Popular National Cinema & Globalization: Bollywood – Study Group Tasks

In this week’s seminar we will look at a number of clips from a range of popular Hindi films and consider how the films engage with issues of identity.

In particular, we will explore how the song and dance sequence can be the site of exploration/interrogation/negotiation of Indian and diasporic South Asian identities.

On your own:

Note down your responses to the following questions:

1. What are your previous experiences of ‘Bollywood’ culture?a. If you have not engaged with ‘Bollywood’ culture, why do

you think this is?

2. Are you ideas/opinions about ‘Bollywood’ based upon your personal engagement with its cultural forms? (e.g. films and music) Or are they derived from other sources?

In small groups:

Discuss the following question:

3. What kinds of stereotypes are there about ‘Bollywood’ cinema? List as many as possible, thinking about:

a. The industryb. The films themselves

For the remainder of the session discuss the following questions:

4. What are the distinctive pleasures provided by contemporary Hindi cinema (‘Bollywood’) for non-traditional consumers of Indian cinema?

5. How does Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) compare with popular/commercial Hollywood genre cinema? (romance, comedy, drama)

6. Do you think Kal Ho Naa Ho represents a viable formula for a global popular Indian film culture?

7. What does Kal Ho Naa Ho have to say about contemporary non-resident Indians’ experience? How does the film explore the preservation of ‘Indianness’ outside India?

You will have a chance to feed your responses to these topics into the seminar discussion but we may not consider all of these questions directly.