film styles

Satyajit Ray

Bengali motion-picture director, writer, and illustrator who brought the Indian cinema to world recognition with Pather Panchali (1955; The Song of the Road) and its two sequels, known as the Apu Trilogy. As a director Ray was noted for his humanism, his versatility, and his detailed control over his films and their music. He was one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.

neorealism:- bollywood, similary to hollywood are more about the narrative and stars rather than how realistic they are

It must be said that neorealist style, like most styles, does not have an inherent political message. The most common attribute of neorealism is location shooting and the dubbing of dialogue. The dubbing allowed for filmmakers to move in a more open miss-en-scene. Principal characters would be portrayed mostly by trained actors while supporting members (and sometimes principals) would be non-actors. The idea was to create a greater sense of realism through the use of real people rather than all seasoned actors. The rigidity of non-actors gave the scenes more authentic power. This sense of realism made Italian neorealism more than an artistic stance, it came to embody an attitude toward life.

http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~jriggs/film1301/notes10.htm

Where am i at with the study

So far i have done textual analysis (at the moment the t.a for 2 films is on paper which i will be transfering onto the blog soon) and collected institutional data for all three films. I have also collected and commented on popular criticism for the three films using on-line reviews and YouTube user comments.
In terms of academic criticism, i have aquired information from the book 'Bollywood- sociology goes to the movie', which is summarised on the blog, also from 'Bollywood- the cinema story' (which is yet to be typed up). I have also got some articles about the bollywood industry from The Times website which i thought might be useful for a wider understanding of my study.
I will now be trying to find film theories in general.

Rang de basanti- popular criticism

Review by Jaspreet Pandohar on the BBC Movies website:
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2006/01/27/rang_de_basanti_2006_review.shtml)

The review is extremely positive, commending the actors for their performances and the director/writer Rakesh Mehra for his ‘smart writing and direction’ that is said to engage the audience into the ‘absorbing plot’. The reviewer believes that the success of the film is also largely due to the fact that it breaks the conventions of the average Bollywood film and goes beyond ‘the standard musical melodrama’, with its balanced mix of ‘romance, history and social commentary’. The reviewer comments on the way the film is divided into two parts in terms of the attitudes and ideologies of the characters, which move from a mentality submerged in western culture (‘Beer, babes and US visas seem to be more important to the MTV generation than their country's colonial past’) to an internal revolution to patriotic beliefs.


YouTube user comments:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL7iq3CVuac&feature=PlayList&p=2C2BA7A9FA578695&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=29)
Due to themes in film, it managed to get a much more serious (and political, and deep) discussion running on you tube. In a way it worked in awakening Indian youth to question about their own heritage/ ‘colonial past’ (e.g. Gandhi’s policy and the British raj)

hemantmehndi:
The main idea of the movie is right. Indians today are a bunch of cowards and are still serving westerners ..only for cheaper salaries now. We'e achieved nothing. India needs revolutionaries. After independence Indians have grown desperate for sex and cowardice has climbed to the max. Everybody tries to copy Americans. Something is wrong. Gandhi didn't do crap my friends. British left by their own will, if they wanted to they would still be in India.

abhinavdhere1993
Reply to hemantmehndi: Also I wish to remind you that British had to leave because due to the war, they were not in a condition to suppress the mass struggle for a long period.Another thing is that Gandhiji was a very brilliant & brave person.His policies were situation specific and normally tough to understand for common people.He suggested non-violence because at that time, Britain was 1 of world's biggest military powers and it is next to impossible to defeat them by violence

MsAmplified
Such a beautiful, beautiful movie. So awakening, and so moving. I cried, I laughed, and truly enjoyed this. Superb performances by the actors. Wanna say thank you to the kind person who uploaded this. Thank you. Also, to all the youths of the world, we gotta stand up man. It's about time. I don know how, but its time. Have a rockin day, everyone. Cheers, Gaya (from Singapore)
dramygirl2510
Very touching movie...its great..hmm

chanugaya
one of the best movies iv ever watched,superb casting...no one can replace neone...

sharzcv
I luv d title track...I love my country...
(maybe diaspora don’t need western values to be shown in indian films, they’re comitted to their own culture and watch bollywood films precisely to get that cultural experience)

Gurleen29
haha me too, India Is Home Sweet Home!

singh792730293
lol aamir rulessssssssss, hes the est khan in bollywood by far SRK nothing compared to him AAMIR DOESNT GET ENOUGH CREDIT LIKE SRK DOES BUT AAMIR MUCH BETTER ACTOR BY FAR!

ungore18
It's not Bollywood. It's something more, I think. But I like Bollywood ;)
(in agreement with bbc reviewer that the film is outside of the Bollywood conventions)

