Preface Chapter 1 Hindi Films: Theoretical Debates and Textual Studies Chapter 2 Audiences and Hindi Films: Contemporary Studies
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Notes Preface 1 The words ‘discourse’ and ‘discourses’ as used in this book refer not to units of speech or writing, however small or large, but rather to structured and sedi- mented ways of defining and understanding the world. Chapter 1 Hindi films: theoretical debates and textual studies 1 Famous film critic and theorist from Calcutta, author of Talking About Films (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1981) and The Painted Face: Studies in India’s Popular Cinema (New Delhi: Roli Books, 1991), Dasgupta has been a consistent propo- nent of the idea that mass films and spectators of these films are mired in a pre- modern frame of mind which is leading India, via an irrational attachment to certain (politico-religious) ideologies and myths, towards imminent political collapse. 2 Nandy (1998: 2–5) delineates a notion of commercial Hindi cinema as a means of expression for the frustrations, views and idioms of ‘slum’ life, a vehicle for the fears, desires and angst of those members of the population dispossessed by the state or lingering on the margins of cities. 3 For an interesting discussion of ‘escapism’ and soap opera see Modleski’s argu- ment in ‘The Search for Tomorrow in Today’s Soap Operas’ (1982). 4 For instance, see Theodore Adorno’s (1991) argument that the ‘mass’ produc- tion and distribution of cultural artefacts, rather than democratising culture, are leading to a standardised and totalitarian mentality that is being imposed upon the masses. 5 Some of the films Chori Chori Chupke Chupke ‘copies’ or borrows’ from are Pretty Woman (USA, Garry Marshall 1990) Doosri Dulhan (A Second Bride, Lekh Tandon 1983) and Bewafa se Wafa (From Infidelity to Fidelity, Sawan Kumar 1992). Chapter 2 Audiences and Hindi films: contemporary studies 1 Primarily due to the extensive analysis and theorisation of this subject else- where: Bhabha 1990; Young 1995; Brah 1996; Modood and Werbner 1997; Sreberny 2000; Radhakrishnan 2000; Maira 2002; and Matthews 2002, to name but a few. 2 Following the initial referencing of director and date, Hindi films will be referred to by name only; otherwise, look in the Filmography. 3 The politics of ‘Hindutva’ can be categorised as fascist in the broad sense, in that it inculcates a deep belief in the superiority of the ‘Hindus’ over all 181 182 Notes others and is grasping at political power through state-sanctioned violence. See Sarkar (1993) and Hensman (1995). 4 Senior members of the BJP, like L. K. Advani, regularly attend functions held by the RSS leader K. S. Sudharshan who has, among other things, been respon- sible for inciting violence against so-called ‘Christian missionaries’ and other social activists like Graham Staines who was murdered along with his children by an RSS cadre in 1999. Although currently the opposition party, the BJP swept to power on the back of the horrific and brutal killing of Muslims that ensued after the demolition by Sangh Parivar activists of the Babri Masjid on the 2 December 1992 in Ayodhya. 5 One of Mankekar’s interviewees acknowledges how she was molested by her father-in-law with her husband’s knowledge. Chapter 3 Contemporary Hindi film-going and the viewing context in two countries 1 July 2001, ‘Cinemax’ Goregaon, Bombay. 2 See also Barker and Brookes (1998); Austin (2002); and Kuhn (2002). 3 Ronald Inden (1999: 50) notes that ‘New expensive facilities with a smaller seating capacity (300–600), but with state-of-the-art projection and sound sys- tems, have appeared in Mumbai and New Delhi.’ 4 ‘Apart from [59 viewers] killed, over 150 people were injured when a fire broke out at the Uphaar cinema hall in New Delhi on June 13, 1997’ (Singh 2001). 5 See Chapter 7 and Filmography. 6 The Guardian Wednesday 26 July 2000. Chapter 4 ‘A man who smokes should never marry a village girl’: comments on courtship and marriage ‘Hindi film-style’ 1 Many eighties’ Hindi films which purported to show the avenging of sexual violence or the ‘reality’ of sexual violence in Indian society included extended rape sequences. Brasthachar (Rape, 1989) and Aaj Ki Awaz (The Voice of Today, B. R. Chopra 1984) are only two of more than two dozen well-known and over a hundred B- and C-grade films to utilise violent rape sequences. Shoma A. Chatterji (1998: 160) is unequivocal in her revulsion at what she takes to be titillation and an encouragement to rapists. 2 The meaning of talk, like the meaning of films themselves, is contingent on context. 3 Barbara Lobodzinska (1979) explores the significance accorded to the notion of ‘love’ in the decision to marry amongst Polish youth. Her findings are not dis- similar to those gathered amongst British-Asians (Gillespie 1995; Ghuman 1999). 