FLAME SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Transition in Hindi Film Industry

Report presented to: Prof. C. Gopalakrishnan
On March 9,2009
In Partial Fulfillment of the required for WAC Course in the MBA Programme
By Abhishek Sheth Chandramohan Patel Nakul Bhalakia Yatharth Tiwari
PREFACE
The principal objective of this report is to provide the readers a thorough unde
rstanding of the transition in Hindi Film Industry. After going through many art
icles, websites, books and publications, we have been able to enhance knowledge
and clear our doubts regarding the transition.
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DECLARATION
We declare that the material submitted for assessment is our own work except whe
re credit is explicitly given to others by citation or acknowledgement. This wor
k was performed during the current academic year except where otherwise stated.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Through this acknowledgement, we express our sincere gratitude to all those who
have been associated with this study. Firstly, we express our gratitude to all s
uch authors and publishers whose publications and articles immensely helped us w
hile preparing the report. We would also like to extend our gratefulness to Ms.
Ritu Bhatia (Creative Head), Rose Movies who gave her precious time to share her
views and experience regarding the Hindi Film Industry which has enriched our s
tudy. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to Prof. C. Gopalakrishnan wh
o gave us this opportunity to have a detailed study on Hindi Film Industry and t
hus have a practical knowledge about Written Analysis and Communication.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Hindi Film Industry is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest
in the world. It has evolved to a great extent after the release of first India
n feature film named “Raja Harishchandra” in 1913. After that, transition took p
lace continuously at each and every stage and then changes started taking place
with release of first sound film, introduction of colour technology, lights, sho
oting outdoor in India and then shooting in foreign countries. Different styles
of dancing were introduced. The definition of character actors have changed comp
letely, it is not restricted to only certain actors even main stream actors are
offered such roles. Funding in Hindi Film Industry has increased significantly a
s a result of change from single producer to multiple production houses and acco
rding to sources even underworld plays vital role in producing films. Attitude o
f the film makers and audience has also changed over the years.
These transitions took place so quickly one after the other that it created a me
ntal block in minds of people. They started believing that the movies now a day’
s focus lot on activities like smoking, drinking, doping, exposing by various ac
tresses, crime and violence which will have adverse effect on children of today’
s generation and so they oppose the movies and protest against its release. Peop
le are not able to make out that all these activities they mentioned as polluted
activities were part of Bollywood since 50’s and 60’s. The only change is that
the more number of movies are being made these days and so it feels as if sudden
transition took place in Bollywood and that the industry has started adopting t
he western culture which should not be allowed in Bollywood.
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Contents
PREFACE ........................................................................
....................................................................... 2 DECLAR
ATION ..........................................................................
.......................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...
................................................................................
.................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................
................................................................................
.............. 5
Methodology.....................................................................
...................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION....................................................................
............................................................... 9 TRANSITIONS ..
................................................................................
.................................................. 14 Transition in Genre ......
................................................................................
...................................... 14 Transition with respect to the Playbac
k singing ......................................................................
............ 15 Transition with respect to music and lyrics in the Hindi Film In
dustry................................................ 15 Change in attitude of
film makers and public .........................................................
............................ 16 Change in portrayal of women ...................
................................................................................
........ 17 Career in Hindi Film Industry- No longer a man’s world .............
....................................................... 18 Transition with respe
ct to location .................................................................
.................................... 18 Transition in investment ...............
................................................................................
..................... 19 Bollywood to Hollywood ................................
................................................................................
... 19 Transition of stars from silver screen to small screen and vice versa ...
................................................ 20 Transition with respect to p
romotion of films ..............................................................
....................... 21 Transition of apparel and hair in the movies ........
...............................................................................
22 Transition in the roles of Character actors .................................
......................................................... 23 Transition with res
pect to technology..............................................................
................................... 24 • • • • Sound ...........................
................................................................................
......................... 24 Color..............................................
................................................................................
........ 24 3D and Animated films ..............................................
............................................................ 24 Alternate source
s of watching movies............................................................
......................... 25
Some Misconceptions regarding the transition in Hindi Film Industry ............
.................................... 25 Films becoming an advertisement medium f
or products....................................................................
26 Insuring the films ..........................................................
..................................................................... 26
KEY LEARNING’S .................................................................
............................................................. 27 CONCLUSION ....
................................................................................
................................................. 28
Bibliography ...................................................................