Luckycooly
This much better than SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. The only thing that was good in that was MUSIC
(there’s always comparison with western movies, showing how they are available worldwide and have an impact on how indian films are viewed by audiences)

Kal ho na ho- Popular criticism

Review:
http://mrbrownmovies.com/movierpt04-01.html#khnh

Like many reviews, this one also includes a plot summary of the film at the beginning, once the critic has declared his/her love for the film. The review is largely positive, commending not only the narrative of the film- which is regarded as a successful version of a conventional story-line but with “further complications”- but also the cinematography and the “Tinseltown-level of production polish”, which are considered to be progressive for the Indian film industry. The unconventionally long review means that the critic also comments on specific filming techniques like the traditional "day one," "day two” labels denoting the passing of time, being delivered verbally directly to the camera by “passing extras”.


You tube comments:
MillionareGal
hehe, he is an angel! XD lol Sharukhan is the perfect actor for this movie, i bawled

achug1996
i love this movie its sooo aawweessoommee

vudulaydi
i love all the different ethnicities at the street party!!

draga88
its funny hw all da americans der can speak indian lol dis film is awsome

marko1na2eks
the best film i'ever seen

babyvlova09
saif: *crying*
srk: wat happend to u?
saif: i miss papa
srk: im sorri wen did he die?
saif: HIS ALIVE!!! cant i miss him
srk: oh
lol i was lmaol

CelebLover786
Staying Alive Loool. Thats So Funny!

wazildhum12
the sadest classic in bollywood.sharuk is timeless.i think we should have more movie slike this.


Due to the nature of the website, the comments are closely focused on the narrative of the film rather than the any filming techniques used or any background information. The viewers leave positive comments mainly about the performance of the actors and the effects the film has on them personally ( a lot of people commented for example that the film made them cry excessively). Since the comments are an example of audience criticism, it is interesting to see how they respond to the characterisations in the film. Responses such as “i juz hate their dadi” show the extent to which the construction of certain characters by the writer/director has been successful.

Don- popular criticism continued

YouTube user comments
(http://www.youtube.com/watchv=W4_pwGwiIZE&feature=PlayList&p=9B7062A2869580F2&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=43)
dilipkul: don is cooler than any hollywood movie.
(immediately someone attempts to compare the film to a hollywood movie, showing the extent to which bollywood films face competition from western films and thus the directors perhaps try to imitate them in order to satisfy their audience)

ZainUddinKhan: hmmm greatest movie ever:)
Luv u srkK
keep rocking

bhavnasood: fantastic movie

dilipkul: clothing background score music everything is cool.

imeshsk: This is very best. we cant expect whats happening in the end until we watch the complete movie.. Briliant Acting by Sharukh khan.. he is the king of Cinema. he has nominated to the best Actor in 2006 for this movie.. every movies he is doing becomes a Super hit. King khan we respect you. - Indians and the rest of the world are lucky to have him. he is a uniqe Diamond.
(Judging by many of these comments it seems as if one of the main reasons behind the success of the film is the success of the actor)

linmaya21165: wow..i love the martial art...watcaaa......
(once again martial arts is an element associated with films produced outside of India, and yet people seem to be familiar with it and actually 'love' it)

marathiman1: main tumhe alvida kehna aaya hoon. ramesh have a nice life. that was really cool

XxXCilginKizXxX :
we all love srk and his films too...
no matter how bad they are....
I love the film phir bi dil hai hindustani although not as successful...

kkoolgurl16:
i luv this movie the amitabh version is BORIIIIIING...............SRK is the best
(the 1978 version is condemned as being 'BORIIIIIING' perhaps because the lack of special effects and glamour do not appeal to the young generation of today)

Arsh7777777: I wouldn't say that amitabh bachchan one is boring. I would say people didn't appreciate this one as much because the legendary don is in their minds.
BUT I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! I like the Amitabh Bachchan version too though.

niharjhatn: kya crazy movie hai yaar :)

Don- popular criticism

Don:
Reviewed by Aparajita Ghosh on www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20061021-2.html

"Twenty-eight years after Chandra Barot’s hit movie Don (1978) with Amitabh Bachchan in the role of Don, Farhan Akhtar comes up with a sleek and stylish tribute to the original. This ‘Don’ is certainly bigger and bombastic. Whether it is better, is debatable.

Barot’s ‘Don’ was quite modern for its times. So is Akhtar’s. The story of new ‘Don’ is set in the cityscape of Kuala Lumpur, Paris and India (few portions). The don in the film operates on an international level. He uses state-of-the-art technology, fights like a martial arts expert and has a zany taste in fashion. He is like an Indian James Bond, but obviously on the wrong side of law.

In a nutshell, Farhan Akhtar does succeed in giving a just tribute to the timeless ‘Don’ starring Amitabh Bachchan. But Farhan relies too heavily on style rather than substance."

