The India Media Centre launched this week by Shyam Benegal, held a one day Bollywood and Beyond conference on Friday, hosting the global leaders in Hindi film academia. Bollyspice took a seat in an audience of cinema fans attending the event from as far afield as New York.Rosie Thomas from the University of Westminster, presented on the Arabian Nights in early Indian cinema, a genre which as last year’s Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aladin proves, continues to endure.
Rajinder Dudrah a recent winner of a Global Achievement award for his work in education alongside Anupam Kher and Darshhal Safary, explores the Bollywood scenein the north of England. Highlighting his lecture with postcard images from the city, the Uday Chopra double comments, "Bollywood cinema has arrived. It's always been a global and international cinema, but since the mid to late nineties it has arrived. With its films often making the UK Top 10 at the box office, Bollywood is now part of a global ethnic chic".
Ann David from Roehampton University presented a paper on Hindi film dance, focusing on the rising popularity of Bollywood dance in the UK, anda shift in the popularity ofdance style from classical to film. David outlines the growth in the number of dance schools now teachingsuch film inspired moves, "The learning of filmi dance is now seen as a means of entering the glamorous world of Bollywood". David also spoke about attempt to formalize the learning of Bollywood dance, bringing in more professionalism to the industry.
Ranjani Mazumdar from Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, explored themes of global travel in 60s Bollywood cinema, highlighted with clips from Love in Tokyo and the Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore starrer An Evening in Paris. Through the presentation of love and romance in foreign cities, Mazumdar outlines, "Kissing couples shown on the screen escaped censorship as it is always the foreigners shown kissing and not the Indian stars".
"The success of Lage Raho Munna Bhai led to a revival in Gandhigiri, especially amongst the young", comments Rachel Dwyer from the School of Oriental and African Studies, in her paper looking at Gandhi in Hindi film. Dwyer also explored the difficulties in using real life biopics as the subject of Bollywood film, with the recent shelving of Irfan Khan project Indian Summer and Hindi cinema's original Dhak Dhak girl Madhuri Dixit announced to play Indira Gandhi.
The use of melodrama in Hindi film song was the theme of Anna Morcom's paper,from Royal Holloway, using a song sequence from Pakeezah.
Jawaharlal Nehru University's Ira Bhaskarpresenteda paper on Hindi film music. Bhaskar considered the impact of Sufi music in Dil Se,Fanaa and Rab Ne Bane Di Jodiin their useof Sufi beats and lyrics. In recent releases, the scholar notes how music producers are often using the poetry of Sufi writersbut not its visuals, "With dance music from a disco, and clothes representing haute couture, the visualisation of these songs are at odds with their lyrics". Bhaskar has interviewed the music director from Dev D in her research.
An investigation into B-movie Ramsay Brother Indian horror by Valentina Vitali, University of East London, provided the audience with a very different side of Bollywood, quite unlike the Hindi film horror of Phoonk or Kaal.
Shakuntala Banaji's from the Institute of Education provided an analysis of children in Hindi film, which as anyone who has watched a Karan Johar film will agree, is often done with little sensitivity.
In a day of screen subjects and themes, trends in production and reception, and performance in dance and song, the leading experts in Hindi cinema shared their gyan on all that is Bollywood and Beyond
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