bollywood is widespread copyright infringement of its films. Often, bootleg DVD copies of movies are available before they are released in cinemas. Manufacturing of bootleg DVD, VCD, and VHS copies of the latest movie titles is an established small-scale industry in parts of south and southeast Asia. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) estimates that the Bollywood industry loses $100 million annually from unlicensed home videos and DVDs. In addition to the homegrown market, demand for these copies is large amongst portions of the Indian diaspora.
Bootleg copies are the only way people in Pakistan can watch Bollywood movies, since the Pakistani government has banned their sale, distribution and telecast. Films are frequently broadcast without compensation by small cable-TV companies in India and other parts of South Asia. Small convenience stores, run by members of the Indian diaspora in the US and the UK, regularly stock tapes and DVDs of dubious provenance; consumer copying adds to the problem. The availability of illegal copies of movies on the Internet also contributes to industry losses.
No comments:
please do nat enter any spam link in comment box..