Indian Cinema has turned a hundred years. And as it grew in shape, size, craft, value and visibility globally, it had love-hate relations in the South Asian region, whether in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. How have the relations of Bollywood with people and governments in South Asia evolved?
The 100 Years and Journey So Far
Indian Cinema, not Bollywood, has completed a hundred years in May 2013, considering the release of the Marathi classic Raja Harischandra by father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke, in May 1913 as the inception of Indian Cinema. Though the global face of Indian Cinema is surely Bollywood, the large-scale Hindi films from Mumbai, there are much more to the art and craft of cinema from India, specially the films in Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu languages. The non-Hindi films from India are equal in number and value of business to the Hindi films, all totaling some 1200 films in 2012 bringing in some USD 3.6 billion revenue. This is more than double the number of films produced by Hollywood though the revenue is more than a trillion dollars in Hollywood. The spread of the Indian cinema industry’s oeuvre is amazing. The films are shown in some 100 overseas markets, catalyzing the growth of trans-national creative networks, collaborations. Big studios Columbia, Disney and 20th Century Fox are now striking co-production deals with Indian companies.
Bollywood & Pakistan:
In the South Asian markets, especially in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Indian cinema was officially banned for long. However, that did not help the local entertainment industry and Indian cinema found pirated ways into the houses of people wanting the same.
The 1960s marked the high point of Pakistan’s film industry, when Abbot Road in Lahore filled with smart art-deco cinemas playing the latest colour offerings to packed houses. Today, the heart of movieland is dead. The 1998 hit Choorian briefly revived the industry. Its tale of a city boy who falls in love with a country girl promised to another man, was first dismissed by critics as derivate, but it proved a huge hit with movie audience who loved the way it pinched a proven Bollywood formula.
Pakistan had banned Indian films after going to war with its neighbor in 1965 but over the past few years, as relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have improved, authorities have been allowing a trickle of Indian films to be shown in cinemas. That has delighted movie fans and cinema operators but Pakistani film producers fear a flood of Indian films could mean the end of the local film industry.
However, in recent years some of Pakistan’s hottest talent has moved to Mumbai. Ali Zafar, one of the country’s biggest pop stars, made his Bollywood debut this year in Tere Bin Laden. Beena Malik, singers Nusrat Fateh Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali and many others are all too known. Add in a stagnating economy and criticism of Lollywood’s bawdy movies by Islamic groups, cinema in neighbouring India seems an attractive destination for young stars. Nilofar Bakhtiar, who chairs the Pakistan Senate’s standing committee on culture and tourism, suggested strengthening ties with Bollywood to help revive Lollywood’s fortunes, including film training opportunities. But the suggestion would lead to a faster exodus of talent to India, according to Qaisar Sanaullah Khan, secretary of the Pakistan Cinema Owners’ Association.
For long, competition from Bollywood fare as well as the mediocrity of Pakistani films means that many Pakistanis opt to stay at home and watch Indian movies on pirated DVDs. Cinemas have been struggling for years and many operators have given up and sold off their premises which have been converted into shopping centers or offices. From about 750 cinemas nationwide in the 1970s, there are now 300. But Indian films are breathing life back into Pakistani cinemas. Cinema operators are cashing in on the revival of interest in the cinema the Indian films have generated. Before screenings of Indian films began, a cinema ticket in Karachi cost less than 100 rupees. Now it is 150 rupees or more. Pakistani film distributors also welcome the revival of cinemas.
Bollywood & Bangladesh:
It’s official. After being exiled for 39 long years since 1972, Indian films were set to release in Bangladesh since late 2010. It’s no secret that Bollywood films are immensely popular across the border in Pakistan and Nepal, and Tamil films in Sri Lanka. However, thanks to protectionist measures by the Bangladesh government, Indian films have long been banned there. The rationale behind the ban that came into effect in 1972 after India won independence for them from Pakistan was to protect the fledgling Bangladeshi film industry. In theory, it was not a bad idea.
But the lawmakers forgot one small thing. In the information age, getting access to Indian films through illegal means is extremely easy. And the Bangladesh audience prefers Indian films, as the high number of shops selling illegal DVDs and the small number of cinemas in Dhaka testify.
