FILM 2301 Lecture 9: Bollywood and National Allegory
9 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Bollywood and National Allegory
Popular Hindi Cinema
o Mise-en-scene: everything that is put into the scene, referring to what is in front of the
camera including production, organization and arrangement
o Realism: making things look how they would look in reality
o Melodrama: heightened sense of emotion
o This can be tied to mise-en-scene in regards to acting
o Test Alert: How the mise-en-scene and visual cues express emotion
o Ex. Rain expressing sadness
o Emotion and aesthetics as rejection of British colonialism
o Bollywood was criticised for being unrealistic and melodramatic, however it is
different because British film values realism
o Bollywood was reread as something anti-British and different from British aesthetics
o Use of song, dance and bright colours have been appreciated for their difference from
British film
Worldwid: Top Grossing Film of 2015
o Jurassic World, Star Wars and Furious 7, Avengers, Minions, Inside Out and Spectre 007
(clearly none of them Bollywood)
o Reporting of box office figures can be sketchy
o Can be a good source for American film but not for Chinese or Indian box office
figures
o Chinese box office ( top was Furious 7)
Hollywood: Global Domination
o Avatar made $2.7 billion total, while $2 billion of that sum was made internationally, not in
North America
o Hollywood movies are making the most money internationally, but not for American Box
office
Indian Box Office
o Avatar made $24 million in India
o Only 9% of the Indian Box Office in 2013 was Hollywood
o Unlike any other box office around the world, the Indian Box Office is dominated by their
own films
o All top 10 films in India last year were Bollywood films
o Production: whose films? Whose money? Whose stories?
o Hollywood stories are exported from the U.S, not every American story is being told
by Hollywood either. It is a very partial representation
o Reception: How are they viewed and understood>
National Allegory: India on the world Stage
o Colonized by the UK and achieved independence in 1947
o Relatively socialist policies - UK left India economically depressed, there were a lot
of efforts to address poverty issues thus developing socialist policies.
o Early 1990s: economic liberalization
o Class Shift - stories about much wealthier characters
o Amitabh Bachchan - spokesman, where his voice drove the audience to listen and
become engaged in his voice. Basically the brown version of Morgan Freeman
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Hollywood: global domination: avatar made . 7 billion total, while billion of that sum was made internationally, not in. North america: hollywood movies are making the most money internationally, but not for american box office. Whose stories: hollywood stories are exported from the u. s, not every american story is being told by hollywood either. It is a very partial representation: reception: how are they viewed and understood> I which is replaced with a hindu god. Johnny lever - he is a very famous and popular comedian in bollywood: differences from the siek and the christian, comedic relief. Relation of ethnicities/languages to indianness: scene where each player steps forward and introduces herself, the coach keeps kicking them off until the last girl who catches on and says she is from india and not the specific province. It has lots of ethnic diversity and diversity of women"s bodies.