....................................................................... 29
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METHODOLOGY
As part of our study we had primary as well as secondary research. Our primary r
esearch included interviews taken on one on one basis through questionnaires. Th
e interviewees targeted by us consisted of people of different age, sex, backgro
und etc. We had also taken interview of Miss Ritu Bhatia and we acknowledge her
contribution for giving her insights regarding Hindi Film Industry. The secondar
y data was obtained from the following sources: Paper-based sources like books,
journals, newspapers, magazines, periodicals and abstracts, research reports, Bo
x office reports and internal records of production houses. Electronic sources l
ike Internet, videos and broadcasts.
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INTRODUCTION
Hindi Film Industry is the major part of the magnanimous Indian film industry. I
t is used to refer the Hindi film industry in India. The term is often misunders
tood as the whole of Indian cinema but it is only a part of the Indian film indu
stry. Hindi Film Industry is the largest film producer in India and one of the l
argest in the world. Hindi Film Industry is one the most recognized film industr
y in the world with reach in diverse regions like U.S., Britain, Nepal, Japan, C
hina, Russia, Canada and many other parts of the world. ‘Raja Harishchandra(1913
)’ was the first silent film made in India. In 1920’s only around 25 –
30 films were made by Indian filmmakers, while this number jumped to around 200
films in 1930’s. Today in 21st century around 100 films are being made yearly by
the Indian filmmakers. This shows that Hindi Film Industry has come a long way
since 1930’s. In 1931 came a huge transition when first movie with sound was rel
eased named ‘Alam Ara’. Then in 1950’s filmmakers adopted the technology by swit
ching from black and white to colour. This made films more beautiful and colorfu
l in respect of clothing and location. The main objective of this report is to h
ave an in-depth study of the Hindi Film Industry and its evolution over the year
s. This report also aims at clearing the misconceptions of the youth of India wh
o believe that sexual exposure, smoking scenes, abusive languages etc. are part
of Hindi movies in present times only.
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Hindi Film Industry over the decades
Hindi Film Industry has seen enormous evolution over the years. Many great artis
ts have contributed to the success of the Hindi Film Industry decades by decades
. Every decade saw great and unforgettable films. The major evolution in the Hin
di Film Industry started in 1940’s and 1950’s when sound and colours became esse
ntial parts of films in India.
1940’s
Hindi Film Industry saw many great artists like Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kuma
r during this period of pre-independent and independent India. The battles again
st the Britishers during this era made lots of filmmakers to make patriotic film
s. The expression against the British Empire was very much visible in Dilip Kuma
r’s ‘Shaheed(1944)’, ‘Andaaz’, ‘Jwar Bhata’, ‘Sunhere Din’ and Jugnu are some of
the other significant films released during this period.
1950’s
This era was dominated by great and unforgettable artists like Raj Kapoor, Guru
Dutt, Dev
Anand, Nargis, Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar. In the later part of 1950’s Sunil D
utt and Kishore Kumar dominated the Hindi Film Industry. Rural India was portray
ed in this era. The
farmers’ struggle and their uprising against the landlords for social equality w
as a dominant factor of this era. During this times humour also started making i
ts way in the Hindi Film Industry as Kishore Kumar’s ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gadi’ did w
onders as the Indian population wanted to laugh after painful 200 years of freed
om struggle. In 1957, ‘Mother India’ became the foremost Indian film to reach th
e Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category ‘Hulchul’, ‘Aan’, ’Jagte Raho’, ’Naya
Daur’, ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ and ‘Baijuare some masterpiece of this era.
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1960’s
During this decade, Rural India was left in the wake of India being looked upon
as a rising nation. Improvement of law and order in the country was the need of
the hour thus films like ‘Kala Bazaar’ and ‘Kanoon’ dealt with this subject. Lat
er in this decade, flashing vintage cars and multi-coloured attires became integ
ral parts of Hindi films as India was slowly but steadily entering the world of
fashion. ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam’, ‘Guide’, ‘Jewel Thief’, ‘Ram
Aur Shyam’, ‘Aradhna’ and ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’ are some of the most momentous films
of this period.
