Music and Dance in Indian Films
In sheer quantity, INDIA produces more movies than any other country in the world-over 900 feature-length films in at least 16 languages, according to a recent industry survey. This productivity is explained by several factors: the size of the Indian audience, low literacy rates, the limited diffusion of television in India, and well-developed export markets in both hemispheres. (http://worldfilm.about.com/cs/booksbolly/)
In its historical development, India's film industry paralleled that of the West. Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra, the first silent film for popular consumption, appeared in 1913; Alam Ara, the first "talkie," was released in 1931. But the Indian cinema derived its unique flavor from the older Indian musical theater-particularly from the Urdu poetic dramas of the late nineteenth century. The influence of this tradition ensured that Indian movies would favor mythological or legendary-historical stories, that their dialogue would carry an Urdu flavor even in languages other than Urdu, and that every film would be a musical.
Indeed, the Indian popular music industry is entirely an outgrowth of the film industry. Each new movie generates a soundtrack album, and the success of a film is largely dependent upon the success of its songs. Although in the 1930s the actors "lip-synched" their own songs, a corps of professional "playback" singers eventually emerged whose voices were dubbed in for the musical sequences but who seldom appeared on screen. For over four decades leading playback singer has been Lata Mangeshkar.
The primary center of film production, from well before the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, has been Bombay, where the Indian film industry began. Bombay owes its pre- eminence partly to the fact that the majority of films produced there are in Hindi-Urdu, the language understood by the largest segment of the Indian subcontinent. And almost from the dawn of the Indian cinema, Bombay-sometimes referred to in this context as "Bollywood"-has reverberated with gossip about the scandals and behind-the-scenes intrigue associated with the film industry and its stars. (National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema 1947-1987 (Texas Film Studies) by Sumita S. Chakravarty Univ of Texas Pr; (December 1993))
Because Indian films are made predominantly for semi-literate audiences, they contain numerous action scenes (fights), elaborate song and dance sequences, a fair dose of slapstick comedy, and an obligatory love story.
The plot of each three-hour-plus saga runs according to a predictable formula: two young lovers find their chances of marriage threatened by a nefarious villain or a seemingly insurmountable social barrier, but after several songs, a long car chase, and a cliff-hanging fight, all obstacles are suddenly removed just in time for a whirlwind wedding under "The End." Representative are last year's Khalnayak ("Villain"), whose hit song "Choli ke piche kya hai?" ("What's under the bodice?") sparked controversy even in the United States, and this year's overblown but tuneful epic, 1942: A Love Story. (Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema by Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Editor), Paul Willemen (Editor) British Film Inst; Revised edition (September 1999))
Nevertheless, although the quality of Indian movies has suffered somewhat in the race for quantity, several directors and producers have created memorable films. These films fall into two general categories. The first, the so-called classics, are mainstream commercial films distinguished by high-quality acting, plots, and songs. The individual responsible for perhaps the greatest number of such classics is Raj Kapoor. Beginning in the late 1940s, Raj Kapoor starred in and/or directed a long series of hit films with particularly fine music. His usual on-screen persona was that of a Chaplinesque tramp whose vulnerability became familiar to viewers far beyond the borders of India. (Cinema of Interruptions: Action Genres in Contemporary Indian Cinema by Lalitha Gopalan British Film Inst; (July 1, 2002))
His greatest successes were Awara ("The Vagabond"), Bobby, and Mera Naam Joker ("My Name Is Joker"), a joint Indian-Russian project. One of Raj Kapoor's best roles as an actor was that of the humble cart driver in Teesri Qasam ("The Third Vow"), based on a short novel by the renowned Hindi writer Phanishwar Nath. Other classics inspired by India's literary works are Mughal-e-Azm, based on the Urdu semi-poetic drama Anarkali by Imtiyaz Ali Taj, and Umrao Jaan, a delightful film version of the first true novel in Urdu, Mirza Hadi Ruswa's fictionalized biography of a renowned Lucknow courtesan.
The second category comprises the so-called off-beat films, which avoid mainstream formulas and focus on deeper artistic and social concerns. In this genre, the leading director is the late Satyajit Ray, who from the 1950s adopted...
Indian Dance An Analysis of the History and Origins of "Belly Dancing" Indian Dance is described in the West as "belly dancing," but the name "belly dancing" does not do justice to the style of dance which the title conveys. Indian and Middle Eastern dance actually has more of a history to it than what the West views merely as a kind of erotic show. Described as "danse du ventre" by the
Bollywood Indian culture is clearly demonstrative of a postcolonial culture. The post- colonial nature of the country, as well as its intrinsic diversity drastically effect the expressions of culture and the arts. One foundational example is the movie industry within the country. Nicknamed "Bollywood" by the west it is both an essential part of the new India and a challenge to the traditional and neo-traditional standards of the diverse culture. One
viewer ship of Hindi Films with respect to the Non-Asian population in the UK The Hindi film industry or the 'Bollywood' as it has been referred to have made a significant mark not only in the Indian society, but has had far reaching influence among Indians residing abroad. We shall concentrate on the Hindi films in the UK with respect to the resident Indian population. The United Kingdom alone accounts
Often, these films portrayed the Indians as bloodthirsty villains who preyed on whites for no reason. They were often violent, and whites almost always died at their hands. In addition, most of the "Indian" actors were actually white actors in makeup. These stereotypical ideals where what most Americans thought of when they thought of the Old West, and as this film shows, they were often very far from the
This, along with the older Psalter by Strenhold and Hopkins, was the main influence of the Bay Psalm Book printed during 1640 in Massachusetts. This can be compared with the first musical influences on and compositions by Li Jinhui. The traditional forms were explored thoroughly before new ideas in music were explored. Culturally, the new Americans at the time were deeply religious, following the Puritan tradition on which they based
Costumes in this are simple, men bare chested in black tights, women in white shifts except for the red sacrificial "virgin." Interesting was also the lack of facial expression on all the characters, almost as if the characters were, in fact, not really human, but more ethers from Mother Nature. The wild abandonment of the female soloist, who finally bares her breast in an almost orgasmic frenzy moving from
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now