Assignment : 15 : Mass Media and Communication

Name: Parmar Krupa Jivabhai

Roll No. : 20

Enrolment No. : 2069108420180040

M.A.Sem: 4

Year: 2017-2019

Email id: parmarkrupaj25@gmail.com

Paper no. : 15

Submitted to: Department of English Bhavnagar

Topic: Cinema

Introduction

                     Cinema has become the most influential art form of 20^th century from its marginal beginnings. India holds eminent position in film making in the world. It produces highest number of films every year whatever may be the quality of the film, they continues to be the popular mass media. Earlier cinema ,was a simple means of mechanical recording, preserving and reproducing mowing visual images ‘cinema’ and ‘Films’ are used interchangeably but there is a difference between these two terms. Cinema has specific means to create imaginary time and space, and utilization of these means defines how cinematic a film is! Films are made of stories dance, music, drama, photography, painting, architecture and many other things that we call cinema. Films mean the particular movies that we see with all the elements they contain and cinema means the some of the means made possible only by film technology which distinguish cinema.    

A short history of Indian Cinema

                        

                         Following the screening of the Lumière moving pictures in London (1895) cinema became a sensation across Europe and by July 1896 the Lumière films had been in show in Bombay. The first full-length motion picture in India was produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, a scholar on India's languages and culture, who brought together elements from Sanskrit epics to produce his Raja Harish Chandra (1913), a silent film in Marathi. The female roles in the film were played by male actors. Young Indian producers began to incorporate elements of India's social life and culture into cinema.Others brought with them ideas from across the world. This was also the time when global audiences and markets became aware of India's film industry. As sound technology advanced the 1930s saw the rise of music in Indian cinema with musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani marking the beginning of song-and-dance in India's films. Studios emerged across major cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai as film making became an established craft by 1935, exemplified by the success of Devdas, which had managed to enthrall audiences nationwide. The fourth influencewas Parsi theatre, which "blended realism and fantasy, music and dance, narrative and spectacle, earthy dialogue and ingenuity of stage presentation, integrating them into a dramatic discourse of melodrama. The fifth influence was Hollywood, where musicals were popular from the 1920s to the 1950s, though Indian filmmakers departed from their Hollywood counterparts in several ways.

Types of Cinema

 1. Commercial Cinema,

              

                It primarily aims at providing entertainment to the people. It includes the ingredients of popular cinema star system, high budget, abundance of music, song and dance. For example, films like Vaqt, Sholay, Muqhdar ka sikkandar, Hum apke Hain Kaun, are few examples of such films.

     

 2. Art Cinema,

              

                It is more realistic and relevant to the needs of people and society. This form is not very popular. It is all called ‘parallel cinema’, ‘alternative cinema’ or ‘new wave cinema’. These new trend films are made at low cost, outside the main stream of commercial cinema.

3. Regional cinema,

             Regional cinema also developed almost simultaneously in thirties in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Bengal, Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh e.t.c….

 Hindi Cinema:-

        

                The Hindi language film industry of Mumbai—also known as Bollywood—is the largest and most popular branch of Indian cinema. Hindi cinema initially explored issues of caste and culture in films such as Achhut Kanya (1936) and Sujata (1959). International visibility came to the industry with Raj Kapoor's Awara. Hindi cinema grew during the 1990s with the release of as many as 215 films. With Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Hindi cinema registered its commercial presence in the Western world. In 1995 the Indian economy began showing sustainable annual growth, and Hindi cinema, as a commercial enterprise. Institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India also came forward to finance Hindi films. A number of magazines such as Filmfare, Stardust, Cineblitz, etc., became popular.

