Bollywood: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

A 33 pages research paper; including 3 reference pages.

The challenge:

To compile an astronomical amount of information from the 5 of us into a 30-pages research paper.

Many books were read only to find out that a lot of them were irrelevant.

We got an A grade for this paper.

CS 117 Media in the Modern World: Social Trends and Popular Culture
Bollywood: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Filzah Amalia Bte Rahmat
Julaiha Binti Meshudi
Loh Jun Qin
Nur Rashidah Binte Amren
Siti Zawiah Bte Abd Malek
Nanyang Technological University

Abstract

The Indian film industry developed since the early 1910s. They were first made without sound and with the advent of new technology, films in sound were produced. It was one of the defining moments in the development of the industry, as it was then that new elements were introduced in the film productions. Hindi language was made the main language used in the films, and song and dance sequences were inserted in the storyline. Ever since, the Hindi film industry has developed into the dominant film industry in India, and that Hindi films have evolved into a distinct genre of film of its own. Also commonly labeled as the ‘Bollywood’ films, these films have also created an impact on various aspects in our lives. In this paper, we will first introduce the ‘Bollywood’ film industry in general, and mention some critiques that have been made against it. Secondly, we will be presenting the history of the industry, followed by its mainplayers. Next, we discuss the social and economic impact of the industry, as well as its influence on other countries. Lastly, we present our brief group discussion on these various aspects of the Bollywood industry.

The ‘Bollywood’ Film Industry

When referring to a ‘Bollywood’ film, we mean a Hindi film aimed at a commercial mass-market and produced in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), a film-producing region which gained prominence in the domestic film market in the 1950s (Alessio & Langer, 2007). In this essay, the terms ‘Bollywood film’ and ‘Hindi film’ will be used interchangeably.

The name Bollywood was started in 1976 by a crime fiction writer H. R. F. Keating. It was a controversial term that even the Hindi film actors found hard to accept. Hindi film producers also resented the comparison of Bollywood to Hollywood (Chopra, 2007). To quote from the article by Minocha and Stonehouse (2006), “Let the Americans be. We are the Mumbai (the hub for the Hindi film industry) film industry and no Hollywood.”

‘Bollywood’ is considered as an industry which tries to reproduce the products of its successful counterpart, Hollywood. The name 'Bollywood' itself, which was derived from the word 'Bombay' and 'Hollywood’, suggests that the Hindustani cinema is imitating Hollywood. It was seen as insulting as it made Bollywood seem like a derivation from Hollywood (Dwyer, 2005). If one is buying an original pair of Nike shoes, one would not expect the original form to be the same as the imitation ones. In fact, people usually regard original products as superior to their imitations. Likewise, Bollywood is often considered as subordinate to Hollywood, mainly because the industry is taking place in a developing country, India. Despite the displeasure of those in the film industry however, the name was used by the media and later used widely. It was even included in the fifth edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Chopra, 2007).

The Western scholars assume that it is the economic factor that caused Bollywood to rise and maintain its status as an important source of entertainment to the Indians. Since the Indian economic condition is not as well as the West, Indians could not afford to buy foreign films for entertainment and hence, created their very own film industry. How true can this be? Is Bollywood simply an imitation of Hollywood? Studies have shown that Bollywood has its own ways in film making. For instance, song and dance sequences have been introduced into its films because a lack of them would mean the lack of entertainment value for the viewers.

There are also debates as to where Bollywood should be placed; First World Cinema or Third World Cinema. The former is characterized as being funded by big capital and commercialized non-political films whereas the latter is linked to being nationalist, popular cinema with uncritical audiences. However, Bollywood films seem to belong in both Cinemas.
Firstly, there is no doubt that Bollywood films need a lot of capital to be produced as can be seen from the quality of the screening (microphones, cameras, lightning etc.), the place of film shooting (Paris, New York etc.) and the heavily commercialization of them (the movies are exported out to various countries). Fans of Bollywood superstars come from all over the world and this proves how well the Bollywood industry has been marketed.
At the same time, Bollywood can also be seen as nationalistic. There are a lot of films, where the Indian-ness is emphasized and other social practices such as the caste systems are challenged in a variety of manner (in terms of a comedy or a serious manner). Therefore, it is a rather difficult task to categorize Bollywood films under only either of the categories.

Bollywood films have also often been considered as lacking in merit and hence, many film scholars refused to study it. They were not regarded as a useful platform in understanding Indian society until recently. ‘It was of then characterized as being meretricious, escapist, mindless drivel and totally irrelevant to the understanding of Indian society and culture.’ (Dissanayake, 2003).

Dissanayake also revealed the factors which influence today's Bollywood narratives. Firstly, they are heavily influenced by the ancient epics of Hindu religious belief and are male-oriented. Even the female roles in the epics are played by males in theatre. Another factor is the classical cinema of Hollywood itself (1930s to 1950s) from which some filming ideas have been adapted from. However, a point is that Bollywood is the product of a localized Hollywood. The idea is similar to glocalization whereby a global product is localized to meet the wants and tastes of respective consumers. For instance, Parsi plays contribute to the dancing elements in Bollywood with MTVs supplying new upbeat dance-movements for Bollywood.
History of the Indian Film Industry

The Indian film industry developed since the early 1910s. Its beginning is marked by the silent film Raja Harishchandra(1913), by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who later went on to produce a string of other silent films. The industry gradually developed and many production companies were set up over time by the late 1920s. Movies were silent then, and since the languages spoken and literacy of the audiences varied, the movies usually had subtitles to explain the actions and sometimes the number of subtitles could be as many as in four languages! (Bose, 2006). This was significant as it helped to garner a wider range of audiences.