4 A study carried out in 1973 by V.V. Prakasa and V. Nandini Rao amongst col- lege students in India found that ‘a majority of the students indicated that they wanted to know their future spouse for some time before marriage’ and a significant number wanted to select their own marriage partner and obtain parental agreement after doing so (1979: 28–30). Notes 183 5 David Morley (2000: 220–1) writes of the ‘self-enclosure’ of various ethnic groups and their belief that they cannot be aided or understood by those ‘outside’ the group. 6 Breakwell describes ‘compartmentalisation’ as the simultaneous holding of ‘mutually exclusive self-definitions’ (1986: 95). 7 Among the films in which such heroes play a leading part is Subhash Ghai’s famous Khalnayak. 8 I met a friend of Kavita’s several months later and learnt that Kavita’s sister had been overtly distressed during her arranged-marriage ceremony, in the words of the friend: ‘her face was so swollen from crying and it could be also his [the father’s] slaps that I did not feel like attending the wedding.’ 9 See ‘Listen to Your Heart and You Die’ by Sakina Yusuf Khan, The Sunday Times of India, New Delhi, 2 September 2001; ‘Panchayat nod for Murder?’, Lucknow, The Hindu, 22 August 2001; ‘Courting Death’ by Vijaya Pushkarna, The Week, 9 September 2001; ‘When Will We Learn?: How many more dead brides will it take before we address the issue of forced marriages?’ by S. Gill, Eastern Eye, London, Friday, 17 January 2003; and ‘Daughter Killed over Secret Boyfriend’ BBC News (Online), Wednesday 6 February 2002. 10 Lest it be thought that all Hindi films follow similar discursive pathways with regard to marriage, elopement and ‘tradition’, I draw attention to, Pyar Ka Toofan (Cyclone of Love, S. M. Iqbal 1990) in which the working-class hero urges the upper-caste and upper-class heroine to elope and she refuses. 11 Lalitha Gopalan, however, sees in these close-ups of the lead pair singing ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun …!’/‘Who am I to You …!’ an invitation to us as view- ers to ‘reflect on our relationship to cinema’ and suggests that via this ironic device we are drawn ‘into a triangular economy of desire, making us an inte- gral part of [the] love story’ (2002: 3). 12 Only a relatively small number of interviewees (three out of 30) suggested that they may never marry. Chapter 5 Short skirts, long veils and dancing men: responses to dress and the body 1 See Amithaba Bagchi, (1996) ‘Women in Indian Cinema’; and Deepa Gahlot (2003) ‘Sexy Anytime, Anywhere’. 2 The view that depictions of women as ‘sex objects’ on-screen and the responses these representations provoke in men being directly linked to the harassment of women on the streets is commonly held by lay people and critics alike in India. 3 The question which springs foremost to mind is whether all sexual desire is not to some extent inevitably ‘objectifying’ and, if it is, then what does objectification actually mean in each of its contexts of use? For instance, can any look be construed as ‘sexual’ and hence objectifying? Or, are certain types of look designated thus in order to pathologise the ‘looking’ done by ‘others’? 4 Kathy Myers argues that ‘There is a sense in which sight and perception neces- sarily entail objectification in order to conceptualise and give meaning to the object of our gaze’ (1995: 267). Furthermore, she insists: ‘we have to clarify 184 Notes whether it is the process of necessary objectification entailed in perception which we object to … or the meaning it carries for women under specific patriarchal formations ….’ 5 See Shohini Ghosh (1999) on censorship and the feminist movement; see also Mary E. John and Tejaswini Niranjana (1999). Chapter 6 More or less spicy kisses: responses to sex, love and sexuality 1 See Gopinath 2000 and 2005; Ghosh 2002; and Waugh 2002 for excellent dis- cussions of the way in which both mainstream and art cinema or ‘third’ cinema in India and the diaspora, depict non-heterosexual characters and relationships. 2 See Christine Brosius’s account of a young viewer’s similar experience at a Hindi film in Germany (2005). 3 A fear that would be shared by many women from other cultures and countries. 4 Sonali mentioned the same feature of films such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai by Karan Johar. 5 To my disappointment, Asima said she had only recently ‘got into’ Hindi films and Kalpana was unable to be interviewed for my project as she was about to leave London for an extended period. I did discover, however, that both women were Gurinder Chaddha fans and asked them about Bend it Like Bekham. Kalpana was unequivocal: ‘I love that film, I do, but I still feel pissed off about it, a bit disappointed inside – maybe because everyone thought it was just such a joke, such a funny hahaha misunderstanding that Jules’s mum thinks she and Jess are lesbians.