Theatre & Cinema

20th century AD

Theatre:

• Plays of ancient India were performed by both men and women as can be seen in the Natyshastra as well as in the references to other texts of the period.

• This continued till the medieval period.

• However a large number of the actors and actresses were kept on the fringes of society.

• Mughal period did not get patronage for drama. • During this period, it was the rise of operatic

theatre as an answer to the invaders and their regime. (eg. Raasleela of Vrindaban, folk theatre of different regions)

• The New Theatre Movement started in 18th c AD.

• Folk Theatre gave way to a new kind of theatre tradition from the 18th century with increasing influence of the British.

• Bengal saw the growth of a new urbanized class of Indians due to British influence who had their first capital in Bengal.

• As the colonizers were not particularly interested in local theatre, they therefore caused the staging of English plays.

• These plays were largely performed by men (who also played female roles).

• But the change came about in late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

• In 1852, the Parsi Natak Mandali was established in Bombay.

• This laid the foundations of a strong Parsi Theatre.

• This also led to the birth of play-groups and traveling shows by these theatre companies.

• All this led to a high degree of professionalism in the domain of theatre production.

• The first modern Indian dramatist who consciously gave a new mission to the theatre was Bharatendu Harishchandra who was a Hindi dramatist of the 2nd half of the 19th century.

• He brought contemporary life, political and social and religious directly or indirectly on to the stage.

• He brought active participation of the educated people, thereby giving respectability to theatre.

• Otherwise till then, dramatists and actors were relegated to lower status.

Cinema

• Indian Cinema is one of the most popular forms of Indian Drama. Birth of Indian Cinema can be attributed to Lumiere brothers when they held their first public showing at Mumbai’s Watson Hotel on July 7, 1896.

• This was just a few months after the Paris showing.

• Times of India (newspaper) referred it as the ‘miracle of the century’.

• Lumiere film was a silent movie for just 10 minutes. 6 items each of 17 metres were included – Entry of Cinematography, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train, A Demolition, Ladies and Soldiers on Wheels, and Leaving the Factory.

• On July 14, the shows shifted to Novelty Theatre. More shows and items were added. Calcutta held its first film exhibition at Star Theatre on 2nd Oct,1898.

• The first Indian to make a film was Harishchandra Bhatwadekar popularly known as Save Dada. He was a still photographer, a dealer in equipments and an exhibitor of films. His first 2 films were ‘Do Pahalwanon ki Kushti’ and ‘Bandar ko Nachaata hua Madaari’.

• Next was F.B.Thanavala who made his debut in 1900. Two of his films ‘Splendid View of Bombay’ (1900) and ‘Taboot Procession’ (1900) generated a lot of interest. Simultaneously another silent movie was released at Novelty Theatre in Mumbai.

• In 1901 Hiralal Sen at Calcutta made his mark with his films on Indian mythology which had photographs of scenes from some traditional Classical Plays performed in Calcutta. This reached out to much larger audiences.

• The first decade of the 20th C saw live and recorded performances being clubbed together in the same programme.

• Such programming resulted in a strong influence of traditional arts, theatre, music and dance on the cinema movement in its early days.

• This is visible in the music and dance sequences that are integral part of Indian cinema today.

• In 1905 film production was linked with exhibition.

• JF Madan who had earned a wide reputation in the theatre world of Calcutta, went on to form the Elphinstone Bioscope Company.

• Madan was the first to see the immense business opportunities afforded by cinema/ film-making in India.

Women in Film Industry: Early days:• Hangover of the prude mentality of the medieval and

colonial period continued.

• Women of good families were not supposed to venture out in public and be seen in the company of men.

• Therefore the actresses of the early Indian film industry were the entertainers.

• Some foreign artistes became heroines in Indian films.

• Besides building a large production empire like Hollywood, film producer Madan imported foreign actresses such as Ermline, Patience Cooper and others to star in Indian mythological films as Indian women were ‘hesitant to expose themselves to the gaze of the film camera’.

• India’s most exciting dare devil actress was ‘fearless Nadia’ daughter of a British father and Greek mother, whose story has recently been told by her grand-nephew Rijad Vinci Wadia (1993) in ‘Fearless: The Hunterwali Story’ a 75 minute film documentary.

