Contrary to popular belief, Indian cinema is not just about
elaborate song and dance numbers.
Filmi Melody, a film showcase put on by the UCLA Film and
Television Archive beginning Oct. 21, will feature five Bollywood
films that, despite using music, dispel this notion.
“There was a period in which all the musical numbers
seemed to have to be as strenuous as possible and had to involve
athletic dancing and loud music,” co-curator David Chute
said. “Recently, there has been a rebellion against that from
some of the best directors. Now a love song can simply be two
people looking at each other and singing, rather then this huge
production number.”
The showy dance numbers Chute refers to were extremely common
throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and it is only recently
that Bollywood directors are beginning to revert back to the
classical form of the Bollywood film.
“Now you can see a shift back to the golden age. Music is
moving away from the big spectacles to a more intimate form,”
co-curator Cheng-Sim Lim said.
In both its classic and elaborate forms, music is the key aspect
in Bollywood cinema, a concept that is often foreign to American
moviegoers.
“We’re trying to show the American audience that
music in movies doesn’t have to be used the way it is in
American musicals. Bollywood uses a song to express anger and
sadness. Lyrics are used the way a playwright uses a
soliloquy,” Chute said.
Lim and Chute selected five films to exhibit at this
year’s showcase. The films span a number of genres, ranging
from a film about a feudal lord’s son to one about a mob
boss.
“The musical is a kind of meta-genre in Bollywood. In the
context of American film, the musical is its own genre, but in
Indian commercial industry, the musical cuts across all the
genres,” Lim said.
Unlike Hollywood films, in which music is considered secondary
to the movie itself, the soundtrack of an Indian film is released
prior to the film and is an important way to attract interest to
the film.
“Indian pop music charts are filled with music from the
movies. The music is the driving force behind the movie,” Lim
said.
The popularity of Bollywood films is quite expansive ““
they have gained enormous popularity in Asia and the Middle East,
as well as in parts of Europe.
“Americans think of Hollywood as the most influential
cinema in the world, and I think we need to step back a little in
that regard. Indian cinema is the largest film industry in the
world in the sense that it makes the greatest number of films. It
is this vast film industry that Americans know so little about, and
we hope to give people a glimpse of its richness,” Lim
said.
For students who are new to the Bollywood scene, Chute suggests
“Amar Akbar Anthony,” which screens Oct. 29. The film
is a satire of the typical masala (which literally means “mix
of flavors”) Bollywood film that doesn’t belong to a
specific genre.
“At its peak, every movie had to have everything in it
““ a love story, a comedy track, fights ““ and of course,
some kind of melodrama, such as a sister being married against her
will. “˜Amar Akbar Anthony’ is about three brothers
separated at birth that are each raised a different religion. There
are these hugely ridiculous coincidences and elaborate dance
numbers, and it’s just a good, lighthearted intro to all the
conventions of the movies of that period,” Chute said.
Though the concept of a Bollywood film may seem completely
foreign to students who have never seen an Indian film, Lim
believes that all students, regardless of their exposure to
Bollywood movies, will enjoy the film series.
“If you go in with an open mindset, you will be swept into
this world of exuberance and music, and it can be really
life-affirming,” Lim said.