CHAPTER 6 CINEMA AND VISUAL CULTURE

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 6 CINEMA AND VISUAL CULTURE 6.1 Cinema and Visual Culture Cinema is a powerful visual medium. It is one of the most popular means of mass communication. Cinema has different meanings for different people. It helps shape attitudes and values in society. It is a lucrative business for the producers and financers. It is a source of good earnings for the actors and actresses. For artists and directors, it is merely a form of art. Many people take it as an audio-visual translation of literature. It is a big source of employment and revenue. It is a cheap and easier means of entertainment for the masses. Whatever cinema may mean to different people, it is undoubtedly, an art form which can entertain, educate as well. 6.1 Indian Cinema and Society Cinema has great responsibility towards society. In recent years it has deviated from its main duties of educating the audience over the morals and its social obligation. It is causing great harm to society. Cinema has a major role to play in the country like India. The need of the hour is that it should be exhibited as a power pack to educate, inform and aware the masses to revive the diminishing culture apart from entertainment. Figure 6.1 Bharatmata Talkies in Mumbai (old photograph and new photograph) ( 210

2 Cinema and city are like two sides of the coin from the time the movie making has come to the forefront as a medium that can reach all sectors of population. And the last decades of the 20th century saw a tremendous flourishing development in cinema making. There was a cinema culture experienced at every section of the people in the society and every level of the society yearned for looking into newness on screen (Kaur, Sinha.2005). This strong bondage between the audience and cinema has made its impact and reflects visually upon the everyday life of society and city. The strong medium that influenced in building the visual culture of the city was through the cinema posters, banners, pamphlets and all other kinds of display and publicity in different modes around the spaces of cinema theaters and public spaces of the city that engaged discourse of cinema. The histories of these contemporary cities, then, are inextricably linked to their 'cinemascope', and vice versa. Cities are enquiries into multidiscipline like imaginations, spaces, locations, materiality, languages, migrant peoples, viewing conventions and so on. These enquiries are then produced in the form of text, images, film, art and sound track in cinema. Thus the research looks into how cinema and city together are engaged or rather produce the visually rich content and helps in developing visual culture for the city. Figure 6.2 Open Air Theatre with the background of Theatre Banner acting as backdrop

3 The cities of India are diverse in nature by means of their culture, tradition, food habits and mainly languages spoken. It is a universal assumption that India can be known as a country that changes by its character (language, food, traditions, and clothing fashions) by every kilometer travelled. And hence India can be perceived from point of view of the cinema culture of each of the cities like Kolkata of West Bengal, Chennai of Tamilnadu, Mumbai of Maharashtra and Bangalore of Karnataka. The film centers of respective states also promote in various ways to uphold the culture of their state. The institutions like NFAI and DAVP have their tremendous contribution to the field of cinema; National Film Archive of India was established in February 1964 as a media unit under the ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The primary concern of NFAI is to safeguard the heritage of Indian Cinema for posterity and to develop a healthy film culture in the country. While the main aim of the institution is promotion of film scholarship and research on various cinema topics, on the other hand Familiarizing foreign audiences with Indian Cinema and to make it more visible across the globe is another declared function of the archive. Its library has reservoir of information on Indian and world cinema in the form of collection of journals, documentary, films etc, it also conducts joint-screening programs at centers like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin, Jamshedpur, Pune and Delhi. Children s Film Society, India, (CFSI) established in the year 1955 to provide valuebased entertainment to children through the medium of films. To commemorate fifty years of its meaningful existences the CFSI organized a Golden Jubilee Film Festival during 14 to18 November 2006 at Sirifort Auditorium, New Delhi. Directorate of Advertising and Publicity (DAVP) is a nodal multi-media agency of the government to meet the publicity requirements of various ministries and departments not only in a most cost-effective manner but also in the process focusing upon building and creating visual impact of Indian Cinema through cultural identity. 212

