INDIAN CINEMA

Question 1

What is parallel cinema?

Answer 1

In most cases there are two types of cinema: one for entertainment and the other for showing the realities of day to day life that is called alternate or parallel cinema.

Question 2

Who brought the concept of motion pictures to India?

Answer 2

The Lumiere Brothers (famous inventors of Cinematograph).

Question 3

Role of women in Indian Cinema?

Answer 3

• The image of women as portrayed in films has changed with changing
  times. During the period of silent movies, the directors focused on the
  restrictions placed on a woman’s life
• During the period 1920-40, most directors like V. Shantaram, Dhiren
  Ganguli and Baburao Painter made movies that touched upon women
  emancipation issues like ban on child marriages, abolition of sati, etc.
• Slowly the cinematic approach changed and they also supported
  widow remarriage, women’s education and the right to equality_to
  women in workspace.
• During 1960-80, the cinematic approach to the woman was extremely stereotypical. When showing the heroine or the ‘ideal woman’ they glorified motherhood, fidelity among women and to make absurd sacrifices for her family.
• In opposition to the heroine, the filmmakers invented the anti-heroine
  or the vamp. She was shown to drink, have relations with married men, be cruel or unscrupulous.
• It is only in the parallel cinema that filmmakers with a strong need to
  push women’s liberation have shown us the life of an Indian woman:
  Notable directors of this genre are Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Guru
  Dutt, Shyam Bengal, etc.
• Current age of cinema is also experimenting with the image of a
  “modern’ woman who works for a living, has a child and a career to
  balance and is still trying to find her own footing.

Question 4

Does India need a National Film Policy?

Answer 4

• It seems necessary that India should have a national film policy because we have the world’s largest film producing industry. More than a thousand movies are made per year and their contribution to the GDP of India has been significant.
• The industry is facing a paradox as the growth of industry is uncontrolled while the contents of the films produced are rigidly controlled by the government through the Censor Board. Hence there should be a limit to the government’s intervention for sustained growth.
• Regional cinema gets pushed to the fringes and a policy is required to bring it at par with the mainstream Hindi cinema.
• The art of filmmaking and photography should be taught and this should be promoted through opening more film schools on the lines of FTll.
• There is a need for global promotion of Indian cinema and a national policy can guide it in the right direction.
• A national film policy can ensure that incentives are given for digitisation of the content.
• New guidelines are required for censorship issues that would keep up with the changing socio-cultural scenario.
• As piracy through the Internet is the biggest concern that the industry faces, amendments need to be made to prohibit piracy. Strict punitive and monetary action against the offenders would be effective.

Question 5

Category— Certification (Indian Cinema)?
1. U—
2. A—
3. UA—
4. S—

Answer 5

1. U— Universal exhibition.
2. A— Restricted to adult audience only.
3. UA— Unrestricted public exhibition subject to parental guidance for children under the age of 12.
4. S— Public exhibition restricted to specialised audience like doctors, engineers etc.