Towards a Self-Reflected Romantic Hero Representations of the Romantic Protagonist and His Approach to Women in Hindi Films of the 2010S
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Towards a Self-Reflected Romantic Hero Representations of the romantic protagonist and his approach to women in Hindi films of the 2010s Sofie Vega Wollbraaten Master's Thesis in South Asia Culture and Society SAS4691 South Asian Studies 30 credits Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages (IKOS) University of Oslo Spring 2020 Abstract This thesis concerns the courtship practices seen in contemporary, romantic Hindi films, with an emphasis on the romantic agency of the male protagonist. In this qualitative study, I examine eleven films with dominant romantic narratives released in the 2010s. As films and society have changed in the past 20-30 years in India, there are elements in courtship practices in these films that have changed, such as the development of close friendships between the hero and heroine before a romantic relationship is formed. Some elements in these films remain surprisingly unchanged since the 1990s, such as dominant male agency. This thesis claims that one of the most defining traits of the protagonists in contemporary films, is that they often improve themselves by the climax of the film. This shows an increased self- reflection of the romantic hero. In the films studied in this thesis, the couples often become friends before marriage, where love and respect grow. Here, there is a notable change from the films of the 1990s and earlier, where immediate physical attraction often laid the sole foundation for a romantic relationship and eventual marriage. The aim of this thesis is to give an insight into modern courtship practices in Hindi films, with a focus on how men behave towards women. I argue the importance of studying male romantic approaches to women in films, as these can inspire actions in life off-screen. With this thesis, I contribute to the yet uncharted and narrow field of male agency in forming romantic relationships in Hindi films of the 2010s. ii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my supervisor, professor Kathinka Frøystad, for giving constructive and always inspiring feedback, and who has been encouraging from the start, not only while writing this thesis but from the beginning of studying for a bachelor’s degree in India-studies. I am grateful for the relentless support and uncompromising encouragement from my parents: my step-mother Eva Tønnessen, who goes out of her way to help me, whether it concerns car- trouble or proofreading, and my mother Trudy Wollbraaten, who has been my emotional pillar during this project. I also want to thank Alexander Nystrøm, for his support as well as for useful distractions, helping me stay focused while also taking time for breaks. I am thankful to the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages for awarding me with the Storm, Bugge and Sydnes scholarship, which allowed me to stay in London for a valuable semester at the School of Oriental and African Studies. iii List of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iii Introduction 1 1. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH 4 Film selection and analytical approach 4 Research Challenges 9 Summary 10 2. RESEARCHING HINDI FILMS: APPROACHES TO 1990S FILMS 12 Love and Marriage 12 Reception Studies 21 Summary 24 3. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS: FILM SUMMARIES 25 Kabir Singh (2019) 25 Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013) 28 Chennai Express (2013) 29 Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) 32 Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017) 32 Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015) 34 2 States (2014) 34 Sultan (2016) 35 Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) 36 Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) 37 Dream Girl (2019) 38 Summary 39 4. CHANGING ROMANTIC HEROES IN THE 2010S 41 Contemporary Courtship 41 The Romantic Hero of the 2010s 46 Complications to the Romantic Narrative 53 Summary 55 5. CONCLUSION 57 LIST OF REFERENCES 59 iv Introduction The year 2019 saw the release of two popular Hindi films portraying two opposite male roles in their relations to women. On the one side is Kabir Singh (Khetani, Kumar, Varde & Vanga, 2019), the hypermasculine protagonist who is portrayed as a sex-addicted, violent alcoholic. On the other side is the milder and friendlier, goddess Sita-imitating protagonist in the light- hearted comedy Dream Girl (Kapoor, Kapoor & Shaandilyaa, 2019). While Kabir Singh embodies a hyper-masculinized male protagonist, one that can be associated with the muscular Hindutva ideology in India (Banerjee, 2017), Dream Girl points to a softer masculinity where traditional gender roles have become more fluid. While discussing the protagonists in these and other films, the thesis can be a window through which one can look at the present-day romantic hero and his agency in the