4 6.2 History of Kannada Cinema Kannada cinema began before 1947in the erstwhile state of Mysore nominally ruled by the king but indirectly controlled by the British (G.Moti, 2009:18). Kannada film industry has always been protective about its language tuned to the common man s accent. (Pinto Jerry, 2008:11) The old Kannada movies gave importance to pure dialect especially the movies of Kannada filmdom s cultural icon Dr. Rajkumar, and the angry young man of Kannada filmdom Dr. Vishnuvardhan. Both actors as two pillars of the institution through the entire span of acting have contributed towards developing and building Kannada language as the identity and visual culture of the city. Before looking into the history of Kannada cinema, let us take a small glimpse of world cinema which took its form in paris in the year During the same time in Karnataka, the theatre companies were still the medium of entertainment (Mudaliar1998:1). In The forthcoming year india experienced the effects of the bioscope which took around ten years of span to reach the states of southern India, Karnataka was one among them. In India one can observe the starting of silent movies in the years of 1903, which took nearly more than 25 years to make its effect in the state of Karnataka of southern India. The first theatre company to start in Karnataka in the year 1902, named Ratnavali theatrical company. A.V. Varadacharya was the founder. Before the coming of cinema industry, His thirty years of acting in the theatre company gathered applause of the many including the Mysore Royal Family s appreciation and was the favorite actor likened by the audience. The introduction of Theatre Company by A.V.Varadacharya in a way evoked the need of entertainment spaces in the outdoors of the city (Mudaliar1998:1). In the play Shakuntala A.V.Varadacharya made his impact by enacting the king s role. His play Nirupama was documented for the first time by Mysore Maharaja Shri kanthirava Narasimharaja Wadeyar in the old style of hand rolled film technique. A.V. Varadacharya is also considered as the first hero actor of the entire Kannada film world. and Mysore Maharaja Shri kanthirava Narasimharaja Wadeyar being the first producer cum director of silent movie. In those days the main actors of the theatre always clothed themselves in a royal attire of the king to build the impact of drama upon the ordinary 213

5 audience and contributed in forming visual culture of the theatre company in specific during the early years of twentieth century. Beginning years of the twentieth century in India ( ) is the period of beginning of film industry which saw the birth and experimentation of mainly short duration films. The period from 1912 to 1934 is known as the years of silent movie making. Around 1279 silent movies were produced during the period. Vasanthasena was the first silent movie created in Bangalore in the Kannada speaking region of Karnataka, where as Nirupama was recorded as the earliest silent movie in the palace of Mysore Maharaja by the then king Shri kanthirava Narasimharaja Wadeyar (Mudaliar1998:2) was the year of golden jubilee celebrations of Kannada film industry which started much earlier in the year 1934, whereas Kannada silent movies emerged since the year 1921, while Indian Hindi cinema is 25 years older to Kannada film industry (Mudalirar1998:125). The year 1925 was the period of bioscope a film projector of the early twentieth century. This was also a time when the famous theatre company of Karnataka Gubbi Chennabasaveshwara Natak Mandali was screening Gubbi Veeranna s famous number Mahatma Kabeer the silent movie in the open grounds of Tarikere Santhe of Chikkamagalur district (Gangadhara Mudaliar, 1998:3). The trend very famous in the hey days of cinema culture in the early twentieth century which became (Santhe- a weekly vegetable market held in every major village of the Indian states) foundation for future entertainment zones in the commercial spaces of the towns and cities. Each of the place or cities has their own identity and visual impact on the traveler whose sheer joy of a drive in a city or highway ride depend on how he or she interprets his or her thoughts and impressions about interactions with the spaces they happen to come across. For example the film, Go Goa Gone is the movie about the alien called Zombies. Bollywood Zombie comedy film directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna.D.K. the film has been publicized as the first zom.com. It has been given A certificate for its violence, its gore content and drug reference. In the climax of Go Goa Gone it s revealed that it was not the only island off the coast of Goa that was infected by zombies, but mainland Goa as well, forcing them to find another way to escape. Now anyone who visits or tours Goa may relate and remember it as place not only of 214