Conclusion: The main aspect of the film that audience seem to be impressed by are the special effects and the action. The plot has been criticised to lack 'substance'. It is worth noticing that even audiences compare the films to hollywood counterparts like Bond, indicating that there is an international level set by Western films that is used for comparison of indian films.


http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/reviews/2006/don-221006.html

Film theories

Auteur theory

The view that a director's films reflect that director's personal creative vision, as if he were the primary "Auteur" (the French word for "author"). In some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar "Auteur" role for films that they have produced.

In law the Auteur is the creator of a film as a work of art, and is the original copyright holder. Under European Union law the film director shall always be considered the author or one of the authors of a film. [1]

Auteur theory has had a major impact on film criticism ever since it was advocated by film director and film critic François Truffaut in 1954. "Auteurism" is the method of analyzing films based on this theory or, alternately, the characteristics of a director's work that makes him an Auteur. Both the Auteur theory and the Auteurism method of film analysis are frequently associated with the French New Wave and the film critics who wrote for the influential French film review periodical Cahiers du cinéma.


Italian neorealism

Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealist films mostly contend with the difficult economical and moral conditions of post-World War II Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: poverty and desperation.

http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/western-cultures-overbearing-influence


Times on-line
'Saawariya (Beloved), which opens around the world tomorrow, is the first Bollywood film to be produced by a major Hollywood studio, Sony. Saawariya, on the other hand, is radically different: it is in Hindi, it has 11 songs and it is the traditional three hours in length. Hollywood studios are desperate to penetrate the Indian and global NRI (nonresident Indian) market. This is because, with a few exceptions such as the Jurassic Parkand Spider-Man series, Hollywood films usually flop in India. Moreover, the overseas audience for Bollywood films remains predominantly South Asian. With five Bollywood films grossing more than $2 million (£950,000) in America in 2006 and with films routinely making their debut in the British Top Ten, it is an astute recognition by Hollywood of a potentially lucrative new market. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Indian films will now gain access to possible new audiences through a much wider worldwide release.'
Posted by Alishba at 15:43 0 comments

'Bollywood- Sociology goes to the movies' Sec. research
Bollywood & the south-asian diaspora:'A non-resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides outside India.' wikipedia
Estimated Indian diaspora worldwide= 11 million one of fastest growing global diasporic communities)'
Bollywood not only signifies the large number of films made and viewed in the city of Mumbai...but also the distribution, subtitling, dubbing and watching of these motion pictures worldwide.'
'...with the emergence of the diaspora as an important export market for the films since the 90s, film-makers are re-thinking their approaches to established conventions and genres in the light of temporary audience expectations.'
Familiar features in past Bollywood films: '...binary oppositions in the representation of East and West, tradition and modernity, rich and poor, the village and the city.'
Old films: West & western values seen as evil and a threat to tradition and culture
Now: they're seen as desirable.Films in this sense are reflective of social change and change in the mind-sets of people.
"Urban themes with style and attitude are the order of the day...The tide tilts towards contemporary themes concerning the urban Indian, while paarivaarik issues are consigned to television soaps."-

http://reviewsfm.blogspot.com- HINDI FILM REVIEWS,BOX OFFICE COLLECTIONS,PUBLIC COMMENTS OR FILM

In the past, there were big diasporic communities in the UK ('The UK has the largest audience for Indian cinema outside India (Neilsen EDI)')hence many Bollywood films were set in the UK and portrayed the lives of British Asian characters.

Now there are big diasporic communities in the USA, so films focusing on the lives of American Asian characters are being set in places like New York.

'The naming..."Bollywood" not only reveals on a literal level an obvious reworking of the appellation of the cinema of Hollywood, but, on a more significant level, that Bollywood is able to serve alternative cultural and social representations away from dominant ethnocentris audio-visual possibilities.'
So instead of accusing it to imiate Hollywood, perhaps Bollywood offers antidotes and alternatives to the diaspora who are constantly exposed to Western films about western culture. Bollywood can give them something reflecting their own culture, yet the western influences still have to be there since that is what the diasporic community relate to on a daily basis.

Question for thought: Do the diasporic community actually need Bollywood films to reflect the western culture in which they live, since they most likely watch the films to escape that culture or to view something that reminds them of home?

But what impact does the westernisation of films have on domestic audiences?
Overseas revenues allow film makers to persue films with bigger budgets and better facilities

Domestic audience:More exposure to Hollywood films means audiences expect better quality, action, sfx, modern plots with characters who have a modern mentality.
So maybe film-makers don't seek to follow Hollywood conventions, but have to, in order to satisfy audiences (engage the interest of young audiences)and keep business running.