formation of romantic relationships1. In a larger context, I find that this can reflect and inspire romantic aspirations and reinforce or challenge gender expectations in the films’ audience. To do this, I will look at how the male protagonist2 in recent, mainstream Hindi films, with a dominating romantic narrative, is represented and how he flirts and interacts with the female protagonist. I will point to 1990s romantic films, mainly through literature on these, as a point of reference, in order to survey changes and continuities in the last 20-30 years within my topic. In my thesis, then, I will examine the following research questions: • What defines the modern, romantic hero? o How has he changed from the 1990s? • In which manner does the hero pursue the heroine? o Does he pursue her despite her initial objections? • Which complications arise during courtships3? o Which role do the friends and families of the characters play in the forming of romantic relationships? As I was writing this thesis during the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, two of India’s most popular actors, Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, passed away (due to non-virus-related 1 In the spirit of Mikhail Bakthin (1984) and Walter Benjamin (1936), who used works of literature to respectively capture the essence of the “aesthetics of the medieval carnival” and “the cultural milieu of nineteenth-century Paris” (Smith & Riley, 2009) 2 I will use the terms hero and protagonist interchangeably, despite the subtle differences between them. 3 In this text I use the term ‘courtship’ to describe the way the hero approaches the heroine with a romantic intention. While the traditional use of the term is usually applied for the courting that leads to marriage, I use the term in a modern context where the goal might be a romantic relationship, and not necessarily marriage. However, in all my selected films, marriage is in fact the goal of the hero when he pursues a girl. 1 diseases). Despite the severity of the virus outbreak in India (and worldwide) at this time, the death of these actors still headlined most of the online Indian newspapers and were among the most-read stories at the time. This indicates the strong connection the general public feel for actors, and with it, the importance of films in many peoples’ lives. Hindi cinema is amongst the largest film industries in the world (Mazumdar, 2007; Dudrah & Desai, 2008), consumed by millions of people daily (Virdi, 2003; Dudrah & Desai, 2008; Banerjee, 2017). Hindi film scholar Rachel Dwyer sees Hindi cinema as “the major source of India’s dreaming” (2014, p. 35) and as Hindi cinema is the primary consumed art form in India, it is a form that lucidly reflects the major populations’ fantasies and desires. The representations of men and the way men treat women in films may inspire real-life actions (Derné, 2000), as romance on the screen also shape the ideas of romance in viewers’ minds (Dwyer, 2014). Many Hindi films assert men’s hegemonic use of violence or physical force towards women. This use of force may be mild, simply holding the heroine’s hand or touching her against her wishes (as in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, (Chopra & Chopra, 1995)), or more violent, as in kidnapping and threating her (Dil, 1990; Badrinath Ki Dulhania, 2017) or slapping her (Kabir Singh, 2019). However, I will show in this thesis a growing trend of a milder protagonist, who often befriends the heroine and starts a romantic relationship after trust and respect has been established. In our post-#metoo-times, I find it worthwhile to examine how men, who are often the ones in power, are portrayed in Hindi films, rather than women. While women have been subject to much study in the past (for instance Gopalan, 1997; Virdi, 1999), the male protagonist as a gendered figure, has not. Whereas films are not a mirror image of reality, Hindi films are said to reflect the society’s fantasies (Derné, 2000; Joshi, 2015) and many film theorists have found that these films have an important function and influence in people’s lives (Dickey, 1993; Derné, 2000; Dwyer, 2014). In a wider context, the discourse and language of love in films can inspire how love and romance reproduced in real life (Dwyer, 2014, p. 192). In a few short interviews with Hindi cinema consumers in Norway and England in 2019, I found that most of my interviewees found some inspiration from romantic Hindi films when it came to flirting and to shaping ideas of romance4. While Hindi films can be said to be representations of the public’s fantasies rather than reality itself, I also believe that life imitates art, as Oscar Wilde (1909 [1891]) famously said. As I will illustrate in chapter 2, reception studies on Hindi cinema 4 These short interviews took place in August and September 2019 in Oslo and London, and does not form a part of this thesis, which is rather based on film content. 2 show that young people take ideas from film and implement them in their own lives.