        

 Gujarati Cinema:-

                 The film industry of Gujarat started its journey in 1932. Since then Gujarati films immensely contributed to Indian cinema. Gujarati cinema has gained popularity among the regional film industry in India. Gujarati cinema is always based on scripts from mythology to history and social to political. Since its origin Gujarati cisnema has experimented with stories and issues from the Indian society.   The scripts and stories dealt in the Gujarati films are intrinsically humane. They include relationship- and family-oriented subjects with human aspirations and deal with Indian family culture. Thus, there can be no turning away from the essential humanity of these Gujarati cinema. The first Gujarati movie, Narasinh Mehta, was released in the year 1932 and was directed by Nanubhai Vakil.

        

Bengali Cinema:-

           The Bengali language cinematic tradition has had reputable filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen among its most acclaimed. Recent Bengali films that have captured national attention include Rituparno Ghosh's Choker Bali, starring Aishwarya Rai. Bengali filmmaking also includes Bangla science fiction films and films that focus on social issues. In 1993, the Bengali industry's net output was 57 films. The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata. The 'Parallel Cinema' movement began in the Bengali film industry in the 1950s.

        

Bhojpuri Cinema:-

                 Bhojpuri language films predominantly cater to people who live in the regions of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. These films also have a large audience in the cities of Delhi and Mumbai due to migration to these metros from the Bhojpuri speaking region. Besides India, there is a large market for these films in other bhojpuri speaking countries of the West Indies, Oceania, and South America. Bhojpuri language film's history begins in 1962. for example, In 2002, the film ‘war and peace; depicting scenes of nuclear testing and the September 11, 2001 attacks, created by Anand  patwardhan, was asked to  asked to make 21 cuts before it was allowed to have the certificate for release.

       

Punjabi Cinema :-

        

         K.D Mehra made the first Punjabi film Sheila, Baby Noor Jehan was introduced as an actress and singer in this film. Sheila was made in Calcutta and released in Lahore, the capital of Punjab; it ran very successfully and was a hit across the province. Due to the success of first film many more producers started making Punjabi between 900 and 1000 movies. The average number of releases per year in the 1970s was 11; it plummeted to seven in 1996 and touched a low of five in 1997. Since 2000s the Punjabi cinema has seen a revival with more releases every featuring bigger budgets, home grown stars as well as Bollywood ssactors of Punjabi descent taking part. The cinema saw its first production of a 3d feature film in 2011 titled pehchan 3d.

Impact of Cinema on Society

                         

                             In the last fifty years, cinema has become not only a serious art form but a field of study by itself. Continues advancements in film technology and high level of conceptualization of the film take viewer to the world outside his day-to-day world providing entertainment which as made cinema a popular medium of masses. The art of cinema has created a widespread and profound impact on the society. The Indian box office has always been energetic and enthusiastic about every production that is being released every Friday. The art of Cinema and all those who have their strong connections with the silver screen entertainment have always been acknowledged and held in high esteem in the Indian society. Cinema has almost become a religion with the increases in number of such mad followers who can be termed as ‘cine extremists’ who would do anything for the cause of cinema.

         If literature has the capability to mirror life, cinema certainly inherits the ability to mirror society and culture.  Cinema is nothing but an attempt to showcase the reality and existence of a particular culture and society on the silver screen. A cinema can have various themes and can be categorically classified as a horror film, action film, and romantic film and so on. Though such themes do fancy the Minds of Film makers it is the social and cultural impact of a film that amounts and brings credit to its success.

      TAARE ZAMEEN  PAR:-

          A fantastic film revealing the true merits of Dyslexic Kids who are gifted with  something in place of the normal qualities . This was an eye opener in terms of educating kids with dyslexic complaints and also morally supports those parents with dyslexic kids. This film is an educational treatise on how children with such complaints must be handled and encouraged.  All wrong notions about dyslexic kids were erased and clarified to the optimum after watching this film.

  MY NAME IS KHAN :-

                

          A film that conveys a strong message that Terrorism is not triggered by any religion and community. No religion exercises or empowers a person to kill another in the name of community. The film shows that people are branded in the name of religion and shows how the act of a terrorist from a particular religion could manifest serious trouble on the lives of the other innocent civilians from the same religion.   

