a take on bollywood theatrics, vivacity 24

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58 VIVACITY MAGAZINE • 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 www.vivacitymagazines.com 59 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 • VIVACITY MAGAZINE www.vivacitymagazines.com elodrama, molten emotion, and histrionics spilling over into the dark stroboscopic theatre galleries punctuated with applause at the valor of the hero, the sacrifices of the coy heroine, golden hearted risqué temptresses, and hushed silence of impending retribution... designed to climax to a “happily living ever aſter” All loose ends bow-tied into a package of catharsis, with incongruence acceptable and beliefs suspended. Despite their obvious escapade tendencies, the Bollywood movie model carries an unshakeable optimism against cynicism Indian Cinema started with the Lumiere Brothers showing “Train Pulling into a Station” in 1896, in a show at Watson’s Hotel in Bombay. e following year two short pioneering films were made by Save Dada. ARUN KHANNA A TAKE ON BOLLYWOOD THEATRICS In fond memory of songs, dance and drama over the decades of maudlin emotion, social hiccups & causes – a take on Bollywood’s style that marks the distinct decades from the 1950s to the 2000s -Priyanka Karki takes it on with fun and frisk! MAKING 100 YEARS OF FILM No female applicants came forward except for sex workers from Bombay’s red-light areas, but even they eventually backed out. e female parts were finally played by male actors; and yet the success of Raja Harishchandra was such that for his second film, Dadasaheb had no trouble finding actresses. To woo his audience away from the stage to the screen, DadasahebPhalkepromotedhisfilmsas:“Aperformance with 57,000 photographs, a picture two miles long, all for only three annas.” Eighteen years later, in 1931, four anna tickets were selling in black for 4 to 5 rupees on the opening day of the first talkie Alam Ara, creating legendary stars as Prithvi Raj Kapoor. From the times of arduous set-painting by the as-of- then, unknown M F Hussein painting the studio set of the historical drama Anarkali for just 75 rupees in 1953 (a single painting of his, in 2010 sold for 2 crore Indian rupees) to the Belgian glass-studded sets of Mughal-E-Azam which took two years to build, dreams were making their way to the reality of Bollywood, creating the biggest film industry in the world. Songs abounded, Alam Ara included about a dozen, Indrasabha, is said to have had 59 songs. Shirin Farhad had 42. Dance, fantasy and maudlin drama combined to formulate the Bollywood genres of film making. Despite that, social consciousness remained entwined in the ethos of film making. Legends like V.Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor and Mehboob Khan made their films with a strong social purpose. Technologies from the Tanar camera to the ARRIFLEX have driven its cinematography. Pioneering tent shows to state-of-the-art multiplexes have projected its images, and productions steeped in debt to mega extravaganzas have moved the likes of 20 th Century Fox and Warner Bros along with hundreds of top notch home productions overshadowing even Hollywood budgets. Enjou it. PHOTO FEATURE Model: Priyanka Karki Photographer: Rajiv Shrestha Make up & Hair: Sophie Stylist: Subani B. Magar Creative Director: Arun Khanna Accessories:Swornim’s Studio, Baluwatar, Opposite Roadhouse Cafe, above Focus Interior, 9841323863 Escape, City Center, 40116781 Location: Hotel Everest, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, 01-4780100 Wardrobe Exclusively Designed for the Retro look by Uttam Banepali, Uttam’s Creation, Kupondole, 9841327513 In fond memory of songs, dance and drama over the decades of maudlin emotion, social hiccups & causes – a take on Bollywood’s style that marks the distinct decades from the 1950s to the 2000s -Priyanka Karki takes it on with fun and frisk! Exactly hundred years ago a film by Dada Saheb Phalke, Raja Harishchandra, screened at Coronation Cinema in Bombay on 3 rd May 1913, marking the beginning of feature film productions in India. Initial advertisements brought a surplus lack of talented applicants and Dadasaheb was forced to add a line saying “ugly faces need not apply.”

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58 VIVACITY MAGAZINE • 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 www.vivacitymagazines.com 5915 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 • VIVACITY MAGAZINE www.vivacitymagazines.com

elodrama, molten emotion, and histrionics spilling over into the dark stroboscopic theatre galleries punctuated with applause at the valor of the hero, the sacri� ces of the coy heroine, golden hearted risqué temptresses, and hushed silence of impending retribution...

designed to climax to a “happily living ever a� er”

All loose ends bow-tied into a package of catharsis, with incongruence acceptable and beliefs suspended.

Despite their obvious escapade tendencies, the Bollywood movie model carries an unshakeable optimism against cynicism

Indian Cinema started with the Lumiere Brothers showing “Train Pulling into a Station” in 1896, in a show at Watson’s Hotel in Bombay. � e following year two short pioneering � lms were made by Save Dada.

ARUN KHANNA

A TAKE ONA TAKE ONA TAKE ON

BOLLYWOODBOLLYWOOD

THEATRICSIn fond memory of songs, dance and

drama over the decades of maudlin

emotion, social hiccups & causes

– a take on Bollywood’s style that

marks the distinct decades from

the 1950s to the 2000s -Priyanka

Karki takes it on with fun and frisk!

BOLLYWOODTHEATRICS

MAKING

100YEARSOF FILM

No female applicants came forward except for sex workers from Bombay’s red-light areas, but even they eventually backed out. � e female parts were � nally played by male actors; and yet the success of Raja Harishchandra was such that for his second � lm, Dadasaheb had no trouble � nding actresses.