6 beaches and beauties but humorously tag it as a zombie world. As also the journey from Bangalore to Mysore is a very special in it where one crosses the satellite town Kengeri, Bidadi an industrial town and reaches Ramanagara-the Rocky Mountains never fails to amaze an Indian, because of its most famous iconic image in the history of Indian Cinema, which reminds of Jai and Veeru and as well very famous Sambha of Sholay. The greed for granite is slowly destroying what was once a safe abode of Gabbar. The posters of these famous films are still preserved well and are occasionally exhibited for public viewing. ROM (The Royal Ontario Museum is an agency of Government of Ontario) opened in 1914 Canada s largest museum of natural history and world cultures celebrated the Year of India with exhibition of Bollywood history. Also the curator Deepali Dewing in collaboration with Hartwick Collection for the ICC (The Institute for Contemporary Culture) at the ROM showcased Indian Film Art from 1950 s to 1980 s, a visual journey through the history of Bollywood advertising bringing an unique opportunity for the visitors at ROM to experience the collection of vintage cinematic art, bringing early Bollywood culture and design to life. This chapter explores into the evolution of specific form of advertising associated with the Kannada commercial cinema that centered on the spaces of Bangalore. The old images give a glimpse of how the posters were combination of painting and photography and which formed a unique aspect of visual culture of south Asian states of India. 6.3 The Role of Advertisement in the Cinema The advertisements which we happen to see today during the film screening, at the break, and interval have all originated in the initial years of the film industry. The purpose and form of the advertisements was different then. A group of dancers were hired to perform a short entertainment dance for the audience in the interval of silent movie, to create an interest, and to attract a larger crowd to watch the silent movies. Sometime later period the great Kannada writer Shivram Karanth also made use of yakshagana- the traditional dance of south coastal Karnataka to attract the crowds in the time of depression in the economy of the country. (Mudaliar, Gangadhara, 1998:15) Probably this might have been the inspiration to introducing of cabre dance 215

7 in later movies. If these were the intangible form of advertisements, we also can see the advertisements in a tangible form. And these advertisements were in the form of posters displayed in the glass covered notice boards-a kind of display which was locked and placed outside the theatres for public interaction and information Poster Design, Commercial Artist and Urban Space The famous painter of India M.F.Hussain who rose from a carrier as a movie billboard artist to become India s sought after painter, often described as India s Picasso. India s prolific film industry on the whole has created jobs for many. One of the most visible of those is the creative film poster painting, making of huge canvasses portraits and cutouts of the famous heroes.72 Of India s prolific film industry, Bollywood film industry apart from giving opportunity to create best film directors, best musicians and singers, best costume and fashion designers also has played an important role in creating famous artists. In 1940 s as part of group of artists lead by the painter Francis Newton Souza together broke with traditional Indian painting styles. Earlier in his carrier M.F.Hussain was known for his abstract paintings of horses. His depiction of Hindu goddesses in the nude did hurt the feelings and provoked anger among some Hindus, and for the reason he had to move out of Indian and settled in USA till his last years of life. Figure 6.3 Film Poster Studio o=u&source=univ&sa=x&ei=s5wxu5r- F9TjoASM2IHwDQ&ved=0CDsQ7Ak&biw=1366&bih=673> 216

8 Figure 6.4 Poster artist at work bo=u&source=univ&sa=x&ei=s5wxu5r-f9tjoasm2ihwdq&ved=0cdsq7ak&biw=1366&bih=673> Figure 6.5 Artist at work bo=u&source=univ&sa=x&ei=s5wxu5r-f9tjoasm2ihwdq&ved=0cdsq7ak&biw=1366&bih=673> 217

9 Figure 6.6 Eswara Rao (renowned movie poster designer) html> Cinema and City both promote cultural exchange and proliferation of ideas between people, their religion, customs and festivals through film as popular and effective type of media. Cinema as popular media is produced with an aim meanwhile recognizing the young talented and successful, promising directors, actors, cinematographers, sound designers, producers and more importantly the visual connectors between the cinema and audience- the film poster artists. On the streets of the vibrant and anarchic city of Mumbai, the movie posters are a familiar splash of color, as though played Holi on the streets. The spectacle of filmdom has spread to almost all the cities in India. It is an invitation to the pleasures of Bollywood, the world's one of the largest film industry. The collision of this most democratic of all art forms with one of the liveliest movie genres results in a glorious explosion of color, form, and typography of poster making. Bollywood's film posters have a long and illustrious history, and it is brilliantly celebrated here. The posters include the span of the entire history of Hindi movies, from the early twentieth century to the present day. Movies are a much-loved 218