In March 1931, the first Indian sound film was produced. The introduction of sound films allowed Indian producers to make more Indian films and the importation of foreign films greatly decreased. As written by Bose, ‘the trepidation over the coming of sound had given way to unbounded optimism’ (Bose, 2006, p. 75). The introduction of song and dance segments in films (partially derived from a tradition of folk-music drama), ‘played an important role in winning for the sound film an instant and widening acceptance’ (Bose, 2006, p. 75). The element of music is significant, as it paved the way for the ‘very distinctive development of Bollywood, taking it away from Hollywood and marking the very different world in Hindi cinema.’ ((Bose, 2006, p. 75).

However, this new development also posed a new dilemma. India comprises of many spoken languages, and a decision had to be made to choose a common language for the films. After the British left India, Hindi became the national language, as it was used relatively more than any other language and was generally understood in most of India, except for in the south. (Bose, 2006), hence it became the common language used in films.

One solution for the problem of language barriers was that successful films in one language would be acted out again in another language. Alternatively, a more cost-saving way was to shoot a few versions concurrently, by employing multi- or bilingual actors to act the same scenes in different languages. Also, the divide in the use of languages led to different language areas to develop a production of its own. A prominent example is the Tamil films, typically produced in Madras. The industry was quick to develop, but was never a threat of replacing Bombay as the movie capital of India, as the latter was the centre of Hindi films, which provided the more lucrative market. (Bose, 2006)

The ‘Golden Age’ of the India cinema occurred during the 1950s. The first International Film Festival of India was organized by the government in 1952, which was held in Bombay. This gave the Hindi filmmakers an exposure to Italian neorealism which was used by directors like Bimal Roy (Heide, 2006). In 1955, at the European film festivals, “Pather Panchali” became the first Hindi film to receive an award.

The Hindi film industry then developed with the increasing importance of stars. Since then, the films were focused more on the love stories. Actors’ charm served as an attraction to gain more audience while actresses’ also began to dress more provocatively to gain attention. Although the industry began near the beginning of the century, government legalization on the status of the industry was only confirmed in around 1998 to 1999. It was found that India has been the biggest film producer in the world, producing about eight hundred to a thousand films annually. In comparison, the rate of films produced in Hollywood then was only half of that (Srinivas, 2002).

Just as how the industry grew over time, so have the film genres evolved. Hindi cinema began with mythological films by Dadasaheb Palke followed by the social films in the 1930s. While mythological films featured narratives of Hindu gods and goddesses, social film narratives usually reflected the issues, norms and behaviors of the society. An example is Himanshu Rai’s production of Achut Kanya in 1936. The film hit revolved around the topic of the caste system, in which the untouchable girl was unable to marry a man from the upper tier of the caste. In the 1950s, films that portrayed the trend of speaking for the underdogs emerged. Some examples are Raj Kapoor’s film Awaara, produced in 1951 and Boot Polish produced in 1954.

There was a discernable shift of the genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s whereby audiences were presented with the ‘angry young man’ films of Amitabh Bachchan that carried value-ridden plots against the corrupt and the rich. ‘Bachchan was the brooding loner, with very little time for song and dance, and no hesitation in taking the law into his own hands to ensure justice, which the system had failed to provide, was meted out to deserving criminals.’ (Bose, 2006, p. 268) Such films usually reflect the pent up anger of that generation, in view of the negative societal conditions. Finally, in the late 1980s and 1990s, films depicting young romance emerged with the productions such as Yash Chopra’s Chandni in 1989 and Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998 (Kripalani, 2006).

The development of Hindi films also reached a new height, when Lagaan (2001), a film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar, was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. The film had set the benchmark of success for future films of the new era to follow suit. As said by Noel Rands, an actor in Lagaan, the film ‘was Bollywood’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It gave a different dimension to Bollywood internationally.’(Bose, 2006, p. 345).

The development of the Hindi film industry seems to be relatively progressive. However, yet unknown to many, in the 1990s, most Hindi films were believed to be funded by “dubious money” (Athique, 2008). The claim meant that the films were produced by using money gained from criminal and illegal activities such as tax avoidances in India. Underground figures usually made the decisions in the production of a film. They may even allow small businessmen to become their own film producers whereby famous actors and actresses act in the films.

A very common situation in the Hindi film industry is that a distributor invests in a film and puts his own ideas to the film through the producer. At the same time, theatre owners will charge the distributor a very unreasonably high rent for the usage of the facility to screen the films. With the taxes, unreliable feedback from the box office and also competition among the different players from the industry, the distributor fails to earn enough capital to cover the production costs. As a result, these distributors have to turn to illegal sources so as to raise money. Illegal sources are private investors mostly from the construction, jewelry and associated trades.

To quote from the article by Athique (2008), “not only are there such high returns in lending money to film producers, but unaccounted money can be put to use in an industry where stars and others usually get paid in cash and receipts are only issued for a fraction of the total amount involved… it is not surprising then to find pirates, thieves, criminals and underworld dons attempting their hand in the film industry.” Living in fear of being threatened or even killed by these underground figures, actors, actresses, directors and producers have to obey every single word of these “investors”.

