sign in sign up
<<
Home , Sanjay Leela Bhansali

The Journey of Indian Languages: Perpectives on Culture and Society ISBN : 978-81-938282-5-0

Literature, Films and Culture: A Well Knitted Life Story Ms. Bhakti Patel*, Ms. NazishCampwala** Prof. Rameshwari Pandya*** *Teaching Assistant, **Teaching Assistant ***Associate Director Programme of Fashion Communication Institute of Fashion Technology The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,Vadodara Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Literature is a replication of the society, it is a fact widely acknowledged; however, equally is the truth considered about the modifications that a literature could bring upon the culture. Literature is the mirror wherein people find the real side of the society, the same society they live in but invests least input to understand or even acknowledge of being a part and parcel of a great or a worst society. What writers of these literatures are blessed with are the Indian Film directors, who have time and again found their interests within the enlightening or hard hitting and petrifying truths enclosed within the well-researched and knitted content. Films in India often reflect politics, culture, poverty, corruption, patriarchy and over and all disposes the very essence of our culture. Inspired by novels or literature that embraced the culturist value, directors have triumphed the action of putting life into the meaningful framed words. If literature has an impact on culture, so does a Film based upon it; to a greater extent. Indian Films like 'Hyderabad Blues' by Kukunoor, 'Salaam Bombay' by Meera Nair, 'Choker Bali' by , '' by Bhansali‘ ,'Water', one of the trilogy by Deepa Mehta and 'Slumdog Millionaire' by Danny Boyle portrays the life and its situation of Indian society. Literature be an influencer of a particular Film or may be not in reality, has become an emissaries of Indian culture. Similarly, it isn‘t important whether a Film is been inspired by a literature or it is just a reflection of the society we live in, the fact we need to apprehend here is both Literature and Films are mirror to our society and its popular/unpopular culture.. Keywords: Literature, Film, Culture, Cinematography, India, Film, Director, India, Society, People Introduction : Culture is what people perceive from mass behaviour, from many regular aspects of which they are continuous witness of and then enact the same. Culture in a society could be anything that is enacted or persuaded by a large percentage of the members, and thus that takes a shape of customs. Though we have been educated and informed time and again about our cultures that have been drawn from our ancestors, a fine layer of the cultural nuances keep modifying. Literature is the glass wherein people find the real side of the society, the same society they live in but invests least input to understand or even acknowledge of being a part and parcel of a great or a worst society. At the same time, Films being one of the most authoritative medium that surpasses the sensible divides of the class and borders possess an immense potential to influence the consumers. Not to forget India possess bunch of very popular films influenced or inspired by literature and popular personalities. When it comes to the impact, it isn‘t important whether a film is been inspired by a literature or it is just a reflection of the society we live in, the fact we need to apprehend here is both Literature and Films are mirror to our society and its popular/unpopular culture. Literature, Films and Culture are knitted with each other.

Volume:2| www.baou.edu.in Page 199

The Journey of Indian Languages: Perpectives on Culture and Society ISBN : 978-81-938282-5-0

Literature and Culture : Literature is known to resonate with the social conditions prevailing in a time and place. The writer's art is linked to a context and history in a myriad ways, some of which are narratives of community, heroism of individuals, human relations and representation of events, biographies and ideologies. While critical work on Indian literature has copiously studied subjects of a range such as class, caste, gender, poverty, socio-economic compulsions, family, romance, and communities. Literature reflects what had already been occurred or makes us aware of the culture we pursue in the society we live in. Fictitious yet real life culture examples in Indian films and soap operas seems endless. In myriad ways writers creativity is connected to history in the form of narratives of a commune, biographies, relations, heroism and ideologies. The Indian subcontinent writers have inculcated into their written thoughts, the diverse forms of class, religion, gender, caste romance, family, poverty, socio-economic compulsions. We live in a society where human strictly abides by the relationships he lives in. We are always in need of information and understand about how others like us are living their lifestyle and the constant need of knowing what our fellow peoples' thought process is, we read the literature. "Literature means something that is written for refreshing and inspiring the mind. It records the thoughts and feelings of great minds. It attracts in two ways—through its matter and through its manner. The matter must be such that those who read it are interested in some way. The manner must be such as will be pleasing to the reader and adds to his fund of knowledge." (Duhan, 2015) It is because people in a society react to the literature in a living manner. Time and again, novels have been one of the catalysers of having changed the way a human mind think altering the way one lives the life. The power of literature upon society has been recorded directly or indirectly. Sarat Chandra's novels have gone a long way in breaking conservatism as regards women in our society."(Duhan, 2015) Some of the books that speaks of Indian culture are Chetan Bhagat‘s ‗Two States‘ a tale of love between two different castes, Amish Tripathi‘s ‗Shiva Trilogy – ‗Meluha‘, ‗Nagas‘ and the ‗Vayuputras‘, his new book series – ‗Scion of Ikshvaku‘ and ‗Sita- Warrior of Mithila‘ are the examples of how people are inclined to read modern-ancient fusion of the religion based heroism. Also, there have been many such literature which faced a ban for being the mirror of certain beliefs and norms of the society that believed to be against the culture. Salman Rushdie‗s 'The Satanic Verses' and Taslima Nasrin‗s 'Lajja' provide testimonies to such actions imposed. Be that a fiction or a literally input of the customs we follow or culture we live in, Literature is a face of our culture. Literature and Films : Being the largest film producing nation, Indians never fall behind in lacking stories or concept for the films. Apart from trying our creative talent on comedy, fiction, romance, action, horror or thriller, we have always relied upon literature in search for virtuous stories; while every film genre has an Indian social connection for sure which is a reflection of the culture. Though book worms often argue and are unhappy of the adoptions saying, "never judge a book by the Film", there are majority who loves these book stories turned into life within the frames. The time consumption of adapting is huge because primarily the literature is some or the other way related to the culture and keeping the same tone, connecting with the audience interest a writer/director has to adapt the reflection of the society as a secondary