Indian classical and folk music in past with traditional instruments, being replaced by western genres (pop, rock, rap) or mixes/ re-mixes

Textual analysis 3- Rang de basanti

This film is a reflection of the mentality and perhaps insecurity of the young Indian generation today torn between western influences and cultural identity. I chose this film to use as a contrast with the other two films that are much more solely westernised and do not focus on the Indian identity as much.

Mise-en-scene:
In terms of mise-en-scene, the film has got all the western elements that can be expected in a modern Indian film targeted at a young audience. Yet most of the time these elements are mixed with and complimented by traditional elements.

Cotumes:

• Sonia wears a kameez (traditional south-asian tunic type top) but with jeans which is a visual signifier of the intermingling of the eastern and western cultures in the lives of the young characters. The British character Sue also starts to wear a kameez
• main characters all, with the execption of Aslam, are dressed in jeans, t-shirts, jackets etc...
• The porotagonist is introduced with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, excessively drinking, which could be regarded as a more western image

Setting:

• Their university name 'Institute for International Studies' is evident at the beginning on a big sign post outside the building, which immediately introduces a set of characters who are more interested in other cultures than their own.

Special effects:

• Characters are shown jumping into a stream/lake in slow motion, making it appear almost as if they are flying. This could be a patriotic symbol for the freedom for which they fight later on in the film
• There are no other sfx apart from this, indicating that the film aims to be realistic and is not designed to be a selling point for a main stream audience conditioned to generic Hollywood films.

Editing/Cinematography:

• W/L establishing shot of London bridge, introduce British character Sue and the western influence that is to be found in India also before the narrative moves on to questions about indian identity
• Aerial views and long/wide shots of Indian monuments, cross-cut with the interior of the taxi when Sue arrives in India. Emphasising the patriotic narrative.
• Simultaneous shots of the characters in their normal lives and playing the roles of the revolutionaries in the documentary, to show how the latter are coming to life in their own lives. Suggets the revolution is not something left in the past but they also need it in their lives today
• Low angle shot of characters jumping up towards air force plane- represnting freedom through sky and flying.
• Slow motion and blurred camera effect used to make viewers feel as if they are part of the protests (encouraging action/reaction in audience)
• Close-ups of people's faces during protest lets audience identify with their fellow citizens

Sound:

• Sue's narrative voice over in english, assumes people will understand it, suggestive of the film's young audience who most likely will.
• Diegectic dialouge:- Sue: "I've been going to bloody Hindi night classes!"- shows a western embracing Indian culture rather than the other way round for once.
• The dialouge between the friends represents the mind set of different young people in India today: "I'm proud of this country"..."Proud of what? The population?"...."Or the unemployment, or corruption?"
• Unlike other bollywood films there are no synchronous songs that interrupt the narrative. Instead songs are used a background music, often to aid the progression of the narrative, or to set the mood, which is a more widely used technique in hollywood.
• The score is a mix of western genres like rock and rap music, with south-asian genres like bhangra, which corresponds with the mixed cultures and values shown in the film

Narrative/Representation:

• Documentary within a film- As the story of the revolutionaries progresses, so do the lives of the characters as they find their true identity.
• The character of Sue - a foreigner- brings awareness to the others about what it means to be Indian and to fight for their country. Perhaps this shows the confusion of today's indian generation about their own identity.
• This insecurity embodied in DJ's character who's afraid to leave university from fear that he will have to identity in the world
• The film is very socially realistic. It involves characters that represent the three main religious groups found in India (Hindus, Muslims and Sikh)
• Some scenes such as the visit to the 'Gurdwara' seem to be interrupt the main narrative purely to reflect Indain culture
• Instead of emulating hollywood completely, film uses western elements to ornament a traditional/nationalistic story
• The conciliation of Pandey and the gang signifies the conciliation of western and traditional lifestyles

textual analysis 2- Don

Mise-en-scene:

• Title sequence= green & black- remeniscient of the Matrix

Costume:

• Kamini: low cut top, tight jeans, green contact lenses- very westernised
• Big hoop earings, fashoinable in UK in 2005/2006, burrow from western fashion- advertised in India?
• No traditional dress present in the whole film
• Don: Black leather coat: reminiscient of matrix costume
• Tie worn around neck rather than underneath collar, yet looks sophisticated- shows he's got his own style, doesn't abide by the rules
• Vijay wearing Jackie Chan t-shirt - has all the globally famous elements

Setting:

• Mostly shot in Malaysia, starts off in Paris
• Ballet studio- innocent cover for dangerous and criminal activities
• Van Gogh painting in background in secret vault- educated/internationnaly aware people will recognise it's value, also shows the gang to be operating on a global scale
• All the latest technology- Motorola V mobile, sleek sports cars, Mac laptops, thumb print system access control

Special effects:

• Abducting whole ambulance- so much more exaggerated than the original, stunts like never before in Bollywood films
• jasjit hacking into system: black clothes, opposite of climbing down building with rope, cutting glass with laser- choreography of action = very hollywood style (perhaps not even used in hollywood anymore, but still new for Indian audience). Maybe copying hollywood techniques is an easy way to Indian film makers to provide the audience with exciting stuff that's new for them, and consequently gain success.
• Car chase in streets of India- typical hollywood style, broken door, broken glass, blood on one side of face.
• Packed with pyrotechnics that actually look like a fiery explosion, not a big 'boom' sound followed by lots of smoke like in the old version

Editing/Cinematography:

• Establishing shot of central Paris, with eiffel tower in middle- overseas setting, one of the most well-known european cities, glamorous
• CU on €20 tip- shows he's rich, audience thinking where does the money come from?
• Cross-cutting; fighting and red lights on device in pocket, builds tension
• BIV and CU of hand when introducing Roma, keep audience in suspense
• CU and W/BIV shots cut together with fast continuity editing- speed (more and more importance on speed and spectacle)
• Small window on side showing Disilva taking out gun- seems to let audience play omniscient role, they know all the intenions of all characters by intermission, but shocks them at end by revealing the real Don- clever narrative structure
• Screen black-outs when disilva hit on head and fuzzy when he regains consciousness- not used in old indian films, but here camera= character sometimes to enhance character-audience relation
• swipe cuts when crossing between high buildings, shows passage of time
• CU of "Don's" face looking pointedly at disilva just before dying- audience will realise why at the end

Overall, the cinematography is very sophisticated, well thought out and effective.

Sound:

• English dialogue: Don 'Where is my money?'    TJ: 'Right here'

textual analysis

Indian cinema as a reflection of Indian society

Indian cinema meets Hollywoodhttp://entertainment.indianetzone.com/films/1/bollywood_vs_hollywood.html


Cinema of each era = a reflection of society.Early bollywood films portrayed concepts that were purely Indian at heart.
During the times of freedom struggle, cinema was used as a medium to show anger and voice the opinion of nationalist leaders and parties demanding independence from the British rule. Then, the Indian cinema focused on mythological stories and great epics eg. Phalke's pioneering 'Raja Harishchandra.'
cinema portrayed a society that was both desired and achievable. Bollywood of that time showed the India which was both rural and traditionally rich and vibrant.
The traditional values and cultural celebrations formed the basis of the conservative Indian cinema of that time.
Films showcased relationships,cutoms, norms and ethics of our culture eg. a young desi from village who comes to a big cityIndian cinema now portrays the changing face of our society and the cultural mix due to western influence e.g., movies like Murder, Aks, Page 3, Corporate, Monsoon Wedding, Rang De Basanti...

Today, movies dish out what the youth wants and what the youth is inspired from.
Again, the cinema reflects our culture. But, with western influence getting a strong hold on young Indian minds, culture promoted is heavily influenced by western culture and media
One view: Cinema as part of mass media is heavily influential on a nation and should therefore, be used to preserve the cultural heritage of India, in order to prevent the loss of the Indian identity in people- especially the younger generations.
Inspite of the foreign flavour being added to the treatment of a film, movie should not be ethically inappropriate or hamper the sentiments of any Indian.
A movie trying to portray the changing trends of the society should learn to keep a balance with what’s trendy and what’s ours.

Q: But, is everyone in India willing to accept the issues and mind-set portrayed in modern films?
Another view: Even with loopholes in the fusion and blend of the culture, cinema is striving to keep alive the unique indian cinema culture- so films like Kal ho na ho are fine because despite the western influences they still give (the world) a taste of what bollywood is all about i.e the dance, the costumes, the music, the colour...

http://daily-bb.com/bollywood-talk/6905-indian-cinema-promoting-indian-culture/

Posted by Alishba at 15:01 2 comments

'Bollywood conventions are changing, however. A large Indian diaspora in English speaking countries, and increased Western influence at home, have nudged Bollywood films closer to Hollywood models. Film kisses are no longer banned; the once-ubiquitous "wet" scenes, with damp saris molded to an actress's curvaceous form, have been replaced by skin, pure and simple. Plots now tend to feature Westernized urbanites dating and dancing in discos rather than arranged marriages. Plots can be less melodramatic, more sophisticated. Some Indians think that this is "progress"; others miss the masala films of yore.'

http://listing-index.ebay.com/movies/Bollywood.html

Rang de Basanti trailer

The duration of the trailer above seems to be divided into two parts, with the first portraying the normal life of the young group of friends, which as in many other films aimed at the younger generation of Indians, includes evident western elements in the costumes, the props, and their general lifestyle.
The second half concentrates on the patriotic side of the film. The movie is in essence embedded with patriotic values and the notion of the young Indians of today realising their true national identity. Unlike my other two case studies, this film is not set abroad, yet it manages to marry the western culture embraced by many young south-asians with their national identity in an optimistic way; leaving its audience with the impression that western culture can go hand in hand with eastern culture.