10 international phenomenon, and this is sure to have an avid audience among its fans. (Kaur, Sinha 2005:20) The appeal of Indian Cinema has extended beyond the territory of the nation and thus graphic designers and artists will find much to inspire them as well. The reach of Indian Cinema over other nations is tremendous either for its sheer spectacle, action stunt, trends in clothing fashions, poignant film songs, scenery, beautiful people, culture etc. Brian Larkin s study of how the Hindi film was received by the Hausa people in Nigeria provides further perspective. Indian films began to be distributed during 1950 s, and: to this day, stickers of Indian films and stars decorates the taxis and buses of north, posters of Indian films adorn the walls of tailor s shops and mechanics garages, and love songs from Indian film songs are borrowed by religious singers who change the words to sing the praised to the Prophet Mohammed( Larkin 1997:403). Cinema Posters a highly visible site of cultural production, which shapes the stardom and star texts ( Punathambekar, Kavoori2008:11) From Actors to Politicians and Visual Culture 1900 Paris Universal Exposition had summed up film s status as both glorious and marginal according to Emmanuelle Toulet in her masterful study on the status of film in the period of It became glorious from the unprecedented public recognition and a number of highly visual uses of cinema, such as the massive screen (70 x53 ) of the Lumier Giant Cinematography. But among the triumphs of technology and the elaborate attractions of the fair film remained as a sideshow rather than the main event (Film History vol.6: ). The period from 1970 s through the 1990 s is considered to be the fertile period for developing our understanding of how film works (Graeme 2002: 3). Actors make good politicians, and this is very evident in America if not so much in India. Why actors are attracted to politics is, if not many there is one reason and that there is no doubt that the same qualities which make a good actor also lend themselves to politics. First mainly there are the surface skills like being able to project a sense of calm, or act as a leader, when called upon. They can act the role of being cheerful, confident and in chargeand after all they are actors. But there is a grain of truth when one says that politicians are great actors too. If we take a close look at the ranks of American politicians past 219

11 and present, will find many who were actors and even a few who take on movie roles while in office. Not only that, but some of history s most effective politicians have been actors. Ronald Reagan, for instance who rose from roles in Bedtime for Bonzo and Hellcats of the navy to becoming the governor of California, and then president of the United States. 1 Similar scenario is evident in some states of India if not all the states of India where the hardcore politicians ruled the land. The scenario of Tamil Nadu is entirely different. Because, the outdoor media like the towering billboards featuring photorealistic portraits of popular cinema stars and political leaders dominated the cityscape of Chennai, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, throughout the second half of the twentieth century. The banners and cutouts of these star politicians occupied entire city serving the purpose of dual publicity and hero-worship. Jacob analyses the juxtaposition of cinematic and political imagery in the extra-cinematic terrain of Chennai's city streets and how this placement was pivotal to the elevation of regional celebrities to cult status. When interpreting these images and discussing their political and cultural resonance within the Tamil Nadu community, Jacob draws upon multiple perspectives to give appropriate context to this fascinating form of visual media that relates to other fields of visual culture. In India the film stars are looked upon as gods more than as mere hero s and has created a special niche for the film hero s in the minds of the fans as well as in the spaces of the city. The two states of South India Andhrapradesh and Tamilnadu with jayaprada,n.t.ramrao, (Telugu), M.G.Ramachandra, Jayalalitha, Shivaji Ganeshan (Tamil Nadu) respectively ruled the political scenario in the two states of India in the latter half of the 20th century. The reasons mainly were the illiteracy and ignorance of people who worshipped the film hero as their saviors in the hope that they (poor and helpless people) will get some kind of relief to lead a better life. As the days passed, the demands and needs of the people changed along with the technology that involved in the making of the film, the expectations and contexts of the later actors also changed and similarly their perceptions of becoming an actor and becoming a politician. However, there are other reasons also for why some actors do well as politicians