• The typical Hindi film images were the "Westernised, licentious vamp and the chaste woman”.

• Having risen above these stereotypes, Nadia made her mark as not only the one fighting men, kicking, punching them, a liberator of the oppressed, but also as an important figure in India's freedom struggle.

• But by the thirties, women from educated background and good families started entering the film industry.

• Devika Rani – distant relative of Rabindranath Tagore who married the Russian painter Roerich, Sadhona Bose, grand-daughter of social reformer Keshub Chandra Sen, etc.

• In case women of good families took to public singing- dancing, they changed their names. (Example of Naina Devi).

Devika Rani• The icon of the 30's and 40's, Devika

Rani was the first Dream Girl and the first First Lady of the Indian Screen. She was the grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore and truly a great beauty.

• She began her career as Textile Designer with leading art studio in England.

• There she met Himansu Rai and agreed to design the sets of his first production Light of Asia (1925).

• It was during the shooting of 'A Throw of Dice' on Indian locations when, despite the disparity in their ages, they got married.

• After marriage they left for Germany where Rai made A Throw of Dice (1929) in collaboration with Germany's famous UFA Studio.

• Films like Achhut Kanya expressed her skills and set standards of performance and costume.

• Her attire as the village girl became the norm for all such roles!

• In India, Rai and Devika Rani established the famous Bombay Talkies Studio.

• In 1945, she quit films to marry the noted Russian painter, Dr. Svetoslav Roerich.

• She died in 1994.

Sadhona Bose• Granddaughter of 19th century reformist

leader Keshub Chunder Sen, Sadhona is often said to have belittled actresses who didn't come from a lineage as elite as hers.

•A classically trained dancer and musician, her early work included ballets supervised by Rabindranath Tagore.

• She participated in her husband Modhu Bose's dance spectaculars which

helped convert the late 19th/early 20th century Parsee theatre-

influenced operatic mode into popular Bengali and Hindi films.

Sadhona Bose(1914-1973)

Early days of Post Independence era: • The coming of All India Radio and cinema provided

opportunities to artistes.

• However in post Indepence period, All India Radio closed its doors to professional women singers on grounds that their private lives was ‘public scandal’.

• The government had become custodian of their public morality.

• The traditional performers were required to prove their respectability which was possible only by either quitting their profession and then re-appearing in a new incarnation as chaste wives who were to be addressed as ‘Devis’ or ‘Begum’ in place of the earlier ‘Bais’.

Later half of twentieth century:

• Twentieth century saw educated women from elite families belonging to higher caste taking to dance, theatre, films as vocation.

• This changed the tenor,

hue and repertoire of the

art forms.

Representations of Women in Popular Indian Cinema

• In traditional Indian Society, there are certain prescribed roles which regulate the conduct of women. 

• For example, the conception of the woman as Sita is prevalent in Indian society and film. 

• Sita is a character in the Ramayana, one of the great epics, which embodies values and the differences between right and wrong. 

• She is the wife of Rama, who is representative of many virtues including honor, courage, and loyalty. 

• Sita is the ideal woman and wife that sees her husband as an idol.  Indian popular cinema represents this role of the ideal wife's admiration and unfaltering respect.

• Much of Indian popular cinema is influenced by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, another epic, which involves the hero Lord Krishna.

•  Also, according to the Manusmriti, an ancient classical work dealing with laws, ethics, and morality, a woman should be subject to her father in childhood, in youth to her husband, and when her husband is dead, to her children. 

• Within the guidelines of the Manusmriti, women do not enjoy independence. 

• Women are supposed to adhere to the role of a happy figure who takes care of the household. 

• They are supposed to be obedient to their husbands and go to every length to honor them even after death.

• Although Indian cinema continues to change and evolve, reflecting new trends in gender relations, at least in very traditional Indian cinema women who live by these traditional norms are portrayed as happy and ethical. 

• Women who go against these rules of narrative and culture in film are punished and seen as immoral.

Sexuality in Indian Cinema • For example, the women are

seen as objects of desire. 

• This relates to the representations of romance and the female figure in Indian popular film.

• Kissing was unknown in Indian film for a long time except for a famous Devika Rani film. 