To woo his audience away from the stage to the screen, Dadasaheb Phalke promoted his � lms as: “A performance with 57,000 photographs, a picture two miles long, all for only three annas.”

Eighteen years later, in 1931, four anna tickets were selling in black for 4 to 5 rupees on the opening day of the � rst talkie Alam Ara, creating legendary stars as Prithvi Raj Kapoor.

From the times of arduous set-painting by the as-of-then, unknown M F Hussein painting the studio set of the historical drama Anarkali for just 75 rupees in 1953 (a single painting of his, in 2010 sold for 2 crore Indian rupees) to the Belgian glass-studded sets of Mughal-E-Azam which took two years to build, dreams were making their way to the reality of Bollywood, creating the biggest � lm industry in the world.

Songs abounded, Alam Ara included about a dozen, Indrasabha, is said to have had 59 songs. Shirin Farhad had 42. Dance, fantasy and maudlin drama combined to formulate the Bollywood genres of � lm making. Despite that, social consciousness remained entwined in the ethos of � lm making. Legends like V.Shantaram, Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor and Mehboob Khan made their � lms with a strong social purpose.

Technologies from the Tanar camera to the ARRIFLEX have driven its cinematography. Pioneering tent shows to state-of-the-art multiplexes have projected its images, and productions steeped in debt to mega extravaganzas have moved the likes of 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros along with hundreds of top notch home productions overshadowing even Hollywood budgets.

Enjou it.

PHOTO FEATURE

Model: Priyanka KarkiPhotographer: Rajiv ShresthaMake up & Hair: SophieStylist: Subani B. MagarCreative Director: Arun Khanna

Accessories:Swornim’s Studio, Baluwatar, Opposite Roadhouse Cafe, above Focus Interior, 9841323863Escape, City Center, 40116781Location: Hotel Everest, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, 01-4780100

Wardrobe Exclusively Designed for the Retro look by Uttam Banepali, Uttam’s Creation, Kupondole, 9841327513

In fond memory of songs, dance and

drama over the decades of maudlin

emotion, social hiccups & causes

– a take on Bollywood’s style that

marks the distinct decades from

the 1950s to the 2000s -Priyanka

Karki takes it on with fun and frisk! Exactly hundred years ago a � lm by Dada Saheb Phalke, Raja Harishchandra, screened at Coronation Cinema in Bombay on 3rd May 1913, marking the beginning of feature � lm productions in India.

Initial advertisements brought a surplus lack of talented applicants and Dadasaheb was forced to add a line saying “ugly faces need not apply.”

60 VIVACITY MAGAZINE • 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 www.vivacitymagazines.com 6115 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 • VIVACITY MAGAZINE www.vivacitymagazines.com

PHOTO FEATUREPHOTO FEATURE

1950sDespite male dominated plots with men saving women in distress, leading ladies possessed the ability to change things;

the hand and heart behind the resolution of any purpose.

The 50s - a docile demeanor, urban and coy, caught between social throes. A period of Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, Raj Kapoor’s

Awaara, and Raj Khosla’s Dev Anand starrer Kaala Pani

1960sRomance, rock & roll, a feline Helen, and thrills. Oomph and tradition got mixed up. Romantic and action films starred actors like Rajesh

Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Shammi Kapoor with leading lades like Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz and Asha Parekh…

PHOTO FEATURE

62 VIVACITY MAGAZINE • 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 www.vivacitymagazines.com 6315 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 • VIVACITY MAGAZINE www.vivacitymagazines.com

PHOTO FEATUREPHOTO FEATURE

Guns and guts rubbed shoulders with gritty gangsters. Daring damsels helped or scalped the hero. Hemlines went up and necklines plunged; A social order at stake, that not always matched with established status quo… A time when the

“angry young man” emerged with Amitabh Bachan, polka dots with Parveen Bobby & a hip swinging Zeenat Aman

Guns and guts rubbed shoulders with gritty gangsters. Daring damsels helped or scalped the hero. Hemlines went up and

Guns and guts rubbed shoulders with gritty gangsters. Daring damsels helped or scalped the hero. Hemlines went up and

1970s

1980sThunder thighs, splashy colors, and Bollywood

choreography. A time when Jeetindra & shridev jigged up the numbers, with

pots, pitchers & skylines…

64 VIVACITY MAGAZINE • 15 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 www.vivacitymagazines.com 6515 MAY - 14 JUNE 2013 • VIVACITY MAGAZINE www.vivacitymagazines.com

PHOTO FEATUREPHOTO FEATURE

1990sThe chocolaty hero and the cute girl next door; Romantic mush with serious consequences; Pigeons flying and love letters torn and rewritten, till the pigeons came back…

Model: Utsav Singh Adhikari

2000sWacky humor & city-

smart; Short on heavy dialogues, long on witty repartees…

out to enjoy and not to sob... an era of

designer films feeding the aspirations of a younger audience

metropolitans, often scoffing at the

maudlin emotions of the past.

Wacky humor & city-smart; Short on heavy

dialogues, long on witty repartees…

out to enjoy and not to sob... an era of

designer films feeding the aspirations of a younger audience

metropolitans, often scoffing at the

maudlin emotions of the past.