12 Actors are communicators, first and foremost. Actors who can't communicate what their role is all about won't go far. Those important communication skills, if developed as entertainers, will continue to serve them well when arguing their cause as a senator, governor or president. Actors also have the advantage of being able to turn on the charm, which also is an important political commodity. And needless to say, they're generally attractive and photogenic. Actors who learn the art of compromise will succeed at what they do, and so do politicians. Actors learn very early on that they don't get their way in everything. In order to make that film, or whatever, they must give a little to get a little. And so it is in politics, in which any law, regulation or policy is the work of many. A politician can't simply order people to do what he or she wants to get done - it takes a lot of talking, agreement on what's really important, and yes, compromise, to reach a mutual goal. The entertainment business, much like politics, is collaborative. It takes many people working together to produce a film, a song, a television show, an advertisement or a play. 6.6 Politics of Media Culture of Hero and the Heroine India before and after its independence was always ruled by the congress party, and the Gandhi family. The visual culture of Indian politics and Indian cities was always dominated by the advertisement of congress party and its canvassing in a larger scale compared to other few and minor political party s except the only independent party s which stood against the congress party was Janata Dal, the symbol of which was a farmer inscribed in a circle indicating charaka and BJP with its lotus symbol. The symbol of congress party a hand was the icon and identity of the congress very familiar to every individual be it an old farmer, young bourgeois or a small child on the streets of Indian soil from north of the country to south and from west to east. Unlike in the west, especially in America president Ronald Reagan for instance who rose from roles in Bedtime for Bonzo and Hellcats of the Navy to becoming governor of California and then president of United States. It is tough to see similar situation in Indian politics at national level. Because India was ruled by the east India Company of the British and it was successful in gaining 221

13 freedom through collective hardship of Gandhi and the freedom fighters. So the initial years of the Indian political era looked towards freedom fighter and the social reformers, the intellectuals only to become or represent the political positions. The majority of Indian population then was in a very chaotic condition, poverty stricken and illiterate and unaware. An Indian cyclist rides past a mural of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan from his classic film 'Deewar' on the eve of Bachchan's 70th birthday in Mumbai on October 10, India's favourite film star and Bollywood legend, Bachchan - who is known as the "The Big B" having over 3.5 million Twitter followers is treated like royalty in the movie-mad country. Bachchan was the first Indian actor to feature at London's Madame Tussauds waxworks museum and was voted "actor of the millennium" in a BBC online poll in (afp photo/ Indranil Mukherjee.) So also we happen to experience the visual culture of contemporary times where the actors and actresses take part in many different social activities, promotions and collaborative projects just to keep themselves in the forefront of the audience mind. For example the actors like Salman Khan in Hindi and Sandeep in kannada as anchors of the small screen big hit the Big Boss. The contemporary trends and cultures of appearance of big screen actors to small screen. In pursuit of creating a longtime image and impression upon the audience that is homely. The Akshay kumar s anchoring and conducting of the Khatronke Khiladi and Big B s Kaun Banega Crorepati to Kaun Banega Maha Crorepati. the actors who completely involved themselves into no other fields except the film world and made their lasting impression for example Dr.Rajkumar, popularly known as annavru. Very famously known as Mannina Maga (son of the soil-meaning the one who toils for his or her mother earth). The sudden growth in media especially focusing urban areas has lead to the popularization of film actors into other fields such as anchoring the film industry related programmed channels, sponsoring the hit serials on small screen, judging live dance shows on channels, conducting action life events etc. all these activities lead to construction of new images of actors in the urban spaces of the modern cities. Vishnuvardhan, Sreenath, Shivrajkumar. One can observe the changes taking place in portray of celebrations of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in India and abroad. The 222

14 trends in the celebrations observed over the years in Bangalore, we see processions taking place on main streets of Bengaluru with all the cine artists, writers, directors, singers on the rally with the supporters of Kannada language taking part in the event, where as in countries abroad the Kannadigas liken to see participation of veterans of 160 Kannada film industry which adds to the charm of the celebrations. H.V.Nanjundaiah was the initiator and founder of kannada sahitya sammelana in bengaluru in the year Figure 6.7 Billboard showing Shivrajkumar encouraging people to vote. The film industry identifies the talent of the many in a many different ways and they are editors Jerry Pinto and Naresh Fernandes describes Bombay as changeless as the sea, and one that still betrays its origins in its weatherworn surfaces., its skinny palm trees and the balconied apartments and the Marine Drive that is still called in the night as the Queens Necklace.Jerry Pinto has written several books on the Indian film industry, including Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb. Sheena Sippy is a photographer whose work has been featured in Vogue, Elle, and Time, the indoor media. 223

