An Introduction to Indian Cinema
By Shyam Benegal
For most parts of the world, films made in Hindi represent Indian cinema. This is inevitable. Hindi films have greater access to markets in India and to the South Asian Diaspora, not all of which is Hindi speaking. Yet, the number of Hindi films made is no more than 15% of the total produced in India each year. More films are made in regional languages like Telugu and Tamil than in Hindi, a fact that is little known. Altogether over 850 films are made annually in about 14 Indian languages. The cultural characteristics and representations in regional language films are specific to the region where the language is spoken and distribution is restricted to that region.
In the pre-television era, until two decades ago, it used to be said that a Tamil film could only be successful with a Malayali audience when you substituted its happy ending (de rigeur in Tamil films) with a tragic ending. Regional language films are known for their rootedness in the culture of the region. In South Indian film circles this characteristic is loosely referred to as 'nativity' (not to be confused with the Nativity of Christ). A film not imbued with 'nativity' was criticized for its lack of cultural moorings and considered devoid of authenticity and conviction. Often the box office failure of a film was attributed to this reason. The success or failure of a Hindi film is not based on any such perception.
Hindi films originated in Mumbai and Kolkata where the spoken language is not Hindi. Hindi films had to appeal to people across the spectrum of different language groups. This gave rise to the creation of an invented culture, pan-Indian in nature, based on emerging urban values, which were largely aspirational. As a result, diverse symbols, iconography, social mores, customs and conventions got simplified and standardized for countrywide acceptability. This vital difference between regional and Hindi cinemas may not be evident to a non-Indian viewer since the form of popular Indian cinema is common to both.
From its inception, Indian cinema took its shape from the existent urban and folk theatrical forms that were popular at the time. This was a narrative style that used songs and dances as interludes. In the hands of a creative filmmaker these interludes were often integrated into the narrative. South Asian audiences have preferred their film entertainment in this form ever since. However, not all filmmakers were happy with this form which seemed creatively constricting. It wasn't till the middle of the 1950's that some young filmmakers in Bengal beginning with Satyajit Ray and Ritwick Ghatak and later with Mrinal Sen made a radical departure from this tradition. The films they made were at once culturally specific and yet used a narrative style that dispensed with the need for songs. The films were also closer to life and experience and could easily be accessed by international audiences. In the next two decades filmmakers in other parts of India made films that collectively came to be known as the new Indian cinema. The success of Satyajit Ray's films at major international film festivals and in the art house circuits of the western world made his work appear to be representative of Indian cinema to international filmgoers. Ironically, outside of his native Bengal, his films were not as well distributed in the rest of India. The new Indian cinema had a measure of success in the decades of the 70's and 80's, but lost favour with the proliferation of television all over the country. To hold on to audiences cinema had to be bigger, more spectacular and offer a kind of entertainment that television could not deliver. Small budget films that new Indian cinema represented, could not possibly compete, except in some regions like Kerala and to some extent in Bengal.
The South Asian Diaspora, which has increased considerably in recent years, has helped to make traditional Indian cinema known outside India. Tamil films featuring Rajnikant have been commercially successful in Japan while Hindi films such as Taal, Dilwale Dulhaniyan, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai have figured among the top grossing films in the U.K. Last year Lagaan and Ashoka seemed to have attracted a considerable number of non-South Asian viewers in Europe and America. The film composer A.R. Rahman has written the music for the big West End musical, Bombay Dreams. Filmmakers of Indian origin like Deepa Mehta and Mira Nair have had their films released by major distributors in mainstream cinema houses on the international circuit, although they cannot be strictly considered as representing traditional Indian cinema. The younger generation of Indian filmmakers shows distinct transnational sensibilities and is aiming to reach world audiences beyond the South Asian Diaspora. For the radically inclined, the new digital technologies have come as a boon. They can make films of their choice (as some of them have) without feeling the pressure of the demands of the market place. The line drawn between traditional Indian cinema and the new Indian cinema will most likely disappear. The future holds great promise.
