FILM 2301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Hinglish, Farah Khan, Anti-Realism
9 May 2018
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Department
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Professor
Introduction to Bollywood
o Systemic
o Institutional
Announcements
o No details about Hong Kong/ Chinese films, however will need to know the
concepts and cinema terms we learnt in that unit
What is "Bollywood"
o Coined in the 1970's as an insulting term by a white journalist
o The term Bollywood is more universally recognized
o It is the film industry of Mumbai
o Popular films in Hindi-Urdu
o There are a lot of politics around how you discuss the language
o Term = originally pejorative: imitation of Hollywood
Why Hindi?
o Only about a quarter of the films made in idea are considered Bollywood
o People just assumed everything made in Indian Cinema was Bollywood
o Telugu, Tamil, etc.
o Approximately 41% native Hindi speakers
o There are hundreds of dialects and between 20 and 30 languages
o No majority language in India
o Mumbai: official language is NOT Hindi- no government support
o Only films distributed nationally - mass appeal
o Gives a national reach
Mise-En-Scene: Realism and Anti-realism
o "put into the scene"
o This includes, sets, scenery, actors, props, costume and any design aspects
o Also the action that happens within the film, the way things move in the scene
o Includes dance and fight scenes
o What is in front of the camera
o Design elements (set, costume, etc.)
o Composition
o Action
o "Bollywood… is happy to mix elements of realism with fantasy (often in the same
frame or sequence"
o Emphasizes glamour and beauty
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Aditya Chopra, 2008)
o Is the mese-en-scene realistic?
o What is the film saying about realism
Realism (Euro Film Theory)
o Sociopolitical: "ordinary" lower/working class people
o Mise-en-scene gives impression of reality
o There are realist Indian Film
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