1970’s
This decade was largely dominated by artists like Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachcha
n, Hema
Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra and Manoj Kumar. Films like ‘Reshma aur Shera’,
‘Seeta
Aur Geeta’, ‘Abhiman’, ‘Bawarchi’, ‘Aandhi’, ‘Golmaal’, ‘Anand’, ‘Mera Naam Joke
r, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Raam’ and Purab Aur Paschim’ are some of the most signific
ant films of this era. It was in this era that Amitabh Bachchan got the title of
‘Angry Young Man of Indian Cinema’ with some of his great films like ‘Zanjeer’,
‘Sholay’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Don’ and ‘Kaala Pathar’. This era also saw the
western influence on the Indian society with films like ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna
’ and ‘Purab Aur Paschim’.
1980’s
During this decade the concept of ‘Angry Young Man’ continued as lots of films w
ere made showing one man fighting against the injustices of the society. This er
a also saw some other great artists like Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt,
Aamir Khan, Kamala Hassan, Sridevi,
Madhuri Dixit, Vinod Khanna, Meenakshi Shishadri and in the later parts of this
decade Salman Khan made an entry with a huge hit ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. This decade
had mixes of comedy,
musical and family oriented films. ‘Namak Halal’, ‘Chasme Baddoor’, ‘Angoor’, ‘N
amkeen’,
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‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, ‘Naukar Biwi Ka’, ‘Chaalbaaz’, ‘The Burning Train’, ‘Disco
Dancer’, ‘Mr India’ and ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ are some memorable films of this t
ime.
1990’s
Romance and family oriented films were the flavour of this decade with bits and
pieces of comedy films, war films and films based on life in underworld contribu
ting to the success of many artists of this decade. Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan,
Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Priety Zinta,
Akshay Kumar dominated the Hindi Film Industry in this decade. Shahrukh Khan bec
ame the
next super star with his some of the unforgettable romantic films like ‘Dilawalw
e Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Mohabattein’
and ‘Pardes’ in this decade. ‘Darr’, ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’, ‘Dil’, ‘Beta’, ’Deew
ana’, ’Khuda Gawah’, ’Karan Arjun’, ‘Rangeela’, ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, ‘Hum Dil
De Chuke Sanam’ ‘Taal’, ‘Border’, ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Satya’ are some of the prominen
t films of this period.
2000’s
Dominance of Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwariya Rai, Ranbir Kapoor an
d Sonam
Kapoor continues as this decade is coming to an end. This decade saw lots of fil
ms being made
on issues of terrorism. Films like Monsoon Wedding and Bollywood Hollywood appea
led the NRI audience who are increasing in numbers day by day. Thus a new concep
t of ‘Hinglish’ cinema became popular among the young generation. Films like ‘La
gaan’, ‘Munaabhai MBBS’, ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’, ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’, ‘Lagaan’,
‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’, ‘ Koi Mil Gaya’, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’,
‘ Devdas’, ‘Saathiya’, ‘Veer Zaara’, ‘Main Hoon Na’, ‘Krrish’, ‘Om Shanti Om’,
‘Taare Zameen Par’ ‘Chak De India’, ‘Ghajini’ are some of the memorable movies o
f this decade. This is the decade when attitude of the filmmakers and audience o
pened and films were made on issues which no one would have considered ten years
ago. This decade would be remembered for A.R. Rehman who received an Oscar in t
he early 2009.
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SUPERSTARS OF THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY
ACTRESSES
NUTAN BEHL NARGIS MADHUBALA HEMA MALINI REKHA MADHURI DIXIT JUHI CHAWLA KAJOL DE
VGAN RANI MUKHERJEE AISHWARYA RAI
ACTORS
RAJ KAPOOR DEV ANAND DILIP KUMAR RAJESH KHANNA MANOJ KUMAR VINOD KHANNA AMITABH
BACHCHAN SHAH RUKH KHAN AAMIR KHAN HRITIK ROSHAN
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TRANSITIONS
Transition in Genre
The Hindi Film Industry has seen various genres till date. It started with the m
ovies based on Indian mythology and social themes. During these era movies like
‘Raja Harishchandra’, ‘Nal Damyanti’, ‘Hari Bhakti’, ‘Garib ki Duniya’ etc. beca
me very popular. Also a number of films like ‘Duniya Na Mane’, ‘Achyut Kanya’, ‘
Aurat’ etc. created a strong impact in opposition to the social injustices. Duri
ng 1950-1970, Hindi Film Industry saw the movies based on tragedy, patriotism an
d romance. These genres were majorly dominated by superstars like Dilip Kumar (T
ragedy King), Manoj Kumar (Bharat Kumar) and Rajesh Khanna (Kaka) respectively.