Kal Ho Na Ho trailer

This film is a great example of the intermingling of western influences with a conventional bollywood narrative. The entire film is set in New York, the first city that springs to anyone's mind at the mention of Western locations. Yet the trailer also shows shots of traditional dancing with colourful costumes that could fit into any conventional bollywood film. In terms of the story-line the film is based on the traditional love triangle interspersed with the issues of an extended family.
This film is also an interesting case study for my project as it seems to be aimed just as much towards an indian audience living in the west as the national indian population. The setting, the costumes shown through most of the film, the amount of English present in the dialouge, and some of the issues represented in the film can be related to by south asians living in countries like the UK and the US.

Don trailer

Original 1978 Don trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM5sZKiSgT8

Re-makes of old films are not very common in the bollywood film industry. When viewing both the trailers of the original 1978 film and the 2006 re-make, the first thing one notices is the abundance of new technology and the foreign city landscapes in the new film. While the increasing presence technology could simply be accounted for by the changing of era, using a foreign setting is a noticeable trend in modern indian films. As the world becomes a global village, Indian's along with people from other nations are becoming more aware of foreign locations, allowing directors to use them for settings. 

The media language of the two trailers also differs immensely, with the recent version containing a larger variety of shots ranging from wide shots of the cosmopolitan setting to close ups of hands and objects that create suspense at the beginning of the trailer. It is due to the more complex cinematography and the indication that the film will be packed with pyrotechnics similar to those in a hollywood action feature, that the audience are more likely to be drawn by the 2006 trailer.

Rang de basanti- (Institutional data)

Director:Rakesh Omprakash Mehra

Writers:Renzil D'Silva (screenplay)
Rakesh Omprakash Mehra (screenplay)

Production Companies
ROMP
UTV Motion Pictures

Special Effects
Tata Elxsi Visual Computing Lab

Other Companies
Gaurav Digital sound re-recording
Sony Music soundtrack released by - only 2 other companies invovled, shows it is more of an 'art house' film rather than one targeted at the mass audience.

Revenue:
Opening Weekend
$701,666 (USA) (29 January 2006) (61 Screens)
£221,226 (UK) (29 January 2006) (38 Screens)

Awards:
2007 Nominated BAFTA Film Award:- So international critical(+financial) success
Best Film not in the English Language;
Ronnie Screwvala
Rakesh Omprakash Mehra

Also India's official Entry to the Oscar's for the "Best Foreign Language Film" category in 2007.

Kal ho na ho-03 (institutional data)

Worldwide gross: over Rs 600 million

• top grossing bollywood film worldwide
• top-grossing Bollywood film in the overseas market that year
• second top-grossing movie in India

Crew:
Directed by: Nikhil Advani (associate director of Karan Johar - Kuch kuch....K3G)
Produced by:
Screen play: Karan Johar
Niranjan Iyengar




Production company:
Dharma Productions- single company, established, self-sufficient


Distributors:

Yash Raj Films (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)

Bodega Films (2005) (France) (theatrical)

Cineworx (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)

Rapid Eye Movies (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)

Rapid Eye Movies (2005) (Germany) (DVD)

Other companies involved:

Manish Malhotra & Co. costume design

Don- October 06 (institutional data)

Re-make of 1978 film- re-makes = not that common in industry, although re-makes of hollywood inspired films are.

• Director/writer: Farhan Akhtar
• (based on original screenplay)- Javed Akhtar
• Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani
• Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Company credits:

• Production Companies
  Excel Entertainment- once again only one production company (self-sufficient for funding?)
  
• Distributors
  Bharat Entertainment International (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
  Bharat Entertainment International (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)
  Rapid Eye Movies (2007) (Germany) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Visual effects: Red Chillies Entertainment- headed by Shahrukh & Gauri Khan

" Founded in 2002 as a film production house, Red Chillies Entertainment has branched itself into other spheres of production, starting from setting up a path breaking Special Effects studio, VFX, which brought Hollywood's slick sophistication to Indian cinema....................Don - The Chase Begins Again, won European accolades for Best Special Effects in 2006

• Sound fx mix team: SoundFirm (Australia)- foreign sound post production facilities used. " Soundfirm, Australia's largest and most highly awarded sound post production company has produced award winning soundtracks for feature film, television drama series and television commercials for over twenty-two years"
• Also used for: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) ... Adr Recorded At & Mission: Impossible II (2000) ... Adr (as Soundfirm)
• (PSP UMD disc - wider access for audience)
• For their roles in the film, Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal undertook a special martial arts training programme under the guidance of Shaolin Temple experts.- So lots of time, effort, exptertise spent to get film to international standards, something which older films lacked, lacked facilities, knowledge of techniques and maybe effort of crew who weren't motivated by international competition like they are in the global village of today.