15 6.7 Cinema Halls and Visual Culture The Indian cinema has changed through times and always has tried to cope with the changing reality. Reel life, is said to be a reflection of real life. And the communication of this message from the condensed black reel to the expanded infinite colorful society is through the spectacle of posters and hoardings exhibited on the wayside of city streets catching people s attention (Tiwari2013). Behind any creative work it is the inspiration from the society that matters for the poster artists of the filmworld as well as the cinema itself, both influence each other. From the posters of yester years of Raja Harishchandra, Pundalik to Mother India, Shri 420 to poster of Rock Star and Raudi Rathod are the Indian Bollywood cinema through which one can see a sea of changes. Figure 6.8 Talkies Chaplin in Kolkata 224

16 Figure 6.9 Talkies Maratha Mandir in Mumbai Figure 6.10 PVR Anupam in Saket, Delhi, becomes the first modern day multiplex

17 Figure 6.11 Film Poster of Amithab Bachchan painted on walls of Mumbai Figure 6.12 Poster Image of Amithab Bachchan used on internet as birthday special 226

18 Figure 6.13 Old Film Posters with bold lettering 227

19 Figure 6.14 Old Film Posters with bold lettering 228

20 Figure 6.15 Dr. Rajkumar s portrait painting installed on crossroad post with Karnataka flag colors Figure 6.16 Bigger than life size cutout of Rajkumar s son Shivrajkumar in front of cinema theatre in Bangalore 229

21 Hindi films released recently like Race, Dhoom, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, My Name Is Khan, Housefull, Kites, Prince, New York, Kambakth Ishqq, Blue, London dreams, Life partner, Dostana, Chandni Chowkh to China, Luck, etc, were filmed entirely in foreign locales. These films were well received by the Indian audience especially the locations. Look for poster and their design/composition. Countries like U.S.A, U.K, South Africa, France, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia provide support to Indian film companies and are frequented mostly for shooting. The first feature films made in India were mythologicals. Dadasaheb Phalke who made the first Indian feature film Raja Harishchandra in 1913 wrote about the moment he first dreamed of making an Indian film in the November 1917 issue of Navyug. The mythological, therefore, became the first genre of Indian cinema and it remained so till well into the 1920s. Indian Cinema beginning can be traced on July 7, 1896 with a screening of the Lumiere Brothers' Cinematograph films in Bombay. Yet the first entirely Indian-made film, Raja Harischandra, (produced and directed by DG Phalke) was released in A hundred years ago on this date, India s first film Raja Harishchandra was released. Over the past hundred years, our cinema and its facets have evolved and how!! The hero -From mooch to macho From a bulky mustached Raj Kapoor in the 40s to a sixpack flaunting, butt-baring John Abraham now, the Bollywood hero has had quite a makeover. The 50s was the era of method-acting with the likes of Dilip Kumar, while in the 60s, Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand epitomised romance on screen. After Khanna s guru kurtas and fluffy hairtop, Amitabh Bachchan brought the angry young man into the picture in the 70s and 80s with Zanjeer, Deewar and Agneepath, also bringing to the fore, bell bottoms and side burns. The 90s was the time of the lover boys Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan dancing in exotic foreign locales. Now, the Bollywood hero is not restricted by genre or style and fits into every mould. He is a looker, chocolatey, experimental and total paisa vasool, read Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan. The heroine -From feeble to fabulous In the early decades, the heroine in Indian cinema had only one objective in life, that of being a sati-savitri, 230

