Centring Women in Bollywood Biopics

Centring Women in Bollywood Biopics

Author: Chandrava Chakravarty

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2024-10-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781032421902

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This book explores the dramatic rise in popularity of the women's biopic in contemporary Bollywood, within the context of wider cultural shifts over the past decade. Delving into the societal shifts reflected in the genre, both on and off screen, the book explores the contours of individual agency and the centring of women in Indian cinema. The book offers new insight into women-centric Hindi biopics, a fast-rising genre carving out a tradition of its own, with female directors and actors contributing to this rising postfeminist celebration of woman's agency and individuality. The authors posit that the alternative narratives, created by Bollywood and accepted by mainstream audiences, have become a catalyst to elevate women or female actors to protagonists, without the need to conform to the sexist mores of mainstream Bollywood. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and upper-level students in the areas of film studies, media industries, gender and feminism, and South Asian studies.


Book Synopsis Centring Women in Bollywood Biopics by : Chandrava Chakravarty

Download or read book Centring Women in Bollywood Biopics written by Chandrava Chakravarty and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2024-10-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the dramatic rise in popularity of the women's biopic in contemporary Bollywood, within the context of wider cultural shifts over the past decade. Delving into the societal shifts reflected in the genre, both on and off screen, the book explores the contours of individual agency and the centring of women in Indian cinema. The book offers new insight into women-centric Hindi biopics, a fast-rising genre carving out a tradition of its own, with female directors and actors contributing to this rising postfeminist celebration of woman's agency and individuality. The authors posit that the alternative narratives, created by Bollywood and accepted by mainstream audiences, have become a catalyst to elevate women or female actors to protagonists, without the need to conform to the sexist mores of mainstream Bollywood. This book will be of interest to scholars, researchers and upper-level students in the areas of film studies, media industries, gender and feminism, and South Asian studies.

The Millennial Woman in Bollywood

The Millennial Woman in Bollywood

Author: Maithili Shyam Rao

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-11-30

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 9354974597

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The subtitle says it all: how and why Bollywood found it worthwhile to explore the reality of the millennial women who are thriving in India - small part of the demographics but very influential. Advertising discovered women as The Hindi film Heroine is a brand and brand ambassador. The market met contemporary women who are independent, with freer attitudes to relationships, including pre-marital sex, Rom coms of the new millennium reflect this new-found freedom, defying patriarchy that still defines our society. Globalisation is culturally irreversible. From the 1990s onwards, Bollywood has responded to globalisation with fear of loss of identity and desire to integrate with global trends. It results in popular cinema becoming glocal. Bollywood celebrates nonconformists, subversives woman as the hero, stories in their own way unequivocally said No means No. Most daringly. Iconic characters like Choti Bahu, Paro and Chandramukhi transformed into today’s women with the power to change their lives. This happened with the energy infused into the mainstream by indie filmmakers with vision and the will to tell stories in their own way.


Book Synopsis The Millennial Woman in Bollywood by : Maithili Shyam Rao

Download or read book The Millennial Woman in Bollywood written by Maithili Shyam Rao and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subtitle says it all: how and why Bollywood found it worthwhile to explore the reality of the millennial women who are thriving in India - small part of the demographics but very influential. Advertising discovered women as The Hindi film Heroine is a brand and brand ambassador. The market met contemporary women who are independent, with freer attitudes to relationships, including pre-marital sex, Rom coms of the new millennium reflect this new-found freedom, defying patriarchy that still defines our society. Globalisation is culturally irreversible. From the 1990s onwards, Bollywood has responded to globalisation with fear of loss of identity and desire to integrate with global trends. It results in popular cinema becoming glocal. Bollywood celebrates nonconformists, subversives woman as the hero, stories in their own way unequivocally said No means No. Most daringly. Iconic characters like Choti Bahu, Paro and Chandramukhi transformed into today’s women with the power to change their lives. This happened with the energy infused into the mainstream by indie filmmakers with vision and the will to tell stories in their own way.

Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema

Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema

Author: Devapriya Sanyal

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-12-09

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1000509192

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This book analyses the role of women in the films of one of the leading filmmakers of the ‘Third World’ in the 1950s, Satyajit Ray, a national icon in filmmaking in India. The book explores the portrayal of women in the context of the creation of national culture after India became independent. Gender issues were very important to India under Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s – with the enactment of inheritance and divorce laws. Ray’s portrayal of women and his films anticipate much of the theorizing of later-day feminism. This book analyses cinematic texts with special reference to the women characters using feminist film theory and representation along with a study of the socio-political and economic conditions pertinent to the times – both relevant to the film’s making and its setting. The primary texts studied are films spanning over four decades from Pather Panchali (1955) to his last trilogy and are based on a categorization of the broad feminine ‘types’ represented in the films – based on the socio-political situations in which they are placed – and their relationships with the other characters present. Ray’s portrayal of women has an enormous bearing on our understanding of how modern India evolved in the Nehru era and after, and this book explore just that: the place of the woman as it is and should be in a young nation encumbered by patriarchy. Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema will be of interest to academics in the field of World cinema, Indian and Bengali cinema, Film Studies as well as Gender Studies and South Asian culture and society.


Book Synopsis Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema by : Devapriya Sanyal

Download or read book Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema written by Devapriya Sanyal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-12-09 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses the role of women in the films of one of the leading filmmakers of the ‘Third World’ in the 1950s, Satyajit Ray, a national icon in filmmaking in India. The book explores the portrayal of women in the context of the creation of national culture after India became independent. Gender issues were very important to India under Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s – with the enactment of inheritance and divorce laws. Ray’s portrayal of women and his films anticipate much of the theorizing of later-day feminism. This book analyses cinematic texts with special reference to the women characters using feminist film theory and representation along with a study of the socio-political and economic conditions pertinent to the times – both relevant to the film’s making and its setting. The primary texts studied are films spanning over four decades from Pather Panchali (1955) to his last trilogy and are based on a categorization of the broad feminine ‘types’ represented in the films – based on the socio-political situations in which they are placed – and their relationships with the other characters present. Ray’s portrayal of women has an enormous bearing on our understanding of how modern India evolved in the Nehru era and after, and this book explore just that: the place of the woman as it is and should be in a young nation encumbered by patriarchy. Gendered Modernity and Indian Cinema will be of interest to academics in the field of World cinema, Indian and Bengali cinema, Film Studies as well as Gender Studies and South Asian culture and society.

Bollywood: A History

Bollywood: A History

Author: Mihir Bose

Publisher: Roli Books Private Limited

Published: 2008-05-09

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9351940454

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Hollywood may define our idea of movies, but it is the city of Bombay on the west coast of India that is now the centre of world cinema. Every year, the Indian film industry produces more than 1,000 feature films; every day, 14 million Indians go to a movie in the country; a billion more people a year buy tickets for Indian movies than for Hollywood ones. The rise of Bombay as the film capital of the world has been both remarkable and amazing. Bollywood movies themselves are a self-contained world with their multiple song and dance routines, intense melodrama, and plots that contain everything from farce to tragedy, but always produce a happy ending. The men and women who created these movies are even more remarkable; and it is this fantastic, rich, diverse story, a veritable Indian fairyland, that Mihir Bose, a native of Bombay, tells with vivid brilliance in the first comprehensive history of this major social and cultural phenomenon.


Book Synopsis Bollywood: A History by : Mihir Bose

Download or read book Bollywood: A History written by Mihir Bose and published by Roli Books Private Limited. This book was released on 2008-05-09 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hollywood may define our idea of movies, but it is the city of Bombay on the west coast of India that is now the centre of world cinema. Every year, the Indian film industry produces more than 1,000 feature films; every day, 14 million Indians go to a movie in the country; a billion more people a year buy tickets for Indian movies than for Hollywood ones. The rise of Bombay as the film capital of the world has been both remarkable and amazing. Bollywood movies themselves are a self-contained world with their multiple song and dance routines, intense melodrama, and plots that contain everything from farce to tragedy, but always produce a happy ending. The men and women who created these movies are even more remarkable; and it is this fantastic, rich, diverse story, a veritable Indian fairyland, that Mihir Bose, a native of Bombay, tells with vivid brilliance in the first comprehensive history of this major social and cultural phenomenon.