Characteristics of a Typical Hindi Film

Hindi films fit into a loose category of song-and-dance, masal movies. This term, originally coined by theorist Rosie Thomas, is a Hindi word which is used to mean a ‘spicy’ mix of at least eight song-and-dance numbers and on a cinematic level, a seemingly inexorable combination of genres, narratives and points of view (Boltin, 2003). The location of a Hindi film production may differ from one film to another, depending on the demands from the script, availability and preferences of the producers or directors. However, typically, filming takes place in Mumbai, with occasional shootings in foreign countries.

One characteristic of a Bollywood film is that most films are just like musicals. There is a minimum of six to eight songs in a Bollywood film. The actors often take up familial roles; such as the father or son. They would usually have to know how to dance, fight and even do comical scenes in the film. The song and dance segments require a major portion of the film’s budget as the setting for these segments are usually very “well-equipped and lavished” (Srinivas, 2002). A setting can take on days to be created and built just for a few minutes of song and dance.

Usually, Bollywood film takes up about three to three and a half hours. Hence, it is common to have an intermission in between the screening of the film for the audience to have a break of ten to fifteen minutes. This has become a practice and the Hindi audience group has been so used to it that if the break gets over the fifteen minutes maximum interval, they start to get restless and may even leave their seats or start chatting loudly with their companions. It is common to hear a bell ringing in some theatres as an indication of the continuation of the film and there may even be ushers outside the theatres to usher the viewers back into the theatre (Srinivas, 2002).

Technology enabled the Hindi film industry to grow. With sound, the signature of a Hindi film allowed audiences to enjoy the music of the songs to which the actors danced to (Chopra, 2007). These film features of music and dance were and are still the central feature of the films. When one mentions Bollywood, the many dance scenes and enormous wardrobe comes to mind. It is the famous trademark of Hindi films. In 1930s, Hindi films dominated the market amongst the other Indian language movies. Between the 1930s and the 1940s, films would have as many as forty songs. However, in 1950s, the number of songs per film dropped to less than 10 per film (Chopra, 2007).

Bollywood’s Main Players

Script writers and directors helped to increase the popularity of the Bollywood cinema through their works. Script writers usually focused on the Indian culture, society, politics and history when writing the script. It is very unlikely to offer new stories to attract worldwide audiences. Hindi films lack of innovative ideas. Only in recent years Bollywood managed to gain more popularity through the influence of Anglo Hindi films such as Bend It Like Beckham, Pride and Prejudice, Hollywood Bollywood and East is East (Minocha & Stonehouse, 2006). The script-writers also have the discretion as to what to be included in the films. For example, C.N. Annadurai who is a politician cum script-writer has succeeded in steering the films into certain political direction by incorporating some political agendas into the films (Dissanayake, 2003).

Directors, just like the script-writers have the freedom to steer the direction of the films to the ways they want them to be. For example, Anand, C. who has overtly declared himself as a leftist has managed to create films which glorify war. It shows the importance of every Indian to fight for the country and how war can creates unconditional and true friendships among the Indian fighters (Chakravarty, 1998). Shyam Benegal is another director who has been honored in India on many instances. His films are described by the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh as being “distinguished, innovative and socially conscious. Benegal’s work shows woman to be intelligent, powerful, determined, yet humane and compassionate. It is unlike the traditional films where woman were casted as subservient and docile females (Heide, 2006).

Another important main player in Bollywood are the producers. Without them, the movies are not produced for the audiences. In the 1960, the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) was formed. The FFC was initially responsible for “assisting and promoting the mainstream film industry, but became, through the direction of Indira Gandhi herself, a funding organization for ‘modest but off-beat films of talented and promising people in the field” (Heide, 2006). The films produced by FFC were mostly in regional language instead of being solely in Hindi.

Different production companies produced films of different genre. Producers are usually the ones making all the decisions in regards to how the film should be shot. Films from Rajshri Productions usually focused on romance storyline whereby a poor boy meets a rich girl or vice versa. They have a lot of song and dance that involves the whole family of the boy or girl in occasions such as marriage, unions and festivals and then the boy and the girl falls in love and subsequently, the relationship will be found out by the families. The ending of these films is usually a happy ending for all. Films from BR Films usually focused on families. The typical story is usually whereby the father of the family is the hero and key figure of the film. Songs and dances are also inculcated into the films but they act as a means of showing a social message. Everyone in BR Films are usually involved when it comes to making decisions on the shooting of the film (Minocha & Stonehouse, 2006). Yash Raj Films started its own distribution in the 1990s. In the recognition of the prospective chances in the overseas markets, Yash Raj started its own offices in London and New York in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Films produced by Yash Raj gained success in these countries. Besides, being aware of the piracy market, Yash Raj even instigated raids and legal proceedings against the piracy sector and the activities were publicized in their website as a mean a ‘naming and shaming’ outlets that have been prosecuted for keeping pirated copies of Yash Raj films. This serves as a warning that the Indian producers are actively involved in attempts to bring illegal trades of the Hindi films to prosecution (Athique, 2008).

Following the producers are the distributors. Film distributors distribute the Hindi films throughout India and at times, to the other parts of the world. They determine the number of prints to be bought and the extent of the distribution of a film based on the film’s estimated popularity and revenue payback. At times, the distributors will sell the distribution rights to overseas distributors before the release of the film, during the release of the film or even after the release of the film (Minocha & Stonehouse, 2006). Bharat Shah also known as Mr. Moneybags was the leading financier and distributor of Hindi films. He is a diamond merchant whom finances Hindi film, financing a hit film called Devdas (Chopra, 2007).