• Public displays of affection are associated with western life. 

• However, there are blatant scenes involving sexuality. 

• Although more recent films often include scenes of overt sexual relations, traditionally Indian film has used three techniques to convey this sexuality as categorized by a film critic, Richards as;– tribal dress, – dream sequences/wet saris,

and – behind the bush.

• Tribal DressBecause many Indian films involve music and dance, "tribal costumes are used for the exposure of vast expanses of the body, in particular the pelvic region” .

• Dream Sequences/Wet SariDreams offer the ability to express sexual desires and explore forbidden pleasure.  Wet saris are often involved in these dreams and are caused by a downpour in which the woman's flimsy sari allows for exposure of the female body.

• Behind the Bush The music and dance in films often gives characters the

opportunity to run behind the bushes quickly.  Afterwards the woman wipes off her lips, insinuating what occurred.

Four Roles of Women

• These roles and constructions of women are reflected in a great deal of popular Indian Cinema. 

• Four important roles to consider include:– ideal wife,

– ideal mother,

– vamp, and

– courtesan

The Ideal Wife

 

• This character is represented by sexual purity and fidelity. 

• She must be consistent with traditional Indian roles by honouring the family and depending on the husband. 

• She is closely connected to the domestic domain.

The Ideal Mother

• Indian reference to the mother involves religious suggestion. 

• The country is connected with the mother goddess, Shakti, who represents great strength. 

• The role of the mother in Indian film is often seen as a strong force, such as in Mother India (1957).

 

The Vamp • The vamp in Indian film is

modern and imitates western women. 

• Her behavior can include smoking, drinking, and dancing. 

• She can also be quick to fall in and out love.  • She is seen as a seductress.• She represents unacceptable

behavior and is seen as unwholesome. 

• She is almost always punished for her behavior.

The Courtesan • The courtesan is outside the

normal realm of Indian womanhood in that she is a type of prostitute or dancing girl. 

• She embodies sexuality.  • She is a character who helps

with the physical and emotional needs of men. • Often in Indian film, she

gives the man comfort and care, after which, he leaves her to desperately mourn the loss of him.

Portrayal of Dance and Dancers in Indian cinema

• She is ultimate vamp.• She is sexy, alluring.• She is the ‘other woman’ and a home breaker.• She is meant to give solace to the troubled men

but her company causes raised eye-brows.• Dance and prostitution is the profession that a

helpless woman lands up in. • In such cases even women from high born

families and castes become ‘untouchables’ of society.

Discussion of few Films:• Film ‘Sadhana’ • (starring Sunil Dutt and Vyjayanthimala, 1958 by BR Chopra)

• Plot: When Mohan's (Sunil Dutt) ill mother slips down the stairs, her condition is pronounced serious. Her only wish on her death bed, is to see her son married. Under pressure from his mother, Mohan takes the advise of his uncle and agrees to bring home his uncle's daughter to act as his wife to-be, thus aiding a peaceful departure of his mothers soul - Of course this would all be at a price.

•Unknown to Mohan his uncle hires the services of a dancing girl and a prostitute called Champa (Vyjayantimala) to act as his daughter and Mohan's bride to-be. The presence of Champa gives strength to the dying mother and she gets a new lease of life after seeing the person she thought was her daughter-in-law.

• A string of events compel Champa to reveal her true identity to Mohan and she wants out but its too late, Mohan has already fallen in love with her and his mother is pushing them to tie the knot.

• The impassioned cry of the nautch-girl Champa in the following song tells it all:

• Woman gave birth to man and he gave her the flesh trade.She is weighed in dinars or sold in open markets.She is stripped in the court of lustful men.A woman cannot even weep.Man sleeps on a soft bed, a woman gets the funeral pyre.For a woman, life itself is a punishment.The womb in which man is born, is used as a business.Being burned alive is seen as a woman’s greatest sacrifice.What is passion to men, is sin to women.But it is the woman who gives birth to man ¦

• Film: Amar Prem (Immortal Love), with Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, 1973 by Shakti Samata

• The film portrays the decadence of human values and relationships and contrasts it by presenting an illustrious example of a young boy's innocent love for neighbourhood courtesan.