Volume:2| www.baou.edu.in Page 200

The Journey of Indian Languages: Perpectives on Culture and Society ISBN : 978-81-938282-5-0

significant task; it becomes more complex if the genre is historical. Examples of , , , and who have had flawlessly transformed many novel words to screen dialogues is inspiring. Some of the Films adapted from Indian literature are: ‗Pinjar‘ - One of the most appreciated works of Amrita , Pinjar is a story set in India's partition. On a screen version, with the same name in 2003 the story defines hardships faced by the rural Indian women who were restricted with society laws. ‗Shatranj Ke Khiladi‘ - Directed and adapted by Satyajit Ray in 1977, the film is inspired by a book story with the same name by Munshi Premchand revolving around struggle for Independence and dissolution of the princely states. ‗‘ - A story inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky‘s short story, ‗White Nights', is adapted by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2007. There are many such Bollywood films which take inspiration from the novels, just like 'Ramleela' by Sanjay Leela Bhansali was inspired by 's Romeo and . Chetan Bhagat's 'Two States' adaption into the same name film was the complete reflection of the society and its fight against the losing the love to caste. People tend to relate more when the book/story/concept is transformed into a film. Films these days are adapted and inspired by successful personalities within various categories under Sports Biopics – ‗Mary Kom‘, ‗Azhar‘, ‗Neerja‘, ‗Sachin‘, ‗M.S Dhoni‘, ‗Dangal‘, under politics – ‗Gangajal‘, ‗Aarakshan‘, ‗Rajneeti‘, ‗Peepli Live‘, ‗Madaari‘. Also cultural-feminism category – ‗Gulab Gang‘, ‗Pink‘, ‗Queen‘, ‗Lipstick Under My Burkha‘. Education genre isn‘t any behind which reflects the society – ‗English Vinglish‘, ‗Taare Zameen Par‘, ‗Paathshaala‘, ‗ Medium‘, ‗3 Idiots‘ and more. Films and Culture : Films that have universal theme goes well for the cross border audience but to introduce a particular culture in an ethnic genre to an audience completely ignorant of the same, is of high value. Film speaks about culture, which varies from director to director. Having a rich and diverse culture, Indian films have gained an audience globally. We should be thankful to the Indian films for making Indian festivals like Holi, Deepawali and Navratri familiar terms to foreign countries. Films like Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Choker Bali by Rituparno Ghosh, Apu trilogy by Ray, Salaam Bombay by Meera Nair, or Hyderabad Blues by Kukunoor speaks loud of the time and life of India. Likewise, films like 'Water' by Deepa Mehta, and 'Slumdog Millionaire' by Danny Boyle play a vital role in featuring social shades of malice that were (or still are) a part of our culture. Culture on the other hand is being won over by the influence of the mighty Bollywood. Films like 'Baghban' and 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' incites respecting elders, and flicks like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Singham' gave voice to the young Indians‘ not so brave thoughts against the corrupted politicians. While there are several films which ignites a traditional and cultural change in matrimonial and festive rituals, thanks to the beautiful cinematography and extravagantly luxurious sets. Not just these modifications, films that are rich with festivals, fashion and food have ignited the demand amongst the audiences. Women seek fashionable clothing's and jewellery of a similar kind displayed on the screen in real life and it happens. Similarly, the famous dialogue of the Film 'Three Idiots' (an adoption of a book Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat) "Dhokla, Khakra, Handwa, Fafda..." had made the Gujarati cuisines go global.

