Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films
Hong Kong’s martial arts film have been popular in India since the 1970s (Srinivas Citation2012, 66) and they have had a profound influence on the Hindi action films of the 1970s-1980s, as martial arts were progressively integrated into their narratives. This article investigates the appeal of Hong...
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| Format: | Book Section |
| Language: | English |
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Routledge
2023
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| Online Access: | https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/10008/3/Clelia%20Kung%20Fu%20revised%20final%20version.pdf |
| _version_ | 1824446522380517376 |
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| author | Clini, Clelia |
| author2 | Clini, Clelia |
| author_facet | Clini, Clelia Clini, Clelia |
| author_sort | Clini, Clelia |
| collection | LMU |
| description | Hong Kong’s martial arts film have been popular in India since the 1970s (Srinivas Citation2012, 66) and they have had a profound influence on the Hindi action films of the 1970s-1980s, as martial arts were progressively integrated into their narratives. This article investigates the appeal of Hong Kong martial arts films, and of the figure of Bruce Lee in particular, with specific reference to the social, cultural and political context of reception in India. The context within which Bruce Lee made his entrance on the Indian screens was in fact critical for his success. In particular, the article examines the appeal of martial arts, and their incorporation in the Hindi action films of the 1970s, in relation to (post)colonial discourses of Asian masculinity. Drawing upon Yvonne Tasker’s examination of the ‘anticolonial narrative’ embedded in Hong Kong martial arts films, the analysis discusses the incorporation of a martial arts style of combat within Indian popular films as a response to colonial and orientalist tropes of Asian effeminacy and softness and argues that martial arts allowed the 1970s Hindi action hero to articulate an alternative, anticolonial, version of Asian masculinity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T01:16:30Z |
| format | Book Section |
| id | oai:repository.londonmet.ac.uk:10008 |
| institution | London Metropolitan University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T01:16:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | oai:repository.londonmet.ac.uk:100082025-01-03T15:52:23Z https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/10008/ Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films Clini, Clelia 300 Social sciences 790 Recreational & performing arts 900 History & geography Hong Kong’s martial arts film have been popular in India since the 1970s (Srinivas Citation2012, 66) and they have had a profound influence on the Hindi action films of the 1970s-1980s, as martial arts were progressively integrated into their narratives. This article investigates the appeal of Hong Kong martial arts films, and of the figure of Bruce Lee in particular, with specific reference to the social, cultural and political context of reception in India. The context within which Bruce Lee made his entrance on the Indian screens was in fact critical for his success. In particular, the article examines the appeal of martial arts, and their incorporation in the Hindi action films of the 1970s, in relation to (post)colonial discourses of Asian masculinity. Drawing upon Yvonne Tasker’s examination of the ‘anticolonial narrative’ embedded in Hong Kong martial arts films, the analysis discusses the incorporation of a martial arts style of combat within Indian popular films as a response to colonial and orientalist tropes of Asian effeminacy and softness and argues that martial arts allowed the 1970s Hindi action hero to articulate an alternative, anticolonial, version of Asian masculinity. Routledge Clini, Clelia Dasgupta, Rohit K. Yangling, Yang 2023-09-25 Book Section PeerReviewed text en cc_by_nc_nd_4 https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/10008/3/Clelia%20Kung%20Fu%20revised%20final%20version.pdf Clini, Clelia (2023) Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films. In: South and East Asian cinemas across borders: critical trends in transnational cinema. Routledge, London (UK), pp. 75-90. ISBN 9780367693749 https://www.routledge.com/9780367693749 |
| spellingShingle | 300 Social sciences 790 Recreational & performing arts 900 History & geography Clini, Clelia Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title | Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title_full | Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title_fullStr | Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title_short | Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| title_sort | is everybody kung fu fighting indian popular cinema and martial arts films |
| topic | 300 Social sciences 790 Recreational & performing arts 900 History & geography |
| url | https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/10008/3/Clelia%20Kung%20Fu%20revised%20final%20version.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cliniclelia iseverybodykungfufightingindianpopularcinemaandmartialartsfilms |