In January 2010, Bangladesh decided to allow the release of Indian films but this happy period lasted only six months as aggrieved local filmmakers cried foul and appealed against the decision. Thus, Indian films were banned again. Now, cinema owners, fed up with the lack of local interest in local fare, appealed to the court to allow Indian film imports and the courts have agreed, leading to official Bollywood releases in Bangladesh since September 2011.
First of all, in the age of globalization and free sky we cannot keep resisting foreign culture to creep into our society. The popularity of Hindi cinema is immense not only in Bangladesh but also across the world. And people around the world can easily get access to the cable and satellite television. Moreover, DVD and free download of movies from the internet have made it even easier for the middle and upper class viewers to enjoy Hindi or English movie at will. These alternatives do not include the marginal class of the society. The irony is the middle-class in the country rarely go to cinema hall to watch Bengali cinema or keep themselves updated about news and views of Dhaliwood. It is strongly believed that the target population of Bengali cinema is no other than the rickshaw pullers, garments workers and other wage labourers. The quality of Bangladesh cinema is quite understandable in terms of its technical aspects and storyline, which are not comparable with any other country’s cinema such as Indian, or even Pakistan and Nepal.
One can easily ask why the ‘cinema protectors’ do not protest against English cinema or Hindi cinema shown on satellite TV or in the internet. The reason is quite obvious. It is either their family members who are direct consumers of those sources or they have no hand to regulate the sky. But, they only can regulate the taste and fate of the marginal people and cinema halls as they wish
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Also, the concept of ‘culture’ is not so easy to understand what we perceive it to be. It has different facets and dimensions which can encompass time and space and influence people in another society. We use the concept ‘culture’ without much thought and conceptualize it which is why the concept remains a vague one in academia and even in the socio-political sphere. Dhaliwood producers and exhibitors are now understanding that if their own cinema quality falls and cannot evoke the audience to the cinema hall what will happen to some 800 cinema halls that still survive across the country?
Bollywood & Nepal:
The making of Nepali films is said to have begun with D.B. Pariyar’s Satya Harishchandra, which was the first Nepali-language film to be shot. It was produced from Kolkata, India, and was released on September 14, 1951. Aama (meaning mother) was the first film produced in Nepal and was released on October 7, 1964. It was produced by the Information Department of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. The first film to be produced under a private banner was Maitighar, which was released at the end of 1966 by Sumonanjali Films Pvt. Ltd. Although it was a Nepali movie, it had many Indians contributing toward its making. The Nepal government established the Royal Nepal Film Corporation in 1971. Mann Ko Bandh was the first film produced by the corporation. It was followed by Kumari (the first Eastman color Nepali film) in 1978, Sindoor in 1980, and Jeevan Rekha in a series. Their success opened up the avenue for private parties to enter into filmmaking as an industrial endeavor.
In 1990, Nepal witnessed important political change. The people’s movement brought the monarchy to its knees and democracy was restored. The society started to become open and vibrant. This had an important consequence for the fledgling film industry: It began to grow rapidly or even to “bloat”. There was an unprecedented growth in the number of productions. Within three years, some 140 films were made. Distribution started to develop. Market share in the existing market increased and the market itself expanded. Cinema halls increased to more than 300. Nepali filmmakers became optimistic of displacing Hindi films, which had dominated the Nepali market earlier.
The start of the Maoist revolution in Nepal in the mid-1990s was the beginning of the downfall of the domestic film industry. There was an unwritten ban on Hindi films too for quite some time. In the period of war and conflict, a very small number of films were made, and audience numbers fell sharply. It resulted in lower budgets and even lower performances, which resulted in even smaller audiences. In the later years of the conflict, the production and release of Nepali films had almost come to a standstill. Many actors and filmmakers left the country in search for work abroad.
Also, during the 1990s, some filmmakers, mostly with non-fiction base, started championing a new kind of cinema. They denounced the crude imitation of Bollywood aesthetics and demanded indigenous aesthetics and a more realistic approach. They made some films which have received some critical acclaim at home and some international recognition. Historic movies like Balidaan and Seema Rekha made during this period were appreciated both by critics and audience.