Additional companies- overall 120 companies/ individuals credited and thanked

• Cool Merchant additional equipment: Malaysia
• Film Gear additional equipment: Malaysia
• Superloo portable toilets
• B.R. Tours and Travels transport hire company: Malaysia
• Malaysia Airlines airline transportation (as Malaysian Airlines)
• Malaysian Airports special thanks
• United India Insurance Co. Ltd. (I) insurance: India

Choosing texts

Main text: Kal Ho Na Ho

Supplementary texts: Don
Rang De Basanti

changes in target audience

• The Indian film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience rather than narrow target audience groups
• It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts. However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences

Other factors influencing westernisation of films

• satellite tv- english/american channels available world-wide
• global dominance of hollywood- shows market/audience who like generic hollywood films
• popularity of hollywood stars- emulate?
• Hollywood 20s-50s musicals (differences: Hollywood; musicals set in world of entertainment, tried to make films seem realistic not constructed. Indian; songs in everyday situations, did not try to make it realistic to hide that it is a piece of fiction)
• influences go other way too- musical revival with Moulin Rouge (Baz Lurhmann), The Guru
• Globalisation of english language
• Contemporary mainstream movies also make great use of English. In fact, many movie scripts are first written in English, and then translated into Hindi. Characters may shift from one language to the other to express a certain atmosphere (for example, English in a business setting and Hindi in an informal one).- increasing use of english in professional places, eg. workplace, interviews, educational establishments, english call centres
• marketing/advertising in english, even non-english speakers get the jist
• Over the last years of the twentieth century and beyond, Bollywood progressed in its popularity as it entered the consciousness of Western audiences and producers.- more westernised to impress?
• As Western films and television gain wider distribution in India itself, there is increasing pressure for Bollywood films to attain the same production levels. In particular, in areas such as action and special effects.
• Recent Bollywood films have employed international technicians to improve in these areas, such as Krrish (2006) which has action choreographed by Hong Kong based Tony Ching. - expertise of foreign staff/crew?
• The increasing accessibility to professional action and special effects, coupled with rising film budgets, has seen an explosion in the action and sci-fi genres- most western genres/ least asian genres
• overseas audience(uk, us, canada), non-indian audience nigeria, egypt, arab countries, malaysia, russia

What forms of western culture can be found in the films

• Increasingly more and more dialogue in english
• Even title, trailer text/ narrator voice, credits in english 
• Little representation of indian culture/ religion through:
• Costumes - which are mostly western in contemporary films 
• Narrative elements: less family orientated, more focus on individual life
• Love life focus changed from marriage to relationships outside of marriage
• Less focus on Hinduism, quite a lot of characters in modern films are shown to be from christian families.
• Indian film narratives that are highly 'influenced' by particular hollywood films. e.g. Unfaithful and Murder.
• other films that have only elements of hollywood films e.g matrix style action in 'Main hoon na"  
• more and more sophisticated sfx
• Tendency to film abroad- european countries and us especially, whichever is more popular/
• well-known with population at the time

..so they dance! (reviews and ramblings on Indian cinema)

• With watching Bollywood, comes a definite attitude re-adjustment. Films are films. If you watch Hindi/Tamil/Telugu/whatever Indian language films (with) and continue to carry the notion that films from so-called "West" are somehow magically superior, you might as well stop watching.
• But the ideas of Western film-making's superiority is sadly prevalent even in the minds of some Indians themselves.
• I'm not sure the audiences at large in the "West" would be so accepting of the Indian manner of making films and telling stories. Some people occasionally might get into, thanks to an Indian friend, a visit to the country itself or pushing efforts by us non-Indian filmi fans,but for it to become something more popular in the mainstream,I just don't see it happening.
• I don't really see Indian films becoming like Chinese films here in the West. Action is very much universal, but breaking out into song for a dream sequence? Not quite as universal. Even in musicals made by Hollywood, they take place in a natural and realistic setting, not up on some mountain in Switzerland!
• Another view: there's no particular reason why Hindi films should want to gain popularity in "the west," there's also no particular reason why "the west" should try to embrace them. We don't all have to love (or even vaguely understand) each other's pop culture. We have to recognize that it's out there and that it's meaningful to some people, but it's perfectly okay to prefer the stuff that is created by the culture from which you come.
• different cultures have different values and modes of expression and they're all equally valid.

