Cultural thought and philosophical elements of singing and dancing in Indian films (original) (raw)
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BioGecko, 2023
Films in cultural theoretical constrain have occupied large space for the implied viewer of commercial/conventional cinema. Films in Hindi language assertively dominated by the Bollywood cinema studios and sometimes mistakenly called Indian Cinema. In current flow of making films, Bollywood cinema further classifies into popular/conventional cinema verses parallel/art films of young directors. The genre of popular cinema is more likely attached with the term Bollywood. Therefore, this paper keeps the term Bollywood aside and moves towards Hindi cinema for all hybrid art form blending distinguish cinematic elements as melodrama, music, dance, heroic actions and etcetera. Songs and dance are the indigenous elements added to represent the soul of Indian culture in the cinema and is precisely helps in producing a masala film in various film industries of India. Generally, in a Hindi film of two to three hours duration tend to feature five to six songs to digest the plot with entertainment. This music and dance have developed through the years from light music and slow dance to loud music and freestyle dance. This research paper aim is to explore the significance of songs and dance in selected film of Hindi cinema representing linguistic and culture affinity with oral and folk tradition of Rajasthan. There have been more than fifty popular films set against the background of Rajasthani tradition, but chronologically, I’ve selected some ten films starting from Duvidha (1973) to contemporary children’s film Dhanak (2016) and recent controversial film Padmavati (to be released). Rajasthani culture is enriched with folk music and dance which are integral part of every event/ festival of life from birth to death. Folk musical instrument divided into distinguish folk communities and later they embraced the singing and dancing as a profession. So,it would analyze the dynamics involve between live performance of folk communities like Bhopas, Kalbelia, puppeteers, and acrobats and adapted performance by highly paid actors on screen in Hindi films. Also, studies how musical melodies of the folk culture reflects Rajasthan’s cultural heritage; how dance is being represented a step ahead through the medium of films; how language of folklores are transformed into local Hindi dialect of Bollywood; and how folk music is received by the audience of films and audience of local artist. Keywords: Folksongs, dance, Hindi cinema, reception, tradition, culture and language.
How do dancing bodies influence the music composed for them? Does the gestural repertoire of the on-screen performer impact the musical performance of the playback singer? How might a focus on dance provide new models for theorizing the Hindi film song-and-dance sequence? Through a focus on the dancing body, this article calls for a reconsideration of the process of ‘song picturization,’ a term commonly used in the Bombay film industry to reference the practice of recording the song first and then “adding” visuals to it. Using the example of the dancer-actress, Vyjayanthimala, it argues that in the case of certain dancer-actors, a reverse process of ‘dance musicalization’ may be at work, where the performer’s dance vocabulary and bodily comportment precede and influence the song. A choreomusicological analysis accords equal importance to the ‘sounding body’ of the dancer-actor as to the bodies that produce the film’s music, leading to the conceptualization of film music as produced through a multi-bodied ‘choreomusicking body.’
Swaying to an Indian Beat... Dola Goes My Diasporic Heart: Exploring Hindi Film Dance
Dance Research Journal, 2004
Use your eyes! Move your body! Be seductive!" commanded the instructor as a popular Hindi song blared out of the speakers in a crowded Bollywood dance class at Honey Kalaria's dance school in London in November 2002. Many students, all of them of South Asian origin, mouthed the lyrics as they attempted to execute the demonstrated movements. Some even nudged each other when they noticed that the choreography had been altered from what they remembered of the film. Today, Bollywood dance has become a term used by film professionals, amateur performers, and audiences to refer to dances choreographed to Hindi film songs. The question of what Bollywood dance is, however, remains debated in both movement and text. In classes, Bollywood dance movement varies in quality and style from song to song, instructor to instructor, and choreographer to choreographer. 1 Costume choices, facial expressions, gestures (as interpretations of sung lyrics), "jhatkas and matkas" (percussive "emphasizing]. .. pelvic movement") (Kabir 2001,189), wrist whirls, and turns, all set to film music could be identified as essential ingredients of "Bollywood dance." Yet, this definition only begins to skim the surface of what constitutes Indian film dance, as Hindi films make up approximately one-third out of the more than eight hundred films produced in India every year (Nandy 1995). Popular films produced by language-specific regional cinemas include song and dances that often retain a degree of regional specificity. While it is important to recognize the similarities shared by these dance traditions, it is also necessary to acknowledge the definitional slippage underlying the collo-A Czech/Nepalese dancer and media scholar, She has trained in Bharat Natyam, Charya Sangita graduated from MIT's Comparative Nritya, and Kalaripayat and performed with Media Studies program where she focused on the Lasandhi Dance Theater, which partici-Hindi cinema. She previously received her pated at Jacob's Pillow in 2003. She is an orB .A. from Princeton University and a MSc. in ganizer of the annual Prague Bollywood Festi-Development Studies from the London School val and is about to pursue a Ph.D. at UCLA's of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Department of World Arts and Cultures.
2006
Film dances, or filmed dance sequences accompanying film songs, are an important part of popular Indian cinema. Over the years, Hindi film dance has evolved from a cinematically simplistic, filmed documentation of performance traditions, to a recognized and increasingly respected dance category emulated in staged performances in India and abroad. Despite their significance, dances in Indian popular films have not been systematically analyzed, and their movement, history, cultural influence and migration remain largely unexplored. The ubiquitous presence and under-theorization of film dances raises many questions about why these dances emerged as key ingredients of film, how their production, dance and cinematic content has evolved over time and, finally, how these dances are received and reinterpreted by audiences outside India. The objective of my investigation here is to set the foundation for an analytical framework for understanding dances in popular Hindi films. Using the relat...
Bollywood’s variation on thefiranginesstheme: Song-and-dance sequences as heterotopic offbeats
South Asian Popular Culture
Song-and-dance sequences have widely been studied as disruptive elements in the narrative of popular Hindi cinema and as quintessential traits of this industry. While the utopic dimension of such musical intervals has largely been theorised, the aim of this article is to expand on this framework to articulate the heterotopic dimension of these interludes. Foucault's concept of heterotopia allows further study of how song-and-dance sequences are elements responsible for communicating both social and cultural aspects. On a similar note, it must be mentioned that the use and representation of foreigners in Indian cinema dates back to its origins, when foreign actresses were often employed in films, replacing local performers. Through historical exploration, this paper will specifically investigate how song-and-dance sequences are important 'malleable elements' of the narrative, which are able to articulate identity and to discourse on the representation and articulation of firanginess in popular Hindi cinema.
Contemporary Bollywood Dance: Analyzing It through the Interplay of Social Forces
Bollywood, or the Hindi Film industry, embraces a truly enigmatic world of its own. The craze and euphoria surrounding it, not only in India but also in foreign lands, is something worth witnessing. One of the major attractions of Bollywood, which in fact distinguishes it from Hollywood, is its elaborate song-dance sequences which never fail to strike a chord with the audience. Its creation of sublime, emotional or foot-tapping escapism is simply unmatched anywhere in the world. A fact often overlooked is that, these songs and dances are intricately woven in our social fabric. It is interesting to take note of this and undertake an analysis of the same. In this article, I shall discuss about Bollywood, how the dances and songs are placed within movies, analyse the dance types, its forms in the context of social forces operating within it-'globalization' and 'glocalization' and provide a sociological understanding of it and its changing form. Since it is not possible to discuss the entire array of dance in Bollywood, I have analysed the dances post the globalization era and after the onslaught of MTV in 1980s. I have focused mainly on those dance sequences which have won the Filmfare Awards 1 , between year 1994 to 2013.