• Synopsis: Pushpa (Sharmila Tagore) is sold to a brothel in Calcutta by her village-uncle, Nepali Babu (Madan Puri). On her audition at the brothel, Anand Babu (Anand Babu), a business man seeking love, is attracted by her singing. Anand Babu is unhappily married, and lonely and becomes her regular and exclusive customer as love blossoms.

• Later a widowed man with his family, from the same village as her, moves in close to Pushpa's place. The new neighbour's son, Nandu doesn't get any love at home, as his father works all the time and his step mother doesn't care about him. Pushpa starts treating Nandu as her own son when she gets to know that he is from the same village as her.

• The story evolves around Pushpa's great love for both Anand Babu and Nandu. The story details how circumstances stop Pushpa from meeting them as people and society prejudge her.

• Lessons from the film: The film brings out the distinctions and treatment meted out to nautch-girls in society. It shows the fall in caste/ social hierarchy once inducted into the profession.

• The film also portrays effort of society to integrate this group by making it mandatory for the first handful of clay mud to make the idol of Goddess Durga to come from the courtyards of the nautch-girls.

• Film: Nache Mayuri:• A disabled dancer overcoming her problems to

rise to great heights in her field was the subject of "Nache Mayuri," with Sudha Chandran playing the lead role.

• Modern Indian Cinema: • One of the finest spoofs on the manner in which

dance and dancers are projected in modern Indian cinema can be seen in the following article in Times of India, one of India’s leading National dailies.

Revamping Bollywood's sexy vamps (TOI, 3 Feb, 2003)

• MUMBAI: Scene - the battered, bleeding hero, gnashing his teeth, drives at a frantic pace towards the climax of the film and hollers, ' Main aa raha hoon... main tujhe nahin chhodoonga '. He’s on his way to rescue his lady love who is in the clutches of the evil don/mafia/unspecified villain.

•Cut to 2003.

•Scene: The awkward, scar-faced villain in the setting of a lavishly spread out mehfil in his grotto, with gallons of alcohol flowing from the jars and sexy belly shakers, cabaret dancers, or simple mujhra dancers giving them an irresistible visual treat!

• Okay, let’s freeze on this scene now! •

Every other Hindi film cuts to this ditto; same scene each time; while drawing towards the climax, or in most cases, the anti-climax. In the years gone by, it was the typical boy-rescues-girl scene that clashed with the sexy belly numbers. In new-age cinema it’s the same story, but in a more glorified and glamorous package.

•The term 'vamp' is almost redundant in today’s movies. Instead, it’s positively termed a ‘negative role’. The hot dance numbers are respectfully called the ‘item numbers’. And the epitome of all glorifications and the crown for the phoniest title in Hindi cinema goes to this one – ‘Special Appearance’.

• Whether it is Ash clad in a low-waisted half-saree, giving jhatka s to the tune of Ishq Kameena , or the sexy Shamita Shetty jiving to Sharara Sharara , every star from Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Shilpa Shetty, Bipasha Basu to the new kids on the block like Shamita Shetty, Isha Koppikar and Koyna Mitra have graced the item-number/special appearance tag. Finally they all win an honourable prominence in the credit title – ‘Our special thanks to (whoever it is) for the guest appearance’.

•Khallas gal Isha claims, "Which girl wouldn’t want to be called sexy? Actresses’ live many lives in one life, and doing typical goody-two-shoes roles becomes mundane. Jism has just proved that venturing into a different genre of cinema is far more lucrative."

•

• Wonder what the Cabaret Queen of Hindi films, one of the hottest dancers that Indian cinema has ever produced – Helen, would have to say about the sex divas of Gen-x. Her numerous hits like Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu, Mehbooba Mehbooba and Piya Tu, rocked the nation in the 60’s; and she is considered an icon in that area to date.

•Much later, in the early 70’s, Bindu, Aruna Irani and Padma Khanna tiptoed into Helen’s monopolised space on the dance floor. True, Helen’s 'anglicised' looks worked for the vamp image, but she did more than oscillate to the dance numbers.

•Films like Ganga Jamuna and Zindagi saw the sex-goddess doing semi-classical Indian dances like Tora man bada paapi and Ghungarwa mora chham chham baaje. Not to add the desi bar number, Mungra Mungra from Inkaar.