Interesting articles

This following articles- the first arguing that indian films are becoming increasingly westernised and the second counter-arguing this point- provide basic thought provoking material for a 'World Cinema' research topic.

http://www.student.city.ac.uk/~ra831/group8/prash.htm

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dAJbVl9vQtMC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=westernisation+of+indian+films&source=bl&ots=gxjWd05sEV&sig=c7ezPEP38XD3IqhDqspsadBTOuE&hl=en&ei=Zfu0ScuCD8XT-Qadg6H4Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA280,M1

Indian Popular Cinema:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_plssuFIar8C&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=westernisation+of+indian+films&source=bl&ots=ozsj4dlrr3&sig=6lxktG_qlAH4Jaz9bw8088FJPtY&hl=en&ei=Zfu0ScuCD8XT-Qadg6H4Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA141,M1

BBC articles about an oscar nominated 'tradionally indian' film:

Reviews for an oscar nominated 'traditionally indian' film:

India enters Lagaan for Oscars
The Film Federation of India FFI has chosen an unusual film about a game of cricket as India's entry in the foreign film category for next year's Oscar awards in Hollywood. The film - Lagaan - is set in the nineteenth century and tells the story of a group of peasants who challenge their British colonial oppressors to a game of cricket in order to escape a punitive tax. Lagaan, which includes British actors alongside the Indian star, Aamir Khan, won an award at this year's Locarno film festival in Switzerland. India has been nominating films for the Oscars for two decades but has never won Hollywood's highest honour.
BBC World Servicedated November 3, 2001.



Star ProducerLagaan may have haunting melodies but unlike most Bollywood films, it's not just a song and dance extravaganza. A period drama, the film's rural setting is a departure from the prevailing trend where nine out of 10 movies are urban campus romances.

Bollywood has powerful studios and producers but it's the handful of top stars who call the shots because they draw in the big audiences.

BBC World ServiceBy Sanjeev Srivastava, dated Tuesday June 26, 2001


Mr Khan said he was content with Lagaan's Oscar nomination. "Indian films will now get world-wide exposure", he said. The film's lyricist, Javed Akhtar, shared his disappointment. He said there were five films in the category, "but only one had to win and four had to lose." "Lagaan will now push producers to make good films", Mr Akhtar said
Some Bollywood fans said it was time the industry took a fresh look at Indian film making. "Routine Hindi films with song and dance sequences around the trees should stop now", said Arvind Sharma, a businessman. ''Quality movies must be made so that more Indian films like Lagaan can make it to the top of films in the world'', he said.

BBC World Servicedated Monday March 25, 2002

Benjamin Button homework

1) Review from The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

The critic is extremely negative as is evident from the very first sentence of the review. The critic has obviously found the narrative of the film very uninteresting as he is willing to change the title to the "twee and pointless" case of Benjamin Button. Paul Bradshaw highlights problems with the characterisation of Benjamin whose curious state, according to him, is not portrayed with "any great comic or tragic insight". In fact Bradshaw deems the character as quite boring. He does however commend the special effects used to make the actors look old, while the effects that make them look younger do not gain his approval because they apparently give the actors a robotic look. 'The curious case of Benjamin Button' is compared to another film called 'The Notebook' directed by Nick Cassavetes. The aim of the comparison is to show the film as a soppy, "treacly tale".
The review mentions some interesting points about the weaknesses of the narrative which I perhaps would not have noticed if i watched the film. The fact that the review is written by a film critic at The Guardian- a well known broadsheet newspaper- gives it a lot of credability.


2) Review from the Sky Movies website by Rob Daniel

At the beginning, the critic seems much less opiniated than Paul Bradshaw. The review begins by giving a brief history of director David Fincher's previous movies and how he may have brought some of the aspects of his previous work into his latest film. The fact that the review is from the Sky Movies website, who would no doubt want to persuade people to watch this film on their channel- might explain references to the director's previous films in order to attract fans. It could also be a reason why the review over all is positive, contradicting hugely with the review from The Guardian.
Personally I don't find this review as useful as the previous one since it tends to state things about the narrative of the film rather than commenting on them. Instead of coming to definite opinion on the film the reviewer simply says that "you could do worse than see this...film." There is no information provided about the critic or his position which somewhat lowers the credibility of the critique.


3) Review from Heart 106.2 website by anonymous person

The layout of this review immediately makes it different from the two previous ones. The un-named critic gives the film a rating of 10 out of 10, which summarises their view point in the main body of the text. The critic is full of praise for 'The curious case of Benjamin Button' describing it as "an absolute masterpiece" and persuading readers that they "should make every effort to see" it.
Once again i don't like the fact that the reviw simply offers a brief overview of the story line and then extensively tries to communicate that the film is absolutely brilliant, without explicitly mentioning the features that make it so brilliant (e.g. the narrative, the acting, the cinematogaphy etc...). This could pwrhaps be that unlike the first review from The Guardian, this one is nothing written with the expert insight of a film crtitique.

first posting

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