Women, Identity and India's Call Centre Industry

Women, Identity and India's Call Centre Industry

Author: J.K. Tina Basi

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-06-02

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1134016344

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This book examines the concept of globalised identities and the way in which agency is exercised over identity construction by women working in India’s transnational call centre industry. Drawing on qualitative empirical data and extensive original fieldwork, the book provides a nuanced analysis of the experiences of Indian women call centre workers and the role of women’s participation in the global labour market. The author uses social, cultural, and historical factors to create a framework for examining the processes of identity construction. Within this framework, the book explores the impact of the call centre labour process on the social landscape of urban centres in India and the way in which this has impacted upon transformations and shifts in society with relation to gendered, sexual, and generational relationships. Highlighting the significance of identity in a globalised world, the author argues that identity acts as one of the most powerful constructs in transforming global ‘scapes’ and flows of culture and economics. This book will be of interest to academics working on South Asia, gender and labour studies and issues of globalization, identity and social change.


Book Synopsis Women, Identity and India's Call Centre Industry by : J.K. Tina Basi

Download or read book Women, Identity and India's Call Centre Industry written by J.K. Tina Basi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the concept of globalised identities and the way in which agency is exercised over identity construction by women working in India’s transnational call centre industry. Drawing on qualitative empirical data and extensive original fieldwork, the book provides a nuanced analysis of the experiences of Indian women call centre workers and the role of women’s participation in the global labour market. The author uses social, cultural, and historical factors to create a framework for examining the processes of identity construction. Within this framework, the book explores the impact of the call centre labour process on the social landscape of urban centres in India and the way in which this has impacted upon transformations and shifts in society with relation to gendered, sexual, and generational relationships. Highlighting the significance of identity in a globalised world, the author argues that identity acts as one of the most powerful constructs in transforming global ‘scapes’ and flows of culture and economics. This book will be of interest to academics working on South Asia, gender and labour studies and issues of globalization, identity and social change.

Dancing Women

Dancing Women

Author: Usha Iyer

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-10-02

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0190938765

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Dancing Women: Choreographing Corporeal Histories of Hindi Cinema, an ambitious study of two of South Asia's most popular cultural forms cinema and dance historicizes and theorizes the material and cultural production of film dance, a staple attraction of popular Hindi cinema. It explores how the dynamic figurations of the body wrought by cinematic dance forms from the 1930s to the 1990s produce unique constructions of gender, sexuality, stardom, and spectacle. By charting discursive shifts through figurations of dancer-actresses, their publicly performed movements, private training, and the cinematic and extra-diegetic narratives woven around their dancing bodies, the book considers the "women's question" via new mobilities corpo-realized by dancing women. Some of the central figures animating this corporeal history are Azurie, Sadhona Bose, Vyjayanthimala, Helen, Waheeda Rehman, Madhuri Dixit, and Saroj Khan, whose performance histories fold and intersect with those of other dancing women, including devadasis and tawaifs, Eurasian actresses, oriental dancers, vamps, choreographers, and backup dancers. Through a material history of the labor of producing on-screen dance, theoretical frameworks that emphasize collaboration, such as the "choreomusicking body" and "dance musicalization," aesthetic approaches to embodiment drawing on treatises like the Natya Sastra and the Abhinaya Darpana, and formal analyses of cine-choreographic "techno-spectacles," Dancing Women offers a variegated, textured history of cinema, dance, and music. Tracing the gestural genealogies of film dance produces a very different narrative of Bombay cinema, and indeed of South Asian cultural modernities, by way of a corporeal history co-choreographed by a network of remarkable dancing women.