Volume:2| www.baou.edu.in Page 201

The Journey of Indian Languages: Perpectives on Culture and Society ISBN : 978-81-938282-5-0

Apart from the stories being adapted into films and films that reflect the society which influences the audience to modify the culture, artists from the entertainment industry of India are doing an impeccable job of spreading the Indian culture globally. Actors like , , , Vidhya Balan, , played actors or jury at an event reflecting on the Indian culture along. Flim makers, Screen writers, Authors, Actors and Singers, Musicians could be said the ambassadors of Indian culture through various means of communication. Emerging Trends in Films Today : Films today encompass both traditional literary narratives and the new textual genres made possible by the electronic revolution of the past few years. What the films earlier depicted were largely dependent on the teachings of the culture, but to suit the contemporary requirements of the current society, films have borrowed a lot and evolved from what it teaches, to what the culture today evolve a film into. The media culture today relies heavily on the filmic adaptations of novels which the contemporary audience wants to read and have an audio-visual experience about. Gone are the days where the audience learnt from the movies, the era now demands that film-makers focus on the voices of the society and direct films that are in turn influenced by the popular culture of the ever so evolving society. Films encompass a regular form of entertainment for the popular youth today and hence it has been an important area for disseminating knowledge and practices to the masses. Moving images, time and again have conveyed that they are close to reality, apart from the fact that they capture reality. This is one aspect of movies that can depict as well as promote culture in its highest forms. A sense of cultural homogenization has affected the local traditions and local cultures. This concept of pan Indian has seriously affected cinema and its cultural constituents. Indian cinema is distinguished by its own set of indigenous traits which mark them from other cinema. The plot and the theme of the theme are set in accordance with a problem that is identified with the ethos of the culture. Thus the very essence of a film, its originality which is finely rooted in its own indigenous culture works on a manifold level to promote as well as adapt to traditional culture to the contemporary society. Conclusion : Being socially hungry creature, human is always on a ride to know more information, what others are doing, how they are enacting and why? These questions make us rely on literature made available to us, films inspired by the literature and everything that portrays the culture only to walk along with the society updated and informed. There has been a changing trend in the representation of Indian films through the years. The way movies were made in the 1950s is completely different from the way it is done in the twenty first century. Most movies generally like to deliver what the audience desired, and thus the main reason for the shift in the theme and plot of movies would be the shift in the mind-set of the people watching it. Parallel cinema is very much a reflection of the happenings in the society. Again this kind of cinema is also emerging to be a modern subject. There are actors who are willing to explore their skills in experimenting with bold and untouched subjects. The passion of Indian cinema is well maintained with growing benefaction. The films are also Indian in terms of family bonding and virtues. Modern parallel cinema is bold, comedy is original, cult films are being conceptualised and these is a constant passion to improve.

Volume:2| www.baou.edu.in Page 202

The Journey of Indian Languages: Perpectives on Culture and Society ISBN : 978-81-938282-5-0

It is beautifully defined how Literature, Films and Culture influence each other and together of they all inspire the social animal in us. Thus the three widely accredited words are interestingly and creatively to be said a well knitted life story. Bibliography  Chopra, A. (2005, November13). Hindi Film gets the Indie Spirit (No Dancing Please). New York Times, pp. 11-13.  Duhan, D. R. (2015). The Relationship between Literature and Society. Language in India, 15(4), 11.  Kamalipour, L. A. (2006). The Media Globe. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.  Lee Artz, Y. R. (2003). The Globalisation of Corporate Media Hegemony . Sunny Press.  McLuhan, M. (1967). The Medium is the Message: An inventory of effects. New York: Random House.  Mohammadi, A. (1995). Cultural Imperialism and Cultural Identity. In J. D. al., Questioning the Media: A critical introduction (pp. 362-378). California : Sage.  On the world's movie map. (2005, August). India Today, pp. 74-78.  Pendakur, M. (2003). Indian Popular Cinema. New Jersey : Hampton .  S.S. Tapswi and Dewayani S. Wagh, (2013). The Indian Novels Reflect The Contemporary Society Of India. Indian Stgreams Research Jounral, Vol. III, Issue. VII, DOI: 10.9780/22307850

Volume:2| www.baou.edu.in Page 203