Although good romantic and offbeat movies continued 1970’s saw the era of action
movies during which Amitabh Bachchan ‘The Angry Young Man of Indian Cinema’ bec
ame a one man industry. During this genre special scripts were written keeping A
mitabh Bachchan in mind. In the early 1980’s action movies continued to dominate
but its genre soon diminished with the introduction of musical films and family
oriented films like ‘Karz’ and ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. The genre of family oriented
movies continued in 1990’s under the banner of Rajshri Productions which gave a
huge hit of that time- ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’. 1990’s also saw the genre of romant
ic and comedy movies during which Shahrukh Khan and Govinda stole all the attent
ion. Start of 21st century was flooded by horror movies. After 2003 movies based
on real life issues and current affairs were made by number of film makers. Sin
ce then it has been noticed that whatever the genre may be, the viewers have bec
ome so intelligent that they give greater importance to the script rather than t
he genre which has been prevailing.
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Transition with respect to the Playback singing
In the past songs were sung by film actors and actresses themselves. Later playb
ack singing was introduced and the industry saw the mesmerizing voices of Lata M
angeshkar, R D Burman,
Kishore Kumar, Saigal, Mohd. Rafi. Later on the singers were also allowed to rel
ease their own
albums which gave them a chance to sing for their own and not for only movies.
Transition with respect to music and lyrics in the Hindi Film Industry
In the past the music in Hindi Film Industry was mainly classical and folk with
very little inspiration from the west. It has been noticed that over the years t
he inspiration from western music has been constantly increasing. Since last few
years music directors have started taking inspiration from not only the western
music but also from the Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and many oth
er languages.
Remix of the old melodies also contributes to the transition in the Hindi Film I
ndustry with respect to the music. Although the remixes of the old melodious son
gs have been highly opposed by many people they still continue to charm large nu
mber of youngsters. Recently it has been noticed that the music director of the
film himself makes the remix versions of the original songs of his film.
Lyrics of songs in the old Hindi films were melodious and mesmerising. Those day
s the lyrics had very intense meaning and were in sync with the ongoing situatio
n in the movie. The most glaring example of such lyrics is the very famous song
from the movie ‘Mugal-e-Azam’ (Jab pyar kiya toh darna kya) which means that whe
n you are in love; you don’t have to be afraid of anything. There was a drastic
change in the lyrics of recent times. Many critics believe that now most of the
times the lyrics are completely irrelevant to the situation and meaningless. Som
e of the lyrics like Ticket to Hollywood-‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’, Dard e Disco- ‘O
m Shanti Om’ and many others are clear examples of the meaningless lyrics of rec
ent times.
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Change in attitude of film makers and public
Hindi Film Industry is changing with the change in the attitude of the film make
rs and the audience. Thus the film makers now have started making films with sho
rter duration rather than three hour long films. Nagesh Kukunoor, a renowned fil
mmaker who is known for his offbeat films feels that dance sequence and songs wi
ll remain audience’s favorite but their preference was changing. According to pe
ople, time nowadays is very precious and so they have started giving preference
to the films with shorter duration like ‘Bheja Fry’ and ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’ which
were only two hours long and were huge success at the Box-Office. Also with the
success of Hindi Film Industry in the overseas market, many new film makers hav
e started making films on themes which no one would have thought ten years ago.
Films based on homosexuality like ‘Girlfriend’, ‘Dostana’, ‘Straight’ and also f
ilms based on relationship of older man and a teenage girl like ‘Nishabd’ were m
ade by film makers and some of them were successful at the Box-Office which clea
rly shows that there was a great change in not only the attitude of the film mak
ers but also the audience.
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Change in portrayal of women
As the role of women in the Indian society has been changing over the years, sim
ilarly the portrayal of women in the Hindi Film Industry is changing. As put by
Lara Dutta, former beauty queen turned female actor “A perceptible change has ha
ppened in the approach about picking up the female actors. Roles are being built
around them,” The role of Aishwariya Rai in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar i
s the perfect case of how the portrayal of women in Hindi films have changed in
today’s times. Aishwarya Rai played the character of ‘Jodha Bai’ who without lea
ving the values of her religion showed strength in becoming a Muslim queen. Also
Chak De! India girls showed how girls in India are no less than boys in playing
sports. No filmmaker would have thought to make a film on such theme even ten y
ears ago. Recent films like ‘Laaga Chunri Mein Daag’ and ‘Aaja Nachle’ showcased
the female lead as a protagonist and were different from the monotonous Hero do
minated films, which were made on large scale in the past.