Book Synopsis Dancing Women by : Usha Iyer

Download or read book Dancing Women written by Usha Iyer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dancing Women: Choreographing Corporeal Histories of Hindi Cinema, an ambitious study of two of South Asia's most popular cultural forms cinema and dance historicizes and theorizes the material and cultural production of film dance, a staple attraction of popular Hindi cinema. It explores how the dynamic figurations of the body wrought by cinematic dance forms from the 1930s to the 1990s produce unique constructions of gender, sexuality, stardom, and spectacle. By charting discursive shifts through figurations of dancer-actresses, their publicly performed movements, private training, and the cinematic and extra-diegetic narratives woven around their dancing bodies, the book considers the "women's question" via new mobilities corpo-realized by dancing women. Some of the central figures animating this corporeal history are Azurie, Sadhona Bose, Vyjayanthimala, Helen, Waheeda Rehman, Madhuri Dixit, and Saroj Khan, whose performance histories fold and intersect with those of other dancing women, including devadasis and tawaifs, Eurasian actresses, oriental dancers, vamps, choreographers, and backup dancers. Through a material history of the labor of producing on-screen dance, theoretical frameworks that emphasize collaboration, such as the "choreomusicking body" and "dance musicalization," aesthetic approaches to embodiment drawing on treatises like the Natya Sastra and the Abhinaya Darpana, and formal analyses of cine-choreographic "techno-spectacles," Dancing Women offers a variegated, textured history of cinema, dance, and music. Tracing the gestural genealogies of film dance produces a very different narrative of Bombay cinema, and indeed of South Asian cultural modernities, by way of a corporeal history co-choreographed by a network of remarkable dancing women.

Women Filmmakers in Contemporary Hindi Cinema

Women Filmmakers in Contemporary Hindi Cinema

Author: Aysha Iqbal Viswamohan

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-01-28

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 3031102320

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This book is a comprehensive anthology comprising essays on women film directors, producers and screenwriters from Bollywood, or the popular Hindi film industry. It derives from the major theories of modernity, postmodern feminism, semiotics, cultural production, and gender performativity in globalized times. The collection transcends the traditional approaches of looking at films made by women filmmakers as ‘feminist’ cinema, and focuses on an extraordinary group of women filmmakers like Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, Bhavani Iyer, Farah Khan, Mira Nair Vijaya Mehta, and Zoya Akthar. The volume will be of interest to academics and theorists of gender and Hindi cinema, as well as anybody interested in contemporary Hindi films in their various manifestations.


Book Synopsis Women Filmmakers in Contemporary Hindi Cinema by : Aysha Iqbal Viswamohan

Download or read book Women Filmmakers in Contemporary Hindi Cinema written by Aysha Iqbal Viswamohan and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-01-28 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive anthology comprising essays on women film directors, producers and screenwriters from Bollywood, or the popular Hindi film industry. It derives from the major theories of modernity, postmodern feminism, semiotics, cultural production, and gender performativity in globalized times. The collection transcends the traditional approaches of looking at films made by women filmmakers as ‘feminist’ cinema, and focuses on an extraordinary group of women filmmakers like Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, Bhavani Iyer, Farah Khan, Mira Nair Vijaya Mehta, and Zoya Akthar. The volume will be of interest to academics and theorists of gender and Hindi cinema, as well as anybody interested in contemporary Hindi films in their various manifestations.

The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture

The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture

Author: Tom Brown

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-17

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 113595030X

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The biographical film or biopic is a staple of film production in all major film industries and yet, within film studies, its generic, aesthetic, and cultural significance has remained underexplored. The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture fills this gap, conceptualizing the biopic with a particular eye toward the "life" of the genre internationally. New theoretical approaches combine with specially commissioned chapters on contemporary biographical film production in India, Italy, South Korea, France, Russia, Great Britain, and the US, in order to present a selective but well-rounded portrait of the biopic’s place in film culture. From Marie Antoinette to The Social Network, the pieces in this volume critically examine the place of the biopic within ongoing debates about how cinema can and should represent history and "real lives." Contributors discuss the biopic’s grounding in the conventions of the historical film, and explore the genre’s defining traits as well as its potential for innovation. The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture expands the critical boundaries of this evolving, versatile genre.