                          The above instances are a few selective and creditable examples that stand testimonial to the fact that Indian Cinemas are capable of creating a healthy and positive impact on the society. On the other hand the majority of Indian cinemas of the present age are deliberately produced for commercial aspects which sacrifices ethics and values involved in Film making. Indian Cinemas of such type create and instill notorious thoughts on its viewers who attempt to ape such thoughts and deeds in reality.  Anti social activities such as sexual and communal violence, terrorism is being triggered by such films.  Moreover such films prosper in commercial aspects sending wrong signals to such film makers who consider such productions are liked by the public. Thus it is the hands of young citizens like us to create a change in the society by boycotting such notorious films and promote worthy and notable film productions with chaste ideas and values.

             Films have a hypnotic influence on most children and adults. They imitate the heroes and heroines. They indulge in day dreaming and fantasy and when it increases. Children become unable to accept the hard realities of life. Apart from these, film creates fear, terror, sorrow, and pathos, love and passion, thrill, and stimulation. People suffer from hang over after watching a film. Thus, films have a dynamic influence on people which ultimately affects the society as a whole.

 Film Censorship

      What is censorship? Censorship can be broadly defined as the suppression of knowledge or ideas.Used by Governments or organisations to prevent the circulation of material. In wartime information about troop activities, future battle plans etc., will be censored. In peacetime censorship can be more problematic and controversial.The Central Board of Film Certification, the regulatory film body of India, regularly orders directors to remove anything it deems offensive, including sex, nudity, violence or subjects considered politically subversive.

For e.g.   In 2002, the film War and Peace, depicting scenes of nuclear testing and the September 11, 2001 attacks, created by Anand Patwardhan, was asked to make 21 cuts before it was allowed to have the certificate for release.Patwardhan objected, saying "The cuts that they asked for are so ridiculous that they won't hold up in court" and "But if these cuts do make it, it will be the end of freedom of expression in the Indian media." The court decreed the cuts unconstitutional and the film was shown uncut.

Film Review and Criticism

             Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and published in journals.  Traditionally, film reviews have been seen as a way to assess the artistic merit and public appeal of a movie. Filmgoers use reviews to help them determine whether to view a particular film. As the number of film fans following the advice of reviewers grew, film companies saw profits diminish across a broader number of films. In order to counter this development, film studios increased marketing budgets and avenues of marketing to create more interest in a movie prior to the opening. There has been a decline in the readership of many reviewers for newspapers and other print publications. The vast majority of film critics on television and radio have all but disappeared over the last thirty years, as well. It can be observed that most of the discussion of film on television is focused on the amount of box office business a film does, as if financial success were the only criterion needed to define artistic success. Today arts criticism in general does not hold the same place it once held with the general public

           

Advantages of Films

           

            Films as a mass medium have similar advantages as television as far as motion and manipulation of time are concerned. Motion is essential for comprehending certain concepts and messages. For example, science experiments, operation of machines or industrial plants can be shown effectively with motion. Both the media show few hours long event in few minutes. The emotional impact left by films helps in shaping personal and social attitudes.

             Film provide for viewing of phenomena at extremely close range of from a vast distance, which is not possible in television.

              Films can be used for variety of purposes such as entertainment, education, changing motivation and opinions. The messages conveyed through films are retained better due to its reality element. They allow for a creative production approach. It is possible to make different language and cultural versions of a film.

 Limitations

              The main limitation of the films is its fixed pace. They move at a fixed pace. Some viewers are likely to fall behind. if they are unable to keep pace with the pace of the film.

         It is very difficult to define the limits of what is “controversial” in films. For example, the film “Aandhi” was banned during the emergency period in India. People did not find anything controversial or objectionable in the film.

          The production of film or a replication of a film are costly, and require huge amount of finances. It requires highly sophisticated equipment for production as well as projection. Film production also requires trained personal such as Director, photographer, sound effects experts, and musician. e.t.c. Once the film production is complete, it is very expensive to make any changes in the film,

   Each film requires individual distribution network, which requires investment of large amount of money and time.