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Career in Hindi Film Industry- No longer a man’s world
Women in the past were restricted only to acting as a career when they wanted to
join Hindi Film Industry. This has changed totally as women have started making
mark in many aspects of Hindi Film Industry. Women have become directors, Farah
Khan ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’, Zoya Akhtar ‘Luck By Chance’ are few wo
men directors who made their names as directors. Women have also started produci
ng movies like Juhi Chawla produced ‘Main Hoon Na’ under the banner of Red Chili
es Entertainment, Hiru Johar has produced many movies under the banner of Dharma
Productions and there are many other women producers who are minting huge amoun
t of money. Not only have women made their names in such popular aspects of the
films but have also taken active participation in assisting for the films and ed
iting the films.
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Transition with respect to location
During 1930’s to 1940’s the major portion of any film was shot in small studio s
et. Location plays an important role in Film Making. Thus later on outdoor shoot
ing started taking place but they were restricted to certain location because of
lack of financial aid. The preferred locations were Kashmir, Mahabaleshwar, Lon
avala, Ooty, Mussoorie etc. The first Film to be shot out of India was ‘Naaz’ at
locations like Cairo and London. Slowly and gradually with the entry big
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producers and production houses with flaunting budget outdoor shooting (foreign)
became more frequent. Sangam produced by Raj Kapoor was shot in three different
locations Venice, Paris and Switzerland. This was followed by Monaj Kumar’s (Bh
arat Kumar) ‘Purab Aur Paschim’, Shakti Samanta’s ‘An Evening In Paris’. Due to
the success of these films lots of producers and directors started getting attra
cted to foreign locations. As a result of transition big producers and directors
like Yash Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Gupta and many more have started shooting
more than 90% of the film in the foreign location depending on the script.
Transition in investment
Over the years it has been noticed that the film makers made movies because of t
heir passion for cinema and patriotism for the country. Now revenue generation s
eems to be the prime motive of the film makers for making films. Earlier there u
sed to be only one producer for one film but now concept of production houses ha
s taken the role of single producer. Recently it has been seen that foreign prod
uctions houses like Columbia pictures, Warner brothers and many more have starte
d investing in Hindi Film Industry. With the use of latest technology and stars
being paid more the overall investment in the Hindi films has increased by leaps
and bounds over the years. Contrary to the past, it is also believed that inves
tments in Hindi films are also made by parallel economy (Mafia money) and Banks.
Bollywood to Hollywood
According to the recent trend various Hindi Film Industry Actors are offered Hol
lywood projects and same is the case with the Hollywood actors. The first actor
to receive this offer from Hindi film industry was Aishwarya Rai for ‘Pink Panth
er’ then it was followed by Mallika Sherawat (The Myth), Irfan Khan (A mighty He
art) and Shilpa Shetty. From the other end many Hollywood actors are also offere
d roles in Hindi films. To name a few Tania Zaetta (Salaam Namaste), Sylvester S
tallon (Kambakht Ishq), Denise Richards (Kambakht Ishq), Kylie Minoge(Blues).
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Transition of stars from silver screen to small screen and vice versa
HINDI FILM INDUSTRY to INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY
SHAHRUKH KHAN -- Kya Aap Pachvi Pass Se Tez Hai AMITABH BACHCHAN -- Kaun Banega
Crorepati SALMAN KHAN -- Dus Ka Dum SHILPA SHETTY -- Big Boss
RAJEEV KHANDELWAL -- Aamir AMNA SHERIF -- Aloo Chat AMAR UPADHYAY -- Wah Wah Ram
ji ROHIT ROY -- Shootout at Lokhandwala INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY to HINDI FILM
INDUSTRY
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Transition with respect to promotion of films
In the initial days of Hindi cinema films were largely promoted using hand paint
ed billboards and posters. In fact the well known painter M F Hussain started hi
s career by painting film posters only. In today’s times these hand painted post
ers have been replaced by huge posters that are created by computer- printed vin
yl. Filmmakers have started using internet on a large scale for promoting their
films. Some of the huge budget films even have their own websites where viewers
can see trailers of the films and even download the songs. The actor or actress
of the film and many a times both have started making an appearances in a movie
hall during the interview or in a cricket match or in some restaurant or café to
promote their films. Also filmmakers have started promoting their films in many
innovative ways. Recently Amir Khan well known actor-producer promoted his film
‘Ghajini’ in the most innovative way ever done by any film makers, he had colla
borated with large number of multiplexes and restaurants across India to give th
e ticket sellers and the waiters the popular Amir haircut which he had in the fi
lm. Rakesh Roshan promoted ‘Krrish’ by distribution of merchandise of the film.
