140202 VO Cultural History of India (2013W)

Cinema is like religion in India, where every Friday, with new film releases, fate changes and a new history is made. From print to electronic media, none can manage to remain unaffected by films. They determine the way people dress, talk and even walk. The lecture will give an account of Hindi cinema, beginning with its origin in the early 20th century leading up to present forms, with the very interesting rise of what we call "multiplex cinema". Cinema arrived in India as early as its invention, and it saw all the phases of change and growth. Though it had a studio system of some kind in the beginning, the early start of the star system destroyed it.

1. Cinema : Popular culture in India

2. Origins of cinema in India: (HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY)

3. Silent film era (RAJA HARISHCHANDRA, HUNTERWALI)

4. Era of the first mega stars and the failure of the studio system: Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor: (NAYA DAUR, GUIDE, AWARA)

5. Era of the "Angry Young Man": Amitabh Bachhan ( DEEWAR, SHOLAY)

6. NRI films and the genre of Shahrukh Khan (DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE)

7. Muslims in Hindi films (NIKAH, MERE HUZOOR, MUGHAL-E AZAM, UMRAO JAN, VEER ZARA, HENNA)

8. Love stories: The staple for the Hindi audience (BOBBY, LOVE STORY, EK DUJE KE LIYE, AASHIQUI 2)

9. Family dramas rule: (HUM AAPKE HAIN KOUN)

10. Multiplex cinema and its rise (KHOSLA KA GHOSLA, BHEJA FRY, PHANS GAYE RE OBAMA)

11. 100 crores cinema: Big Film bounces back (DABANGG, GHAJJINI, BODYGUARD, SIGHAM, YEH JAWANI HAI DIWANI, CHENNAI EXPRESS) (Students should watch one film every week, preferably the ones highlighted here.)

The lecture is an exploration of the rise and growth of the Hindi film industry, which his generally called Bollywood, though this term is somewhat misplaced.