Audiences serve as the consumers of Bollywood industry. Audiences to the Hindi films differ from class, religious background and age. To the Indian audience group, Hindi films are similar to variety shows. It is common for the audience to comment loudly on the films during its screening, which is not typical in movie screenings in other parts of the world. Songs and dances in the Hindi films also add spice to the film. For the Indian audience, Hollywood movies are too short and boring as usually, there is nothing else other than the conservations between the actors and actresses (Srinivas, 2002).

Besides, the viewing of a Hindi film for the Indian audience is like a gathering event for the family. They watch the film in big groups of around eight to ten people of all ages, from different generations. The female group of the Indian audience, in particular, would watch an earlier show with their friends or female companions but when with their families, they will go for the evening show. In general, going to a movie alone in the Indian culture is like an anti-social or unnatural act and it is common for a person to view a film several times as the person watches the film with a different companion group each time (Srinivas, 2002).

Furthermore, the Indian audience may do selective viewing. For example, if the viewer finds the song and dance sequences of the film boring, they may leave the theatre and only come back when the scene has moved on. It is also a common practice for the Indian audience to leave the theatre before the film has fully ended. Thus it is very common to see a sudden freeze shot of the last scene of the film to indicate the end of the film, without the rolling of the film credits (Srinivas, 2002).

The audiences may watch the same movie but the meanings they give to the movie may differ. They are not passive audiences but usually relate themselves to the actors and actresses in the films they are watching. For example, a movie which challenges the caste system will make these audiences to evaluate and think about the injustice done to some of the lower caste in their societies, like the untouchables. However, other audiences will end up emphasizing the need to preserve the caste system which is an important aspect of the Hindu religion, in order to avoid chaos and fighting as shown in the movie (Dissanayake, 2003).

Lastly, another important player of the Bollywood industry is the Board of Censor. In making a film, certain social rules must be observed. For example, in Amar Akhbar Anthony where the three siblings are separated and brought up by different family (Amar – a Hindu family, Akhbar – a Muslim family and Anthony – a Christian family), the women they loved come from the same religious background as themselves. No intermarriages were included in the plot as the director was worried that the film may not get past the Board of Censor since the latter might consider the content as carrying some 'disturbing' elements and cause unhappiness among the audiences (Chakravarty, 1998).

Bollywood’s Social Impact

Bollywood films create an impact on society in many ways. In this section, several aspects of how such films may affect viewers will be discussed.

Firstly, we discuss how films may influence viewers with new ideas that are atypical to a particular society. Secondly, we discuss on how ideological constructs can affect viewers, focusing on the topics which challenge or uphold the social norms. Thirdly, we would like to show how the actors and actresses are idolized by the fans to the extent of being worshipped. Lastly, we examine how Bollywood propaganda films may serve to reconstruct memories of historical instances.

Introducing New Ideas and Products

Prior to independence, the Nehru government funded the Hindi films in order to disseminate the ideas of being a free Indian nation that possess their own identity free from Western influences. Due to India's colonial history with the British, cinema is viewed as an essential mode of stimulating public opinion and it is seen as important platform to further the cause for independence and Indian-ness (Dissanayake, W. 2003, Jaikumar, 2006).Upon independence, a lot of films were produced to show the audiences on how to become a true Indian. According to Chopra (2007), “Globalization, and the ensuing consumerism and competition, created an enormous cultural churning”. India had to deal with modernity and the Indian identity was beginning to blur. Through Bollywood films, film makers and script writers tried to provide an answer to what being Indian was. For example, films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham tried to tell the people that Indians could be a hybrid. Indians could embrace the global culture while maintaining their essence of being a Hindustani (Chopra, 2007). This true Indian no longer frowned upon the Western influence but instead to embrace it alongside their local culture. Such example can be found in the song lyrics of one of the Hindi films as shown below:

“The shoes I`m wearing are made in Japan
My trousers fashioned in England
The red cap on my head in Russian
In spite of it all my heart is Indian.”
From Mr. 420 (1955)

Not only do Bollywood films bring in new ideas, they also introduce new places and products. During this period of post independence, many of the Bollywood films like to shoot their films overseas.

The main reason for this was to feed the longing of the average Indian who could not afford to fly overseas. These audiences would find satisfaction by watching in the films sceneries of foreign places. By putting themselves in their favourite actor or actress's shoes, they could play with their imaginations and imagine themselves as being in the foreign places. Particular sequences in a Hindi film may influence viewers to harbor thoughts of the possibilities in life that transcends what society has subscribed for them. For instance, in one scene of the movie Diwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) or The One with the Heart Takes the Bride, the protagonists, a couple in love, are seen to be traveling to Switzerland on their own.

Banaji (2006) found that ‘young female viewers in Bombay discussed the scenes preceding and following the European ‘tour’ or ‘picnic’ as a period of heightened emotional involvement for themselves and one that provoked thoughts about their own lives and their wishes to leave the confines of their homes for more extended periods than was acceptable to their parents’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 61).

One of his interviewee, Neha, described the similarities she found between her life and the heroine’s, emphasizing the lack of independence in her life. For instance, she mentions that ‘she has to take permission, even to go for a picnic’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 61). Another interviewee mentioned that she liked most the scene when the protagonists in love first met, and watching that scene made her think about her own life and romance; of wanting the independence ‘by leaving home before marriage, and to be involved in a passionate relationship such as one depicted in DDLJ’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 62). These examples indicate that Hindi films might influence individuals in the way they wish they could lead their lives. However, this does not mean that each film affects individuals in a uniform direction. As seen in the examples, the viewers are affected by particular segments of a film, which they find more relatable to their own experiences in life.