By 2006, the situation in Nepal calmed down. With the Maoists coming into mainstream politics, the Nepali film industry started to return to its previous state. Today, more films are being made and released. The production companies and those in the industry are enthusiastic about the country’s new situation. The return of peace has opened more venues for the shooting of films, and the industry is seen to be making good use of this time to revive its image.
New generation moviemakers geared up to make sensible cinema with entertainment rather than Bollywood inspired socio-actions. Kagbeni, Sano Sansar, Mero Euta Saathi Cha,First Love, Kohi Mero, etc. are some of the fine examples of quality cinema in terms of presentation, performance, story and technical superiority. However, they lacked in connecting with the audience. In January 2012, a film named Loot was released which emerged as a blockbuster. It was also the first movie in decades to be screened more than 100 days in the cinema halls. Much recently Chapali Height broke opening weekend gross by earning 8.4 million at the box office, breaking one of the records held by Loot, but Loot still holds the distinction of the highest grosser by far.
After banning Hindi films in 2012, the breakaway faction of Maoists led by Mohan Baidya was forced to withdraw the ban within a few weeks ahead of the festive season. The party had imposed a ban on ‘vulgar’ Hindi movies in a bid to ‘safeguard national sovereignty’ and ‘promote a self-reliant economy’. Multiplexes and single screen theatres in Kathmandu began screening ‘Barfi’, ‘Heroine’, ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Kamal Dhamal Malamaal’---Hindi movies which were released before screening was stopped.
Due to the ban hall owners were either forced to down shutters or screen Nepali movies in few screens on discounted rates. But the response from movie goers was not enthusiastic. Movie halls incurred losses valued at nearly NRs 2.5 crore ( Rs. 1.5 crore approx) during the 10 days from October 1 to October 10, according to Ashok Sarma, managing director of Digital Cinema.
Conclusions:
Given the complex reality of globalization in the age of free information and entertainment, we need to reconsider our cultural boundary and perception very seriously. Before anything else, we need to be more logically political and less emotionally cultural.
“Filmmaking is like a nuclear power. If used properly, it can immensely help mankind. And if misused, it can destroy many minds,” says the noted alternative film-maker of Assamese origin, Jahnu Barua. There can be cross-cultural flow through cinema across South Asia and this can help develop people-to-people relations.
Often the anti-woman or commodification of sex and violence through a large number of Bollywood films are questioned by critics in other South Asian nations. And rightly so. “It’s the job of cinema to condemn inexcusable social realities and portray reality as it ought to be — only a lazy film maker will claim that it’s impossible to do both while remaining entertaining and commercially viable,” says Anna MM Vetticad, author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. A trip to the cinema can easily be a lesson in how to objectify women: skimpy clothes, close-ups of bare midriffs and of course, ‘item numbers’. Post the December 16 Delhi gangrape, the lyrics of the Fevicol se song came under fire. However, it is important to celebrate some changes for the positive as well. Though unable to entirely shrug off their unease of independent or ambitious women (think the climax of Cocktail or Fashion), recent movies have given us heroines who are vocal and free-spirited. Movies such as Aiyya frankly depict female desire. Even sexiness is no longer the preserve of the Sheilas or the Chikni Chamelis. In Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Katrina Kaif is presented as beautiful, attractive but the camera doesn’t letch at her.
Further, film talent training, giving boost to film exhibition revenue, and creating production standards to achieve by allowing Indian Cinema can easily be the benefits in other South Asian nations.
This is not to say that there should not be any form of protection given to local film industry and talent. Make shows of local cinema compulsory in certain time-slots, by law. Allow local block-busters to be screened in prime time too, through market forces. Let local media adequately publicize the local cinema and its talent. Let tax rebates be given to local cinema and higher entertainment taxes on Bollywood cinema. Co-opt and legalize the income coming in, do not ban and languish in revenue.
Further, let there be institutional ways of promoting South Asian cinema within India too: through South Asian Film Festivals, workshops, day-time shows in certain markets (depending on the language spoken in those markets). Pakistani Urdu based films would go well in select halls of Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai and even Delhi. Nepali films will have a good market in eastern and north-eastern India specifically. Bangladeshi films are being released in West Bengal routinely. The trend needs to be encouraged further through institutional and media efforts to this end.
