ISBN 978-81-925489-2-0 - ramniranjan jhunjhunwala college

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Bollywood, or the Hindi film industry is an industry in the true sense of the term. From the time the first Indian
sound film, Alam Ara was produced in 1931 till the present decade, it has showcased different aspects of Indian
life traversing through myriad themes, be it comedy, romance, thriller, horror or drama.
However, there has been a changing trend in the representation of Indian films through the years. The way
movies were made then and depiction is completely different from the way it is done now. While earlier movies
revolved around the struggles of the common man, there was a gradual shift to romance, action based and
comedy films. So there were very tropical issues dealt with where the focus was realistic aspects of life like "Do
Bigha Zameen". There was a gradual shift towards light romance pervading the environment with the complete
focus on human relationships that was the Rajesh Khanna era. Example - films like Kati Patang, Aradhana.
However this phase eroded by action with the angry young man movies Amitabh Bachchan emerging as a
superstar with writer-directors like Salim Javed. But the focus of depiction was now underworld based stories
filled with hardcore action sequences like Dewar, Kala Pathar, Trishul. Side by side there was co-existence of
cinema made like Shyam Benegal catering to a very small educated audience but this was completely devoid of
commercial elements and actresses like Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi, they were the protagonist in this phase.
Raj Kapoor was one of the film makers who used to convey social message through commercial cinema and
Yash Raj Films’ production at this time though was into action and masala film but slowly and steadily now
they started venturing into romantic comedy with globalization. The foreign locals are now used for shooting
and today there is a fusion of commercial and parallel cinema.
Hollywood and Bollywood are taking steps towards each other. Crossover cinema has become very common.
Thanks, to people like Anurag Kashyap, Ashwarya Rai, Gurinder Chadha, Meera Nair, Deepa Mehta and so on.
People like Amir Khan, A R Rehaman took Bollywood to Oscar and made world to take notice of Indian-ness.
The current phase embarks on technological developments and radical value changes ushered in by
globalization. The content and paradigm shift has been triggered by a strong, urban oriented multiplex culture.
Thus Indian cinema has not only transformed but has also brought about far reaching changes in the Indian
milieu.
Dr. Shashi Mishra
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