Presently, the emergence of satellite channels also influences the tastes of the Indian audiences, especially from the new generations. The way these people dressed, talked and dance are heavily influenced by films or programmes shown by these satellite channels. Not to be excluded is the impact of these channels on Indian cinema. For example, the Indian chorographers adapt MTV dance moves into their own works. Music is another important element in the Bollywood film industry. Most sales of music tapes and albums in India comprises of the soundtrack from Bollywood films. In addition, the songs from the Bollywood films have also created a new genre for Indian pop music known as the Hindipop or Indipop (Scrase, 2002).

Bollywood is the key factor in introducing luxury items and wealth to the Indian audience (Kumar & Curtin, 2002). For example, Honda motorbikes have the popular actor Hrithik Roshan as their brand ambassador. Hrithik Roshan’s racy screen image is generally reinforced with a sleek speed machine as his accessory. In Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, in which he stars with Amisha Patel, Hrithik’s mode of transport is a big heavy motorbike. In Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham (KKKG), his character Rohan makes his first appearance on campus in London in a sleek red sports car with gull-wing doors. The camera spends some time on the car and its unique features, finally revealing the muscular, toned body behind the wheel. Soon after that he switches to riding around campus on a beautiful yellow motorbike, and after that we see him offering a ride to his brother in a two-seater Mercedes Benz convertible (Kripalani, 2006).
Sometimes, the products are either woven into the story or placed in the backdrop. For instance, Hum Tum in 2004 neatly places the Times of India in the film, by making the male protagonist a cartoonist for this newspaper. Banners and other references to this newspaper appear on a number of occasions. There is also the bag of Lays Potato Chips, while Kodak film too makes an appearance (Kripalani, 2006). Through these product placements, the various brands are able to advertise their products via the films as it is an effective medium to reach the masses.
Upholding or Challenging Social Norms

At times, Hindi films also serve to reiterate existing values and norms in the society, in this context, the Indian society. A common theme is the family- its values and the accepted conduct within the family, especially so in terms of marriage. For example, in DDLJ, the heroine’s father is portrayed as rigid, restrictive and the one with total authority over the family affairs. Upon discovering his daughter’s love affair with the hero, he relocated his family to Punjab, to marry his daughter off to a man of his choice. She, on the other hand, had no choice but to give in to her father’s will. In another film, Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! (NAHK) or Who Am I to You…?, the hero sacrifices his own happiness by allowing his love to marry his brother instead, whom he also loved dearly. These examples delineate the importance of duty and sacrifice and that ‘duty to family generally triumphs over individual passion’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 88).

Bollywood films serve to reaffirm certain social values such as communal ties, dowry, patriarchal and caste systems in its films. In reaffirming the norm of the patriarchal system, the value of being dutiful and behaving dutifully is usually depicted in film narratives, as an endorsement to the system. For instance, in DDLJ, the hero refuses to elope with the heroine despite her pleas to be taken away and that her mother actually agreed to it. Firstly, it indicates that women are in the weaker position of autonomy as ‘both women are silenced by his claiming of a righteous path’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 75). Secondly, although the hero was not represented as the typical authoritarian male, ‘this young man’s homilies on respect and duty appear as bearers of male-identified tradition, power and control’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 76). Such narratives in the film- even subtly- showcases the ideal of conduct of both genders; the women as submissive to the male views and the men as recognizing their role of their authority. It also signifies the existence of a gender hierarchy, whereby men are placed above women. This actually goes to legitimizing the ideological construct of patriarchy.

Bollywood films perpetuate values that are believed to be what the society should have, such as honour and sacrifice. For example, Mother India shows the importance of a law abiding citizen. In this film, the mother was forced to sacrifice one of her sons in order to prevent the honor of their village from being marred by her son’s rebellion (Dwyer, 2005).

Some of the audiences accept the norms and values in their society through these films. Banaji (2006) shows an example- ‘Implying that she had used the film to help her to come to accept her father’s authority, Neha explained: ‘After watching [DDLJ], I tried to understand from my father’s side why he won’t send me [out of the house] and what things can happen after going out.’’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 66) The interviewee finds justifications for the societal norms, by making inferences to the film-. Banaji (2006) explains that ‘Neha’s phrase ‘what things can happen’ applies, quite poignantly, not only to the accidents or unpleasant encounters that parents may fear for their offspring, but also to the possibilities for self-realisation and emotional stimulation that may open outside the narrow confines of the home’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 66), as how it occurred to the heroine in DDLJ. Another interviewee also justified the actions of the heroine’s authoritarian father, explaining that older people have the right to mend the young people’s stubborn and mischievous acts.

Besides upholding these norms, we can also see films which challenge the traditional norms. In light of the Indian women issues, Bollywood has been said to have the greater influence on the Indian women than Hollywood does. Films portray women as no longer being the submissive, demure and traditional group. Instead, they have been empowered with independence and are more daring than their predecessors. Under the influence of Bollywood TV and films, women began to dress more provocatively, which, to the more traditional and conservative audience, such images of an Indian women are unacceptable and deemed as shameful (Scrase,2002). Hence, Bollywood has become an important role in influence women to advance their social roles. This attests the fact that India is moving towards post modernity. We can see Indians freeing themselves from tradition and questioning once-considered absolute truths such as the importance of the caste system.