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Transition of apparel and hair in the movies
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Hindi films have seen great change with respect to the apparels worn by the arti
sts in the movies. In olden days the artists of the films usually worn their own
clothes or the directors and the artists used to decide among themselves and fi
nalize the clothes. Times have changed; huge investments are being made in the a
pparels of the artists. Designers like Manish Malhotra, Rocky S, Rohit Bal and l
ot of others are the ones who decide on the apparels of the artists in the films
now. Also great change has been seen in the style and the fashion of the clothe
s being worn by the actors and the actresses. Not only in terms of apparels but
also in terms of the hairstyle of the actors and the actresses of the films, Hin
di Film Industry has seen an enormous evolution over the years. In the 1940’s an
d 1950’s the actresses’ sported long and thick hairs giving them the true ‘Bhart
iya Nari’ look. Surprisingly, a female artist sporting a short crop hair would t
ypically be either a vamp or a club dancer. Then came the fashion of ‘buffont’ h
airstyles in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In the late 1960’s ‘Sandhna Cut’ became very
famous because of the Sadhna, the famous actress of that time. In the 1980’s th
e actresses sported short cropped hair or long tresses. In 1990’s and after that
actresses had their own hair dressers who were trained in the art of hair dress
ing and lots of new hair styles were created specially Priety Zinta’s hairstyle
in ‘Armaan’ became very famous. The hairstyles of not only the actresses but als
o the actors have changed over the years. Actors like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and
others of their time sported the sober hairstyle of a gentle man.
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Then Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna influenced the youngsters of 1970’s and
1980’s with their big side locks and long hairs. Also during this time Shashi Ka
poor’s hairstyle was very famous. Since a decade Aamir Khan with his experiments
in hairstyles in his every new film is influencing the youngsters of present ge
neration to sport a hairstyle like him.
Transition in the roles of Character actors
Film Industry has seen a change with the mainstream actors taking the roles of c
haracter actors. Character actors like Pran, Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri and some o
thers have always been used as synonyms for villainous roles in the Hindi films
till late 1990’s. Superstar Shahrukh Khan started this trend with a villainous r
ole in ‘Baazigar’. Also Kajol, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar were among many ot
hers who played negative characters in their movies ‘Gupt’,
‘Aankhein’ and ‘Aflaatoon’ respectively. Same was the case for comedy actors wer
e only Jonny Walker, Keshto Mukherjee, Mahmood, Jonny Lever and some others were
looked upon as comedians. This had changed as Govida, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar
, Saif Ali Khan and a bunch of mainstream actors started playing comedy roles. S
tars like Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini and Kiron Kher have changed the definition
of role of mothers as in today’s movies mothers are no longer weak and melodrama
tic but are portrayed as strong, independent and free from family bondages. Ther
e was a time when doing an item number was looked down upon by the actresses and
it was only Helen who could pull off an item song in the past. Now the times ha
ve changed big names in the industry like Shahrukh Khan (Krazzy 4), Aishwarya Ra
i (Bunty Aur Babli), Abhishek Bachchan(Mission Istanbul) and Hrithik Roshan(Kraz
zy 4) are some of the prominent names who have started doing item songs in the f
ilms.
23
Transition with respect to technology
•
Sound-- Sound has been an essential part of the Hindi film industry starting fro
m the
movie Alam Ara (1931) which was the first talking movie. Major transition has be
en witnessed over the years with respect to sound. Until 1960’s the films used s
ync sound technology i.e. the dialogues were recorded on the location itself. Po
st 1960 new technology was introduced of dubbing the sound i.e. the actors recit
e their lines as their images appear on-screen in the studio in the process know
n as "looping in the sound”. This system was accepted by the industry but it had
some loop holes like sometimes the sound in such films usually occurred a frame
or two earlier or later than the mouth movements or gestures. The actors had to
act twice, on-location as well in the studio. It becomes very difficult to deli
ver emotional scenes again in studio. The system of sync sound came back to Hind
i Film Industry through film ‘Lagaan (2001)’. Now a day’s sync sound system is b
eing used in many films.
