It's Not All About Song and Dance: How the Natyashastra Informs
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It’s Not All About Song and Dance: How the Natyashastra Informs Contemporary Bollywood A dissertation submitted to the College of Communication and Information of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Sonali S. Kudva May 2019 Dissertation written by Sonali S. Kudva B.A., Fergusson College, University of Pune, 2000 BCJ, University of Pune, 2001 M.A., Fergusson College, University of Pune, 2003 M.A., Kent State University, 2004 M.A., Kent State University, 2010 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2019 Approved by ________________________________ Stanley T. Wearden, Ph.D., Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ Yin Zhang, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ Allen B. Whaley, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ LuEtt Hanson, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee ________________________________ Marcello Fantoni, Ph.D., Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Accepted by ________________________________ Miriam Matteson, Ph.D., Chair, Doctoral Studies Committee ________________________________ Amy Reynolds, Ph.D., Dean, College of Communication and Information iii To my BFFs: I am better because of you. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHICS .................................................................................................................. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...............................................................................................................................viii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 The Importance of this Study ........................................................................................................................ 5 Foundations of this Study ........................................................................................................................... 10 Purpose of the Study .................................................................................................................................. 13 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 15 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................... 15 The Bollywood Information Ecology System .............................................................................................. 15 Some Theoretical Foundations ................................................................................................................... 18 Introduction to Critical Theory................................................................................................................ 19 Film Theory and its (ir)Relevance............................................................................................................ 20 Mass Media Theory and Film .................................................................................................................. 26 Bollywood is India ....................................................................................................................................... 29 Narrative and the Bollywood Style ............................................................................................................. 29 The Natyashastra and What It Stands For .................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 40 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................... 40 The Research Gap ....................................................................................................................................... 40 The Research Paradigm .............................................................................................................................. 40 The Research Design ................................................................................................................................... 44 Research Question(s) .............................................................................................................................. 47 Sampling .................................................................................................................................................. 47 Reliability and Validity............................................................................................................................. 49 Research Process, Expected Results and Data Analysis .............................................................................. 49 Pitfalls, Strengths and Weaknesses of the Research Design ...................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................................................. 54 iv A CLOSE READING OF THE NATYASHASTRA ................................................................................................ 54 Drama in the Natyashastra ..................................................................................................................... 55 Dramatic Success .................................................................................................................................... 62 The Theory of Rasa ................................................................................................................................. 65 Plot and the Structure of Drama ............................................................................................................. 74 The Typology of Drama ........................................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................................................................................. 87 SHOLAY (1975) ............................................................................................................................................ 87 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 87 Sholay Synopsis ........................................................................................................................................... 91 Sholay and the Natyashastra ...................................................................................................................... 94 Dramatic Success, the Natyashastra and Sholay .................................................................................... 95 Rasa and Sholay ...................................................................................................................................... 98 Sholay, plot and the structure of drama ............................................................................................... 103 Other things of note in Sholay .................................................................................................................. 112 CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................................................ 115 DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE (1995) ................................................................................................ 115 Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 115 DDLJ Synopsis ............................................................................................................................................ 120 DDLJ and the Natyashastra ....................................................................................................................... 127 Dramatic Success, the Natyashastra and DDLJ ..................................................................................... 127 Rasa and DDLJ ....................................................................................................................................... 133 DDLJ, plot and the structure of drama.................................................................................................. 138 CHAPTER 7 ...............................................................................................................................................