The norms challenged or reinforced in the films have varying responses from the audience. The impacts of such typical ideological constructs in Hindi films are more complicated. The ideas propagated through the films are not simply passively internalized. In the research by Banaji (2006), some of his interviewees reacted against them. For instance, a male interviewee questioned about why the heroine’s autonomy to marry a person of her choice should be robbed, and protested against marriage for the sake of pleasing parents and not for love. He is implying that duty and sacrifice ought not to be compromised with individual happiness.

Another female interviewee’s attitude towards the heroine was described as ‘morally averse to the need for her to sacrifice’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 73) and she ‘asserts that clan honour is the reason for fathers’ and parents’ rigid control of their daughters’ relationships’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 74). The concept of honour in its cultural context, involves being loyal to a friend, for instance by marrying off a daughter to the friend’s son, and that assures the preserving of her virtue and hence the preserving of the father’s honour as the patriarch. In this case, the interviewee indicates that she rationalized the film’s message and is aware about the significance of ‘honour’ in the patriarchal system; of how it legitimizes the system.

These examples illustrate that viewers might have already been aware of and have formed their own criticisms about the ideological systems their lives are embedded within. Therefore, they might not be influenced by the ideas in the film that serve to reinforce those systems. Rather, they would tend to be critical about such a film itself.

The impacts of ideological constructs vary from person to person. We cannot simply generalize that the films have been successful in their spread of ideologies nor can we deny its possible influences. Viewers receive, interpret, and are affected by the same cultural content differently. This is mainly because they have different life backgrounds, which inevitably are the premises from which they draw meanings of the films.

Idol Worshipped

According to Chopra (2007), a fifty-plus housewife named Sani Mann of Australia said that Shah Rukh put “passion, magic and delight” in her life, devoted her days to running six Shah Rukh Khan online fan clubs (she belong to over a hundred), collecting memorabilia, magazines, DVDs and communing with other fans on the internet. In 2002, to celebrate Shah Rukh’s birthday, Sandi had a star in the scorpius constellation named Shah Rukh Khan. The following year, she bought him a block of land on the moon. Sandi believed that Shah Rukh had “some kind of grace within him, like he’s been touched by god.”

Chopra (2007) also wrote that, “These stories of worship were repeated with varying intensity around the globe. Women showed up at Shah Rukh’s door, requesting that they’d be allowed to wash his feet and drink the water. Others wrote him letters in blood (presumably their own). One fan, a young man named Vishal, living in Lucknow, rechristened himself Vishahrukh and believed that he had beat cancer gnawing at his kidneys because Shah Rukh was on his side”. Here, we see how the Bollywood stars are idolized by their fans to the extent of juxtaposing them with mythical beings.

As previously said, the Bollywood film audiences equate actors with god and many of the actors and actresses are venerated by the people (Tyrrell, 1999). Some of the actors even enter politics, such as Amitabh Bachchan (as we will discuss below). Some gain wealth due to the generosity of their fans, including the poor fans. For example, the poor are even willing to chip in wedding gifts to be given to the newly wed celebrity couples, Aiswarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan. It shows how celebrities are regarded highly and worshipped.

In 1984, Amitabh Bachchan got an unexpected victory over a political territory in India. He went all the way to help the poor and tried to meet the expectations of the people. Bachchan set up a trust to fund the free medical checkups project. He was worshipped and there was a large mammoth cutout on Madras streets of him. When a celebrity becomes a politician, he or she will gain more attention as compared to others who become a politician via other means. As the results, people are more interested in the tiny details of the celebrity-turn-politician's activities. Like the interview between writer Khalid and Amitabh Bachchan, the former asked whether Bachchan felt being closely scrutinized by the people. The reply was positive. Bachchan even said that when he did something insignificant like growing a beard, it became national disaster (Mohamed, K. 2002).

Despite all the negative gossips surrounding Amitabh Bachchan during his political years, he is still every Indian's idol. He represents India and when there are conflicts in the entertainment world with the public, he stands as the mediator. For example, when a lot of Indians were unhappy about having Miss World pageant in Bangalore in 1996, comments from Amitabh Bachchan to the public managed to subside the commotion. This shows how the public regards their film idol as someone knowledgeable and respects his or her opinions.
Reconstructing memories

‘The desire amongst many young viewers to ignore or forget the systematic nature of the sexual violence and murder as well as the sustained economic and social elimination of Muslims taking place in parts of India and the organized political dimension to anti-Muslim prejudice and to what they have come to term ‘religious riots’ is, meanwhile sometimes subtly and sometimes openly endorsed by the Hindi films that they have seen depicting such ‘riots’. Indeed, to differing degrees, films such as Bombay, Hey! Ram (Kamal Hasan 2000) and Gadar have been accused of a deliberate perpetuation of myths about Muslim ‘otherness’, the role of the Indian Muslim community during so-called ‘riots’ and the ways in which such ‘riots’ are instigated.(Banaji, 2006, p. 133)

Films as such are made in attempt to shape what people may recall of certain historical events and influence their perceptions of those events. In this case, the event was the genocide of Muslims by Hindus in India. The film Bombay for instance- ‘leads viewers to dwell on it in a manner similar to that of documentary footage or political propaganda rather than merely as fictional ‘entertainment’.’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 135) In the process, the already tarnished perceptions of the Indian Muslims might have been worsened. Some viewers ‘displayed a belief in the propaganda of the Hindu Right and a willingness to acknowledge and/or rationalize their distrust and dislike of Muslims.’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 142) One of his interviewees explained that he became angry upon watching a woman being raped by a gang of Muslim men in Hey! Ram, as this scene might possibly entice Muslim men watching this to really rape Hindu women. This fits into the analysis whereby ‘feeding into Hindu communal fantasies of Muslim men as predators and sexually violent, the segment depicts men marked as Muslim as a marauding crowd that preys on Hindu and Sikh women’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 144).