•
Color -- Colors were introduced in the beautiful world of cinema in late 30’s wi
th the
release of the movie ‘Kisan Kanya’ by adopting the technology of switching from
black and white to color. This transition made the film more beautiful and color
ful in respect of clothing and location. As a result the number of viewers watch
ing the films in 1950’s and 1960’s rose drastically. Earlier Eastman color was u
sed to make color films which were replaced by Techni color and now digitally en
hanced color techniques are used.
•
3D and Animated films -- Hindi film industry tried their luck at making 3D movie
s with
the movie ‘Chhota Chetan’ which was released in 1984 and was huge hit at box off
ice and earned around 60 crores. Later in 1998 it was re-released with and the v
ersion also included Urmila Matondkar and this time also it was huge hit earning
50 crores. With the success of this film another film ‘Chhota Jadugar (2003)’ w
as released and was also hit at box office.
24
Recently Hindi Film Industry has taken a major step by entering into the world o
f animation. The first animated movie ‘Hanuman’ was released in 2005 by Sahara I
ndia Parivar it was a very successful movie and a huge hit. With the success of
mythological film ‘Hanuman’ another animated film based on mythology named ‘Rama
yan’ was released which was also a huge success. These films mainly targeted kid
s and teenagers but this perception changed with films like ‘Hanuman Returns (20
07)’ and ‘Ghatothkach: Master of Magic (2008)’ which was enjoyed by elders too.
•
Alternate sources of watching movies-- Transition with respect to watching movie
s also
changed with the latest technology coming into place. Alternate source of watchi
ng movies started with Video Cassette Recorders (VCR) which was believed to be a
status symbol in the Indian society. It was then replaced by Video Compact Disc
(VCD) which was replaced by Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and the latest Blu-ray
disc which replaced DVD’s. This gave audience a complete new experience to watc
h movies at home. Quite a few households preferred to watch movies at home rathe
r than going to theaters as it saved money and movies can be watched at their ow
n convenience.
Some Misconceptions regarding the transition in Hindi Film Industry
Lots of youth in today’s generation believe that the western culture has influen
ced the Hindi films in recent times. There was a great hype when Mallika Sherawa
t had seventeen kissing scenes in ‘Khwaish’. Infact the longest kissing scene wa
s shot way back in 1933 in the film ‘Karma’ between Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai
. Also people and censor board create lots of hype over exposure shown in the fi
lms nowadays. In 1978 Zeenath Aman had exposed a lot in the film ‘Satyam Shivam
Sundaram’ and Dimple Kapadia had exposed in the film ‘Saagar’ in 1985. Recently
since last five years the Censor Board of India has made a compulsion for deleti
ng smoking scenes from the films. In reality such scenes were always there in th
e Hindi films since the past and no hype was created in the olden times.
25
Films becoming an advertisement medium for products
In the last one decade many companies started advertising their products through
films. Brands like Coke and Pass Pass mouth freshener were largely promoted in
the film ‘Yaadein’. ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ a huge hit among children promoted Bournvita
and Atlas Cycles. Even banks were promoted in the films like ICICI bank was prom
oted in ‘Baghban’. Cars like Ford Mondeo and Hyundai Santro were also promoted o
n a large scale in the films ‘Baghban’ and ‘Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani’. Lots o
f movies also promoted TV News channels like Aaj Tak, Headlines today, NDTV and
Zee News. Such advertising through films was not prevalent in the past.
Insuring the films
The concept of insuring the film started with ‘Taal’ directed by Subhash Ghai an
d ‘United India Insurance’ was the first company that insured the film. This was
followed by many other films being insured in the Hindi Film Industry as lots o
f foreign insurance companies also started showing interest in insuring Indian f
ilms. This was not prevalent in the past.
26
KEY LEARNING’S
•
As very few films were produced in a year the audience were eager to see films o
f different genres but as time passed the number of films that were being produc
ed in a year increased and it became monotonous for people as the most of the fi
lms revolved around similar storyline. As result today’s audience give utmost im
portance to script or storyline rather than cast or director.
