WGS 349 Gender and Sexuality in Bollywood Films�

1 WGS 349: Gender and Sexuality in Bollywood Films

Prof. Anupama Arora Summer 2020

Course Description has one of the largest film industries in the world, and this film industry has come to both reflect and shape Indian society and culture. In this course, we will focus on popular Hindi-language Indian cinema or “Bollywood,” or what novelist Salman Rushdie has aptly described as “Epico-Mythico-Tragico- Comico-Super-sexy-High-MasalaArt.” We will pay attention to stylistic techniques and narrative conventions (such as song and dance, melodrama, etc) as we examine how gender and sexuality intersect with issues of tradition, modernity, caste, class, region, religion, nation, and migration in postcolonial India. While the focus will be on post-Independence popular Hindi-language films, we will also watch art/parallel cinema (Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala) as well as diasporic Indian cinema (Deepa Mehta’s Fire) to explore distinct and multiple articulations of gender and sexuality.

Films Deewaar (The Wall, dir., , 1975) Mirch Masala (dir. Ketan Mehta, 1987) Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (The One with the true heart will win the bride, dir. , 1995) Fire (dir. Deepa Mehta, 1996) (You Only Live Once, dir. , 2011) (dir. , 2017) (Netflix anthology film; 2nd chapter, dir. Zoya Akhtar, 2018)

All these films will be available on our course-site. In addition to these films, we will also watch clips from other films. All reading for the course is available in PDF form on our course-site.

Websites/online resources Notes on Popular Indian Cinema https://uiowa.edu/indiancinema/ Manas (Prof. Vinay Lal’s website, UCLA) http://southasia.ucla.edu/culture/cinema/ Film Analysis https://filmanalysis.yale.edu

Course Objectives By the end of the course, successful students should be able to: • Identify and describe basic features or elements of popular Hindi-language cinema (or Bollywood); • Identify and explain continuities and disjunctures in representations of gender and sexuality in Bollywood films over the decades; • Be able to bring an intersectionality perspective (that is attentive to multiple axes of identity) to bear upon their reading of texts;

2 • Be able to read individual texts within larger contexts (aesthetic, historical, cultural); • Be able to write effectively about film, with attention to story and textual details as well as the visual field; • Gain an increased understanding of and respect for cultural traditions other than their own; • Improve oral and written communication skills; • Write coherent, persuasive essays using their own ideas as well as through integrating external sources; • Use MLA formatting correctly for citations and works cited pages

Course Assignments You have the opportunity to earn 530 points in this class. Here’s how: I. Discussion Board Postings (160 points) II. Discussion Board Overview (40 points) III. Short Papers (180 points) IV. Final Paper (150 points)

Detailed guidelines on these assignments will be provided on the course-site.

Course Policies

Reading and Viewing: You are expected to keep up with the assigned viewing and reading and to be prepared to discuss these texts with each other. This is not a course in which I dictate your learning. Your grade will directly reflect your efforts in grappling with the course material. I have certain expectations of your dedication, understanding, and ability to discuss material. However, if there is something you do not understand, I expect you to do whatever is necessary to gain understanding (i.e., bring it up on the course web discussion board, do outside reading, talk to me outside of class).

Written Work: Written work is expected to be 1) turned in on time, 2) typed, 3) correct. In other words, please do not dash off your papers in the last possible 5 minutes. Do not turn them in without spell checking or proofreading them. If I cannot understand your writing, I cannot (and will not) grade your work. When writing papers for me, be sure they are double-spaced with one-inch margins (unless otherwise requested by your instructor), in size 12 Times New Roman font, with sources documented in MLA format. Please do NOT manipulate margins or fonts. Page limits are guidelines unless otherwise stated.

Late Work Policy: Assignments (short papers and final paper) that are turned in later than 48 hours are not accepted. For each 24 hour period, the assignment loses 5 points for lateness. Late discussion postings penalties are explained in the discussion board grading

3 rubric provided in our first lesson. Of course, if there is a documented medical or family emergency, you should contact Professor Arora to discuss the assignment and deadline.