In the movie Bombay, Banaji (2006) explained that the interviewee’s ‘assertion that the bombs that killed hundreds of people in Bombay in 1993 were the work of Muslims in ‘retaliation’ for the police bias during the ‘riots, Harish expresses a view of the Muslim community which posits them as uncontrolled and prey to dangerous passions.’ (Banaji, 2006, p. 143). Such a view reiterates ‘the notion that nothing was done to Muslims during the riots, that only Muslims were the aggressors and that Hindus were entirely the victims until they began to defend themselves, a version of events that right-wing Hindus are keen to endorse. (Banaji, 2006, p.144)

On one hand, we have to consider how viewers like Harish might have their own prejudices in isolation from such films. However, the point to be made here is that such films may rouse those prejudicial feelings. This helps to ‘remind’ the masses again about what they are supposed to remember and how they are to perceive particular events, including the people involved. From the case study elaborated, the reconstruction of memories involved the frequent characterization and display of a group of people as the bad ‘other’, and as the focus of the blame for such violent events. In effect, this serves to consolidate the people who belong to the ‘good’ group and it also brings people to shift their focus away from recognizing or remembering other parts of history, such as instances where they themselves might have been perpetrators of violence.

Bollywood’s Economic Impact

When Rupert Murdoch’s STAR network tried to penetrate into the Indian entertainment industry, he prompted the Indians to set up their very own satellite channel called Zee TV (Tyrrell, 1999). With the initial aim of setting up Zee TV to counter Western programmes, it had indirectly introduced new jobs opportunities to the Indians. This venture not only provided new jobs for the Indians in the entertainment sector, but also those industries related to it such as fashion industry. Also, with Zee TV, the entertainment industry is able to go beyond India and into the world’s entertainment market. This would have benefited the local economy.

In 2006, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report, The Indian Entertainment and Media Industry, estimated that the Hindi film industry had grown at an incredible 20% in the previous year and predicted similar growth for the next 5 years. The industry, estimated at 68 billion rupees ($1.5 billion) in 2005, was projected to reach 153 billion rupees ($3.4 billion) by 2010 (Chopra, 2007). From this, we can see how the Bollywood film industry contributes substantially to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India.

Influence beyond Its Borders

The Hindi Cinema not only has an impact on its own country, but it has been influencing the countries that surround it, mostly in the Asian continent. Due to globalization, Bollywood films have managed to reach masses from other part of the globe (Tyrrell, 1999). Other countries began to recognize the benefits on having the Bollywood movies filming their movies on their locations. Malaysia has become a popular destination for filming while Thailand is beginning to promote itself as a shooting destination for Hindi films. Not only is revenue to be earned from the shooting itself, but the revenue spinning potential from tourism is endless.

Singapore has also become one of the few destinations that were chosen for on-location filming. Krrish, one of the popular Bollywood movies filmed in 2006, featuring an Indian caped crusader played by Hrithik Roshan, was filmed in Singapore. In July 2005, it was announced that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) had signed a deal with Indian film-maker, Rakesh Roshan, to shoot 60% of the film in Singapore, and provided logistical support to the shooting of the film. The board believes that the tie up will lead to accelerated tourism as Hindi cinema has a strong following across India and it is an extremely powerful force in shaping the views and opinions of the population. Reportedly, the film has been so popular with Asian audiences in its opening weeks that it outdid Superman at the box-office. Young viewers in Singapore have reported the delight of being at the location where the film was shot, and retracing the steps of the hero along the bridge and down the boulevard. Asian audiences, it would seem, like having their own caped crusader, and having him in familiar territory (Kripalani, 2006).

At the same time, interest in popular Indian cinema and its global culture has literally exploded. What once was purely the domain of the Diaspora of non-resident Indians is now distributed globally and available for Melbournians to see. The distribution of popular Bombay cinema in Melbourne and Sydney is part of a global trend and growing interest in South Asian cinema in its most popular form. The simultaneous release of selected films in Australia, Bombay, the United Kingdom, North America and other sites of the global Indian diasporas serve to incorporate Australian viewers within the global Bollywood film audience (Boltin, 2003).

In South Korea, a group who call themselves The Bollywood Lovers’ Club gathers to watch Hindi movies, which they have subtitled in Korean. They watch in “Indian Style” that is to “make noise, laugh, and abuse the villain.” Also, in a paper called Indian Films and Nigerian Lovers: Media and the Creation of Parallel Modernities, anthropologist Brian Larkin writes about the influence of Bollywood in Northern Nigeria, where Lebanese exhibitors started importing Hindi films in the 1950s. The Germans are following suit. The first Bollywood film to have a major theatrical release was Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham in 2003. Also, DVDs of dubbed Hindi films are sold with the tag line ‘Bollywood macht glücklich!’ which means ‘Bollywood makes you happy!’.
As discussed, Bollywood films are not only enjoyed by the Indian diasporic communities outside India. The industry has also managed to attract an international fanbase.