Book Synopsis The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture by : Tom Brown

Download or read book The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture written by Tom Brown and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-17 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biographical film or biopic is a staple of film production in all major film industries and yet, within film studies, its generic, aesthetic, and cultural significance has remained underexplored. The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture fills this gap, conceptualizing the biopic with a particular eye toward the "life" of the genre internationally. New theoretical approaches combine with specially commissioned chapters on contemporary biographical film production in India, Italy, South Korea, France, Russia, Great Britain, and the US, in order to present a selective but well-rounded portrait of the biopic’s place in film culture. From Marie Antoinette to The Social Network, the pieces in this volume critically examine the place of the biopic within ongoing debates about how cinema can and should represent history and "real lives." Contributors discuss the biopic’s grounding in the conventions of the historical film, and explore the genre’s defining traits as well as its potential for innovation. The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture expands the critical boundaries of this evolving, versatile genre.

Women Screenwriters

Women Screenwriters

Author: Jill Nelmes

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-09-29

Total Pages: 626

ISBN-13: 1137312378

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Women Screenwriters is a study of more than 300 female writers from 60 nations, from the first film scenarios produced in 1986 to the present day. Divided into six sections by continent, the entries give an overview of the history of women screenwriters in each country, as well as individual biographies of its most influential.


Book Synopsis Women Screenwriters by : Jill Nelmes

Download or read book Women Screenwriters written by Jill Nelmes and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-09-29 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women Screenwriters is a study of more than 300 female writers from 60 nations, from the first film scenarios produced in 1986 to the present day. Divided into six sections by continent, the entries give an overview of the history of women screenwriters in each country, as well as individual biographies of its most influential.

Global Perspectives on Motherhood, Mothering and Masculinities

Global Perspectives on Motherhood, Mothering and Masculinities

Author: Andrea Moraes

Publisher: Demeter Press

Published: 2021-06-01

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1772583375

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The two phenomena highlighted in this edited volume 'motherhood/mothering and masculinities' are each recent areas of development in critical Feminist and Men's Studies. In contributing to these areas of gender studies, this book draws attention to the fact that much can also be gained when we explore relationships between them, an idea that may not readily come to mind. While femininities and masculinities are co-constructed, motherhood and mothering bring additional perspectives to the study of femininity that affect the construction of masculinity in complex ways. The 12 chapters in this volume allow readers to ponder some of these complexities and may suggest other issues that require investigation. Spanning many continents, the essays have both a global and historical reach emphasising cultural differences and historical changes. Of import is the idea that mothers have agency and are active in constructions affecting their lives. They are able to bring motherhood out of the shadows as they strive to build, re-evaluate, or alter their roles within families and communities. These have an impact on developments in masculinities. The book is divided into three parts and the chapters investigate a wide range of issues including cultural constructs, gender in parent/child, relationships, non-binary developments, the impact of war on mothering, decolonisation struggles, and much more.


Book Synopsis Global Perspectives on Motherhood, Mothering and Masculinities by : Andrea Moraes

Download or read book Global Perspectives on Motherhood, Mothering and Masculinities written by Andrea Moraes and published by Demeter Press. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The two phenomena highlighted in this edited volume 'motherhood/mothering and masculinities' are each recent areas of development in critical Feminist and Men's Studies. In contributing to these areas of gender studies, this book draws attention to the fact that much can also be gained when we explore relationships between them, an idea that may not readily come to mind. While femininities and masculinities are co-constructed, motherhood and mothering bring additional perspectives to the study of femininity that affect the construction of masculinity in complex ways. The 12 chapters in this volume allow readers to ponder some of these complexities and may suggest other issues that require investigation. Spanning many continents, the essays have both a global and historical reach emphasising cultural differences and historical changes. Of import is the idea that mothers have agency and are active in constructions affecting their lives. They are able to bring motherhood out of the shadows as they strive to build, re-evaluate, or alter their roles within families and communities. These have an impact on developments in masculinities. The book is divided into three parts and the chapters investigate a wide range of issues including cultural constructs, gender in parent/child, relationships, non-binary developments, the impact of war on mothering, decolonisation struggles, and much more.