• Then another pair of dusky, long, lissome legs took the bold walk in to the Bollywood’s arena. She left all rules behind – discarding the tightly-wrapped saree, the festooned headgears and the typical sati-savitri image. You guessed it right - we’re talking about Zeenat Aman. With her perfect body, cosmo chic looks, seductive appeal and all of that oomph, she had filmmakers eating out of her hands. Of course, her portrayal of the village belle in Satyam Shivam Sundaram ‘exposed’ her real talent, and she was labelled nothing short of the ‘sexiest symbol’ of Indian cinema.

•Well, for those who didn’t like it too spicy, there was Parveen Babi to bridge that chasm. The perfect mix of sugar ‘n’ spice, glamour ‘n’ gusto, oomph ‘n’ innocence.

• When asked about her sex-symbol image during her reign in Bollywood, Ms Babi asserts,

• "Zeenat and I had full-fledged roles right from our first films. They might not have been pivotal roles, but they weren’t item-songs and dance numbers either.

• We were the only ones who broke the trend of the archetypal heroine’s role, and even carried off roles of modern dancers in clubs during an age where the audiences’ weren’t exposed to such things."

• When probed on to reason why some brilliant dancers like Helen and Bindu were never offered meaty roles, Babi promptly turned to say, "They were in the bracket of cabaret dancers. They came in to the industries as dancers; they didn’t know what acting was all about when they stepped in here. There’s a difference between cabaret item dancers doing a brief role for a film, and a lead actress doing a few dance numbers besides her main role."

• That was setting the record straight for the revamped image of the new-age sex divas.

•Decades after Zeenat and Parveen Babi vanished from the silver screen, Indian cinema wakes to find another sultry sex-goddess rise in its horizons.

• The Bong Bombshell – Bipasha, showing off a jism (body) to die for! Almost like Zeenat incarnate. The dynamism, the boldness, the same fire in the belly! Making it without mentors and godfathers in the industry.

• Paving her own path, steering her own career! She didn’t twitch an eye; get convulsive pangs of being ignobly slandered by the industry, by covetous co-stars, or the snooping eyes of the media when she gave the nod to do the bold negative role in Pooja Bhatt’s Jism.

• It’s rare find that a lead actress portrays the uncanny bad-woman role, in a film that crosses the bedroom line with sexotism, passion and the dark side of desire.

•As Ms. Babi believes, "There’s nothing wrong with a film that brings to fore human feelings like lust, desire and passion, as long as it retains its youthfulness, class and aesthetic value."

Inference? • Being a sex-symbol does not symbolise that the person

in point makes a few-minute wonder appearance. She doesn’t have to be a cabaret dancer, a classical dancer, a ballet dancer or a belly dancer for that matter. She’s an actress, like any other, but with oodles of sensuality, dare-to-bare attitude and irresistible sex appeal.

•As Isha Koppikar unflinchingly says, "Sex is all about attitude, comfort, body language and expression."

•And don’t we all know how sex sells, even on celluloid? After all, what better universal language than body language?

On the other hand, is the plight of the man any better? • ‘Vanaprastham’, directed by Malayalam director Arun

Kumar Shaji.with music by Zakir Hussain.

• Vanaprastham in Malayalam means: the renunciation for peace. The film, inspired by a real life story, depicts the identity crisis of Kunjukuttam, a celebrated Kathakali dancer.

• His mother hails from a very low caste society and does not reveal the father’s identity to him.

• Initiated into Kathakali at the tender age of 10, he proves himself as the most gifted pupil of his guru.

• While Kunjukuttan’s recognisation and popularity as a dancer grows, his personal life becomes a saga of tragic existence.

• He is tormented for not knowing his father and for being forced into an arranged marriage.

• His passionate involvement with a beautiful and mysterious woman who loves him as the epic hero Arjuna and not as Kunjukuttam, brings him to an identity crisis and is the cause of his final annihilation.

Position today

Today’s screen actors:• Comfortable with their roles.• Blurred boundary lines between

scenes considered taboos in yester years by leading actresses and acts in scenes with vamps.