Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions
How does one celebrate the centenary of ‘a way of life’? For a medium, you remember its greatest meaning makers. For a movement, you highlight the turning points in its journey. For an individual, the heights of success and impact. But what about an art form that started as an ‘alien’ wonder to end...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Edinburgh Library
2013-12-01
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| Series: | The South Asianist |
| Online Access: | http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/702 |
| _version_ | 1819111372329320448 |
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| author | Piyush Roy |
| author_facet | Piyush Roy |
| author_sort | Piyush Roy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | How does one celebrate the centenary of ‘a way of life’?
For a medium, you remember its greatest meaning makers. For a movement, you highlight the turning points in its journey. For an individual, the heights of success and impact. But what about an art form that started as an ‘alien’ wonder to end up not only as a way of life, but also a prodigious offspring, unimaginably mutated away from its now ‘foreign’ parent DNA, in a span of just 100 years. Today, it would not be an overstatement to celebrate Bollywood or popular Indian cinema in the national language, Hindi, as India’s most recognisable offering on the international culture platform. Its film industry is arguably one of ‘Shining India’s’ truly uncontested achievements in the new millennium.
As a film critic I have frequently come across star, journalist and fan anecdotes of fond introductions and interactions over shared Bollywood memories in foreign lands. These stories have always evoked a sceptic’s enthusiasm, until recently, when a Russian man approached me on a bus in Edinburgh, hesitant yet excited, upon seeing a song sequence featuring Raj Kapoor playing on my laptop. Two decades ago, as a teen he had queued up with his grandmother for an umpteenth showcase of Brodigaya (the Russian name for Awara, which was dubbed and released in 1954) on a snowy winter’s afternoon in Moscow in the 1990s. Nearly three decades after his death and six decades since the release of Awara (1951), Raj Kapoor had once again connected two strangers from two different nations, in a third foreign land. Raj Kapoor and Awara remain Indian cinema’s first major triumph with audiences beyond the Indian sub-continent.
Cont'd... |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:56:34Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-487X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:56:34Z |
| publishDate | 2013-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh Library |
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| series | The South Asianist |
| spelling | doaj.art-78ba7c80b27d450a8c5f4aa705c050b02022-12-21T18:39:51ZengUniversity of Edinburgh LibraryThe South Asianist2050-487X2013-12-0123702Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptionsPiyush RoyHow does one celebrate the centenary of ‘a way of life’? For a medium, you remember its greatest meaning makers. For a movement, you highlight the turning points in its journey. For an individual, the heights of success and impact. But what about an art form that started as an ‘alien’ wonder to end up not only as a way of life, but also a prodigious offspring, unimaginably mutated away from its now ‘foreign’ parent DNA, in a span of just 100 years. Today, it would not be an overstatement to celebrate Bollywood or popular Indian cinema in the national language, Hindi, as India’s most recognisable offering on the international culture platform. Its film industry is arguably one of ‘Shining India’s’ truly uncontested achievements in the new millennium. As a film critic I have frequently come across star, journalist and fan anecdotes of fond introductions and interactions over shared Bollywood memories in foreign lands. These stories have always evoked a sceptic’s enthusiasm, until recently, when a Russian man approached me on a bus in Edinburgh, hesitant yet excited, upon seeing a song sequence featuring Raj Kapoor playing on my laptop. Two decades ago, as a teen he had queued up with his grandmother for an umpteenth showcase of Brodigaya (the Russian name for Awara, which was dubbed and released in 1954) on a snowy winter’s afternoon in Moscow in the 1990s. Nearly three decades after his death and six decades since the release of Awara (1951), Raj Kapoor had once again connected two strangers from two different nations, in a third foreign land. Raj Kapoor and Awara remain Indian cinema’s first major triumph with audiences beyond the Indian sub-continent. Cont'd...http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/702 |
| spellingShingle | Piyush Roy Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions The South Asianist |
| title | Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions |
| title_full | Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions |
| title_fullStr | Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions |
| title_short | Celebrating a century of Indian cinema: passions, pleasures and perceptions |
| title_sort | celebrating a century of indian cinema passions pleasures and perceptions |
| url | http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/702 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT piyushroy celebratingacenturyofindiancinemapassionspleasuresandperceptions |