Bollywood: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

In this section, we would be having a general discussion on the various points mentioned earlier. Firstly, in our view, the term ‘Bollywood’, although disliked by mainplayers of the industry itself, is not a degrading way of labeling the Hindi film. The storyline, props used in, or even the ‘feel’ of the films differ from Hollywood films. There are certain elements in Bollywood films which cannot be found in Hollywood today such as the song-and-dance sequences (unless it’s a musical). While Hindi films are a genre on its own, perhaps this term ‘Bollywood’ can be seen as a strategic branding label of the industry- it sounds catchy, popular and it might be able to tweak the curiosity of impressionable masses to watch the films.

Secondly, the Hindi film industry has long started back in the 1910s. The production of the first silent film Raja Harishchandra(1913), by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, seems to open the doors to many possible future chances in the Hindi film industry. In March 1931, the first Indian sound film was produced. In our opinion, the production of the first Hindi sound film may arise due to the fact that insertion of subtitles might be seen as a hassle eventually over time. Perhaps, the emergence of a common language in India (Hindi) may also influence the decision of the production firms in changing the route of the Hindi films from being silent to sound, as it not only reduces the production time, sound communication also aids in better understanding of the film. Non-verbal communication may be important; however, verbal communication allows better understanding and also gives better exchange of information from the actors to the audiences. Successful films will then be able to earn enough revenue to reproduce the same film but of a different language spoken by the actors and actresses.

Also, success of the Hindi film industry outside India can be considered as relatively slow. Although its development started early in the 1900s, it was only much later that Hindi films have received international recognition. It was only in the 1950s that it first received an award in the European film festival. In an attempt to differ from the Hollywood movies, songs and dances are very often found in Hindi films. This allowed Bollywood films to be a distinctive genre of its own, but at the same time, this may be the very fact that limits foreign viewership. For instance, one who is used to the fast-paced plots, narratives which are somewhat close to real life situations, might find that Bollywood films have narratives which are unnecessarily draggy and too melodramatic, especially so when film protagonists break out into songs every now and then, hence often disrupting the flow of the story.

Perhaps now, with the advent of better technology to improve film productions, together with the rise of globalization and tourism industry, Bollywood films have increasingly been garnering international interest as they serve as a source of snapshots of the culture and life in India, in a more spectacular manner. The types of narrative in the films have also expanded from nationalistic and mythological ones to that of love and romance. Such a generic type of narrative is one that the international viewers could relate to better, therefore contributing to the increase of the films’ appeal.

The increasing acceptance by foreign viewers not only helps to raise the popularity of Bollywood films, it also helps to bring in more revenue for both the Hindi film industry itself and also to the countries of the viewers. The widespread viewership of Bollywood films meant that the Hindi film industry could earn revenue from the box offices of foreign countries. Thus, this allows for more investments in film productions, such as shooting scenes at locations outside India. This may then lead to a boost in the tourism sector, as viewers may start to visit countries that were part of the shooting settings of the films and this will help to increase revenues earned from tourism. The international audience, having taken a peek into what India is like through the films, may very well decide to make India their tourist destination. Likewise, viewers from India might also be enticed to visit locations of film shots abroad.

Nevertheless, although these more modern Hindi films are accepted by many, a minority of the audiences are against them. Many features in such Hindi films are claimed to be influenced by the Western culture. For instance, Indian women are lesser depicted as demure, submissive and traditional. Instead, they are increasingly portrayed as the daring, independent and self-empowered individuals. This is indicated by, for instance, the character’s increasingly provocative outfits and the increasing freedom in inter-gender interactions, which was uncommon in the past. The films also seem to have an influence in women’s roles in the society. With higher education, women have more access to job opportunities which were once only available to men, hence making themselves self-sufficient. Lastly, Bollywood films seem to promote the culture of materialism, whereby people are no longer simply contented with what they have, but wish to pursue material wants. These influences seem to point towards the Westernization of Bollywood films, which is disapproved by some, particularly the older generations, as it signifies the decline of the society’s own set of values and norms.

Among us are some who watch Bollywood films. Most of us agreed that the influence of Hindi films has had an impact on the locals here, particularly the Malay community. Bollywood films are so well liked that local Malay film producers sometimes incorporate features of Bollywood films in serials such as ‘Cinta Bollywood’, which stars the popular actor Aaron Aziz. The Hindi fashion of clothing has also become common amongst the Malays, who wear them during weddings or on Hari Raya, instead of their own traditional costume. News from the industry is also often featured in the local Malay newspaper.

Nevertheless, the fandom here has not escalated to idol worshipping as has happened in India. Firstly, it may be due to the stressful life in Singapore where rationality and practicality overtake non-rational attitudes such as idol worshipping. Although many people turn up at Shah Rukh Khan's show in Singapore recently, most of them would most probably return to their daily routine and forget about Shah Rukh Khan the next day. Perhaps the best investments viewers would make are just purchasing DVDs or subscribing to the cable channel such as Zee TV, to view the films and receive regular inside scoops of the industry.

Conclusion

The Bollywood industry has come a long way since its initial development in the early 1900s. With the development of technology, the quantity and quality of the films have significantly improved over the years. Modernization and globalization have also played a part in shaping Bollywood films into what they are today. Although many features in the films have changed with time to sustain and increase its mass appeal, we have noticed that the feature of song and dance sequences never seems to cease. And in fact, it is through this feature that Bollywood films have managed to carve out an identity of its own, apart from the common notion that they are rip-offs of Hollywood movies. And it is also this distinctive feature that has also contributed to the increasing international viewership of Bollywood films. At the rate that Bollywood films are being produced and developing, it would be no surprise that more award-winning films will soon come to Bollywood’s way.

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