•
The olden tradition of the songs being sung by actors and actresses themselves i
s returning in Hindi Film Industry. Lot of actors like Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachc
han, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and many more have sung songs in their mo
vies.
•
One of the important learning is that every artist if capable, than he/she can a
ct as any character in the film. Thus artists are not being restricted to partic
ular category of roles as it was in olden times.
•
The audience now a today’s have become quite open minded and so they appreciate
films which are based on social issues and also issues which were considered to
be taboo in the society. In 21st century women are not portrayed as they used to
be in 19th and 20th century. Lots of films are being made based on women. Male
domination is deteriorating from Hindi Film Industry. Women are portrayed to be
strong and capable of facing all sorts of difficulties.
•
•
Western music is becoming past. The musicians have started adopting Arabic, Urdu
, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian music.
•
Acting is not restricted to only a particular star family. Now even the small sc
reen actors get chance to work in Hindi Film Industry and not as a role of chara
cter actors or in friendly appearance but as main lead and same is the case with
Hindi Film Industry actors.
•
From the report we have learnt that finance is not required for just making the
film but handsome amount of money is required for pre release promotions. As a r
esult lot of actors travel to various cities or even countries just to promote t
heir films.
•
As a result of Globalization Indian actors have started getting acclamation in H
ollywood and thus many Hindi Film Industry actors are offered roles in Hollywood
films.
27
CONCLUSION
The transition in Hindi Film Industry had started long back. Transition was noti
ced in all of the above aspects but there are some misconceptions in the minds o
f people regarding certain issues like smoking, drinking, doping, exposing by va
rious actresses, crime and violence which they feel to have adverse impact on th
e younger generation. Reality is something which most of the people are not awar
e of. It is very important for people to clear their misconceptions that sexual
content, kissing scenes, abusive languages, exposure by actresses etc. are not t
he result of the transition but they were part of olden movies also, although at
a low scale.
.
28
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.culturopedia.com/Cinema/earlyera.html 15:30 (14th March 2009)
http://www.amazines.com/Art_and_Culture/article_darticleid=36760 2009)
15:35 (14th March
http://www.realbollywood.com/news/20/bollywood-indian-women.html 16:15 (14th Mar
ch 2009) www.indianetzone.com 16:30 (14th March 2009) http://sify.com/movies/bol
lywood/fullstory.ph.page=1 14:30 (15th March 2009) http://bollywood.celebden.com
/?p=5397 14:49 (15th March 2009) http://www.andhranews.net/Entertainment/2008/Ju
ne/12-Indian-film-distributors49138.asp 15:15 (15th March 2009) http://www.ideam
arketers.com/?Flops_In_Bollywood_Hit_Distributors_Big_Time_&articl eid=421223 15
:30 (15th March 2009)
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit09192005/index.asp 10:05 (16th March 2009)
http://www.bolly-wood.in/bollywood-history.php 10:40 (16th March 2009) http://ww
w.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=9750 11:00 (16th March 2009
)
http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=9750 11:00 (16th M
arch 2009)
29
http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/interesting-facts/cinema/first-indian-3D-movie.h
tml 11:17 (16th march 2009) http://india60year.blogspot.com/2007/08/hindi-cinema
-from-eternity-to.html 11:30 (16th march 2009)
‘Film Industry Survey’ by Vanita Kohli Khandekar
08:08 (22nd March, 2009)
‘A New Cultural Lexicon’ by Sunil Khilnani
09:07 (22nd March, 2009)
‘Internationalisation of the Indian Film Industry’ by Janina Gomes 09:35 (22nd M
arch, 2009)
‘Films – An Advertising Medium to Captivate Consumers’ by Seema Agarwal and Joel
Sarosh Thandamalla 00:16 (22nd March, 2009)
‘Films Insurance and Financing in India’ by A Mukund
18:07 (23rd March, 2009)
TV Show – Page 3 (Zoom TV)
Screen, Filmfare and Star Dust magazines
30
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE: Transition in Hindi film Industry
Name: School: Age:
1. Are you interested in watching Hindi movies? o Yes o No 2. On an average how
many movies do you see in a week? o 1-2 o 3-4 o More than 4 3. What is your favo
urite genre? o Romance o Action o Comedy o Suspense/Thriller o Other 4. Accordin
g to you what are the effects of present day Hindi Movie? Why. o Positive
o Negative
5. What changes do you want in the Hindi movie?
31