India Film Industry Bollywood - Essay Example

?Profile and discuss one communications sector of a country of your choice. (India film industry Bollywood) Throughout the history, media (national as well as international) has been the most influential in the process of spreading education regarding communication all over the world (Semati, 2004, p.21). This media also helps in broadcasting the current situations prevailing across the world with respect to different social, cultural and economic contexts, to the people. Films and the film industry are highly significant in terms of spreading information, knowledge and other messages through international communication across the globe. Bollywood, the Indian film industry, is an important part of the global international communication system in the modern world. This paper is aimed at providing the profile of Bollywood, the Indian film industry and also in discussing various aspects of international communication related to this industry. International communication and films: International communication is considered as the inseparable part of human lives as it is playing an important role in developing various social, cultural, socio-cultural, economic, educational and other aspects of their lives. After the World War II, international communication has gained significant attention from all over the world. Since the middle of the 19th century, global communication started to gain greater amounts of focus by people (McPhail, 2011, p.1). According to McPhail (2011), “international communication refers to the cultural, economic, political, social and technical analysis of communication and media patterns and effects across and between nation-states” (McPhail, 2011, p.2). International communication is essential for the purpose of producing effective value judgments. The most important sources of international communication are online media services, print media services, news channels and films and theaters (Supadhiloke, 2008, p.109). The notion of international communication is closely related to the society as various societal imbalances and inequalities are revealed through international communication (Moby, 2003, p.10). Improvements in satellite, television and internet system are helping films to become an important medium of international communication. Modern technologies are getting transferred in developing countries from developed countries like UK and USA (Hallin, 1998, p.153). Film is considered as traditional media and the growing technological advancements are creating greater amounts of integration in favour of developing the international digital telecommunication network (Madikiza and Bornman, 2007, p.16). With the help of film media and industries cultural aspects are commoditised (Madikiza and Bornman, 2007, p.32). However, several instances reveal that national cultures are becoming the victim of the film media as the most important way of communicating with the people nationally as well as internationally (like the Western society) (Golding and Harris, 1996, p.199). Numerous epic films which have been produced in different countries all over the world have raised the effectiveness of international communication all over the world with the help of greater popularity of these films (Curran and Morley, 2006, p.267). Indian film industry: Bollywood, the Indian film industry is effectively using various social, cultural, economic as well as political aspects which are creating various impacts on the lives of people of the country, in particular, and in the lives of people of the world, in general. Bollywood is the largest film industry in India (there are number of regional film industries in the country which are popularly known as Tollywood. The New York Times as well the Washington Post regularly publish reviews of Indian films which are released and shown in different multiplexes of New York, Toronto and other cities of the United States (Rao, 2007, p.57). More than 300 films are produced every year in Bollywood and large numbers of Bollywood films are exported to the United States, United Kingdom and other western countries of the world (Rao, 2007, p.57). Past Bollywood films: The birth of the Indian film industry as well as Indian cinema coincided with the struggle against the British colonialism and due to this reason the Indian cinema, from its very beginning, tried to highlight the cultural “allegory, shape and form” of the country. During the period of early 1930s, “talkies” were introduced in the country and the film industry of the country started to make it free from any kind of foreign influences. Indian cinemas naturally received a protection from foreign influences due to differences in language. Hindi, being the national language, was used in Bollywood movies to reveal various social and cultural aspects of the country which was prevailing at that time. Different other languages, such as Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam etc., were also used during this time in Indian cinemas. Large number of songs was used during this time for the purpose of effectively revealing different prevailing social and cultural aspects of the country. In 1931, the film Alam Ara was released as the first Indian talkie and 12 songs were used in the movie mainly for the purpose of effectively revealing the existing social and cultural contexts of the country. In the advertisement of the film the caption that was used was “all talking, all singing, all dancing”. Also in the historical backdrop of the country national Classical Sanskrit epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata were the inspirational and motivational sources of national and international communication. These epics were used ‘with their narrative turns, formed the basis of the cinematic storytelling’ (Rao, 2007, p.58). After the end of the British colonialism, Indian cinema started to emerge as model of national integrity and national unity. According to Shakuntala Rao (2007), during this time “a tension between modernity and tradition, westernization and indigeniety, evolved in the cinematic imagination” (Rao, 2007, p. 58). During this time Indian Cinema started to use aspects in terms of its recognition as well as its identity in the world. Various films of Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy revealed these facts. Films of these two directors have revealed various dimensions of how the country was underprivileged and marginalised by the rest of the world and especially by the British government. These films also revealed the picture of the country as “iniquitous and inequitable” (Rao, 2007, p.59). Since then Indian films are used as the most important source of providing different socio-political, social, cultural and economic aspects which are positively and/or negatively affecting the country. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bollywood films were used as catalyst for the homogenising mission of the country. Various social, cultural and economic aspects were revealed by these Bollywood movies. In the films Deewar (1975) and Zanjeer (1973), struggles of poor Indian families in the face of a corrupted business and legal sector of the country were demonstrated. These facts were effectively revealed in these films and both films were critically and commercially acclaimed (Rao, 2007, p.59). During these time phases the country was suffering from massive poverty and unemployment and great level of corruption in private and public sectors of the country. All these things were effectively revealed and represented through movies of different times, such as Mother India (1957), which was the blockbuster of that time depicting the fight of an Indian mother alone to raise her children against all odds and inspired the audience to struggle for their land (Popular Indian Cinema and the Emergence of Bollywood, 2008, p.7). Modern Bollywood films: Modern Bollywood films are also carrying the same tradition of past Bollywood films in regard to communicating internationally. Since the past songs have made significant impacts on effective national and international communication, singers like Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey etc. have raised the level of communication to a great height. This tradition is still continuing in modern Bollywood films and Om Shanti Om (2007), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and many more. In films like Pakeezah, Mughal-e-Azam, Anarkali, the eternal love between the hero and the heroin of the film was depicted, just like Hollywood films based on stories of Romeo and Juliet. In these films the Muslim culture of the country has also been expressed (Fortner and Fackler, 2011). It is also argued that NRIs are greatly biased in watching Bollywood movies compared to other regional movies like Tamil movies. Greater advertisements promotions of Bollywood movies and availability of better technologies are helping these films to grow faster than other regional films (Jeyaseelan, n.d., p.4). Various Bollywood films have been getting influenced by Hollywood movies. Like Satte Pe Satta (1982), inspired by Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954), Awarapan (2007), inspired by A Bittersweet Life (2005), Dostana (2008), inspired by I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), Dil Bole Hadippa (2009) She's the Man (2009) etc. (Bollywood and Plagiarism: List of Bollywood movies copied from Hollywood, 2012). However, various Hollywood films are also produced by acquiring inspiration from Bollywood films. For instance, the Bollywood film Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) inspired the Hollywood film The Dirty Dozen (1967) (Sing, 2008). Society, Culture and Indian cinema: Various Indian cinemas focused on lower-middle-class sensibilities as well as on informal and tactical theories of society and politics that the class was using during that time. Films were also used to reveal various economic aspects of the country. In various films slums were used as the source of informal and labour power and enormous source of energy which were exploited by people belonging to the elite section of the country for maximising their own benefits. These discriminations against the poor section of the people raised the issue like modernising elite. According to Shakuntala Rao (2007), “the Indian cinema represents the tastes and longings of the slums which dominate the urban public sphere” (Rao, 2007, p.59). In the process of globalisation and liberalisation of Indian cinema in the 1990s Bollywood films were being produced and released at greater scale all over the world (Rao, 2007, p.59). Indian film industry is described as one of the most significant examples of spreading information and messages through communications across the globe in an effective manner. Influences of Bollywood films are widespread and these films have helped the country and the people of the country to maintain its diasporic Indian feelings of association with the homeland. Bollywood films are helping the country to maintain the cultural features historically derived from the ancestors. Bollywood films are also significant in regard to raising the level of national identity as well as the level of national integrity among the citizens of the country (Hirji, 2010, p.5). Also Bollywood has helped those people who are living in other countries, but originally belong to this country, to develop their level of association and integration with their motherland. Large numbers of Bollywood films are released in different parts of the world like Canada and America, where large number of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) are living. These films are helping these NRIs to increase their level of knowledge and association with the country and also to communicate effectively with their motherland and people living in India (Hirji, 2010, p.6). Underworld and Bollywood film: Underworld, crimes and criminal activities are closely associated Indian film industry. International terrorists like Dawood Ibrahim and his D-Company spent large amounts of investment in making Indian films. These investments are made in this industry for making large amounts of illegal profits and also for raising the level of control in the most profitable industry of the country. Large amounts of investments are also made in piracy business in the country for producing pirated CDs and DVDs of famous Indian films (Treverton et al., n.d.). Conclusion: Bollywood films are effectively communicating at the national as well as at the international level in spreading national thoughts and societal as well as cultural aspects of the country. Large number of Bollywood films is produced and released every year, nationally and internationally. These films are providing greater amounts of entertainment to national and international audiences. There is lack of technological advancements in these films which is forcing production houses of the country to purchase technologies from UK or USA. The lack of assets and resources are also causing this film industry to get affected by underworld funding ('Bollywood gets funds from underworld', 2011). If these problems can be tackled effectively, then the Indian film industry can be highly effective in communicating with the rest of the world. Recommendations: The film industry of the country needs to implement more technological advancements in regard to increasing the base of Indian cinemas across the world. Greater amounts of public investments are required in developing these technological advancements and also in raising the volume of advertisements of Indian cinemas across the world. More originality of thoughts in the storyline is required in the movies. Also the originality in the storyline of Indian films are also be required to get introduced. Stories of films need not to be copied from Hollywood films. More emphasis should be given to revealing original thoughts, societal and cultural aspects of the country. Film directors and actors need to express serious issues and aspects which are prevailing in the country, like political instability in several states, growing level of corruption in the country, instead of just providing entertainment to the audiences. References 1. 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