Plagiarism: In any situation, plagiarism is a serious offense and will result in a failing grade in this course. I subscribe to the University’s academic integrity policy, available online at: http://www.umassd.edu/studentaffairs/studenthandbook/academicregulationsandprocedur es. Since much of your work in this class requires the use of an outside source, the citation of sources is mandatory. I expect every student in this class to under the necessity of citing your sources in all academic work in order to avoid plagiarism. For a thorough explanation of plagiarism, see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

SafeAssign Students should be aware that suspect assignments (e.g., those without drafts, without works cited pages, or with large departures in style) will be submitted to SafeAssign by the instructor for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism. Submitted assignments will be included in the UMass Dartmouth dedicated databases of assignments. These databases of assignments will be used solely for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism during the grading process during this term and in the future. Students must provide an electronic copy of their assignment to the instructor for submission to the service when plagiarism is suspected, in order to receive a grade on the assignment and to avoid possible sanctions.

Students with Disabilities: In accordance with University policy, if you have a documented disability, you may request accommodations to obtain equal access and to promote your learning in this class. Please contact the Center for Access and Success to acquire the name of the campus representative to whom documentation should be submitted. After your eligibility for accommodations is determined, you will be given a letter which, when presented to instructors, will help me know best how to assist you.

MLA Documentation: With each of your written assignments, your quotations and works cited pages will be checked. “Errors” in citation will not be looked upon kindly and, in more serious cases, may result in disciplinary action. Remember, with each assignment, you need to include a Works Cited page and follow proper MLA documentation.

Course Incomplete Policy: According to the university catalogue, an incomplete may be given only in exceptional circumstances at the instructor's discretion. The student must be passing at the time of the request or be sufficiently close to passing. If the work is not completed within one year of the recording of the incomplete grade, the grade will become an F(I). The incomplete policy for this course is that at least 70% of the course must be already completed and an exceptional circumstance (i.e. medical issue) must exist. If you feel you require an incomplete for an exceptional reason, you need to email

4 me and state your reasons for the incomplete in writing. We will then decide on a course of action.

COURSE SCHEDULE (subject to change, with notice)

Unit 1 Introduction to the course Watch: Indo-Canadian comedian Russell Peters on Bollywood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JB-7XAMTo Essays: Tejaswini Ganti, “Introduction” to Bollywood (1-55) Timothy Corrigan, “Film Terms and Topics for Film Analysis and Writing” (35- 74) Tejaswini Ganti, “Narrative Style, Important Themes, and Key Conflicts” (103- 107, 113-114, 125); “Genre and Hindi Cinema” (137-149, 153-154) Kush Varia, “Characters and Morality” (57-72)

Unit 2 Film: Deewar Clips from the film Mother India (1957). Essays: Rosie Thomas, “Melodrama and the Negotiation of Morality in Mainstream Hindi Film” (157-182) Ranjani Mazumdar, “From Subjectification to Schizophrenia: The ‘Angry Man’ and the ‘Psychotic’ Hero” (238-250)

Unit 3 Film: Mirch Masala Clips from Insaaf Ka Taraazu (Scales of Justice, 1980). Essays: Beheroze F. Shroff, “Chili Peppers as Tools of Resistance: Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala” (246-256) Lalitha Gopalan, “Avenging Women in Bollywood Cinema” (34-45, 49-51, 58- 59)

Unit 4 Film: Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) Clips from Purab Aur Paschim (East and West, 1970). Essays: Jenny Sharpe, “Gender, Nation, and Globalization in Monsoon Wedding and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” (58-70) Monika Mehta, “Globalizing Bombay Cinema: Reproducing the Indian State and Family” (135-139, 143-150)

Unit 5 Film: Fire Essays: Jigna Desai, “Homo on the Range: Queering Postcoloniality and Globalization in Deepa Mehta’s Fire” (159-174) Shohini Ghosh, “Bollywood Cinema and Queer Sexualities” (55-67)

Unit 6 Film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara (You only live once) Essays: Jayashree Kamble, “All work or all play? Consumption, leisure, and ethics under globalization in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (1-14)

5 Meheli Sen, “From Dostana to Bromance: Buddies in Hindi Commercial Cinema Reconsidered” (139-161)

Unit 7 Film: Lipstick under my Burkha Clips from (My Friend’s Wedding, 2018) Essay: Gohar Sidiqqui, “New Womanhood and #LipstickRebellion: Feminist Consciousness in Lipstick Under My Burkha”

Unit 8 Film: Lust Stories (watch the 2nd chapter of this anthology) Essay: Monika Mehta, “Reflections on Lust Stories: Online Distribution and the Production of Female Sexual Agency”

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