22 who never looked beyond her family and husband. The kitchen was her cocoon, and she epitomised all things good. Through the 1940s, 50s and 60s, heroines such as Mala Sinha, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Nanda and Asha Parekh ruled these roles. It was only in the 80s and 90s that she evolved as a strong character (Rekha in Khoon Bhari Mang, 1988), (Meenakshi Sheshadri in Damini, 1993). While in the early 2000s, she was still the demure girl, she managed to live her life on her terms like Rani Mukerji in Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna. And the heroine today is the sexy, urban cool woman who cares for little more than her own life. Way to go girl! From scary to suave from the usual lot of wicked village zamindars, smugglers, murderers, rapists, dacoits and terrorists.. Nearly 130 films were released out of Bollywood in the year ending 2011, and the numbers from Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Assamese, Gujarati, Oddisa, and other north-eastern states takes the toll over 1,000.Indian cinema has pride in itself on being a sole distraction and leisure industry for nearly a century, in a country where allied entertainment forms like music or the fashion industry are subservient to the glamour that cinema and its stars bring..from rock chic to glamour, to dress and design, creating indelible images and daily references, business, politics and sports, travel destinations and colloquialisms, violence and sexuality, hero-worshipping and icon-making, Indian cinema had and continues to provide templates and set trends. Bollywood, Tollywood, and Sandalwood represent the three major film industries in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.The Mumbai-based Hindi film industry, nicknamed Bollywood, sets the pace for style, fads, and fashion for the young and restless Indian audience between the age 13 and 30. G. Venket Ram, fashion and film professional, says. As movies have a very strong effect on Indian masses so these film makers should show some responsibility while making the movies, firstly they should make themselves aware of true Indian culture. Instead of copying foreign culture we should endorse our own culture and compel the foreigners to get inspired by them. The Indian Cinema producers and the film fraternity have constantly been changing their trends and styles of Film Making according to the ever changing tastes and preferences of the targeted audience. The art of cinema has created a widespread and profound impact on the society. (Urban world/ Global city, David Clarke, page 150, 231

23 1996, 2003, Routledge) Recent research however suggests that mass media are in fact contributing to the creation of highly varied patterns of urban culture at global scale. If culture is a system of shared meaning, then there are many systems of shared meanings. The concept of plural urban culture is grounded in analysis of the international market in media materials which highlight the complex pattern of production, content and distribution. Western countries are no longer the only producers of media materials, and also not always have a dominant presence in the country they are marketed or do they attract a larger audiences. When there is a choice, domestic programs are invariably preferred. Local output is not threatened by imports and, in most countries, is rising rapidly. It may project images of life in the city at the expense of those in the countryside, but such urbanism is extended predominantly within the context of national rather than global culture. There is growing evidence to support the plural urban culture model. The most basic is the sheer increase in the volume of media material being generated in the developing world. Mexico and Brazil are major producers and distributors of television programs apart from Cuba, China and USSR. The Indian film industry is the most productive in the world, making nearly 900 films in the year 1998 (UNESCO, 1999). Most are Hindu epics in which traditional cultural themes and 164 values are explored and reaffirmed. Egypt is an emerging centre of film-making in the Arab world. The bright colors in the graphic design of posters as well the makeup and costume Paint and photography, coloring of film sent to Germany Studio and its environment- how the producers from Bombay came and settled in Bangalore. 232

24 Figure 6.17 Cinema Portrait poster of Rajanikant being worshipped by doing abhishaka The mascots of the celebrities in Indian outdoor advertising a common sight in 70s and 90s. The Indian market flourished tremendously in the nineties. Everything from pencils to cars, salt to luxury goods required an advertising campaign. This was the era when we saw the emergence of celebrity advertising overtaking the mascots. We also lived in a time when there was no argument regarding the fact that a celebrity can make or break a brand. The pampering and recognition given to the celebrity in the marketing of the product in some cases was even greater than the product itself. 233

25 Figure 6.18 A circus tent decorated with the cutouts of actors. The advertising world, during this time strongly believed that the celebrities transfer their success, personality, status and power to the brand. They attributed reasons for the growth of celebrity endorsements to: Create great brand awareness for product, Sustaining the brand image, Stimulating and reviving brands, Product association etc. However, the advertising world also realized that many brand ambassadors does not practice what they preach and sometimes controversies and unpleasant incidents connected with the celebrity causes damage. It is also observed that over exposure and multiple endorsements too can damage the image of product. The Indian market which is saturated with celebrity endorsements has seen emergence of the mascots once again. Everyday life of a common man begins and ends with some kind of advertisement or the other e.g. The milk vendor calls out when he places the milk bag at our door steps; news paper man also does the same. This is a method of self proclaiming and in turn achieving what an advertisement achieves. Even a Good Knight wish is a form of advertisement. Form and face of advertisement has undergone a sea change and we need be to be prepared for further changes envisaged. 234

26 6.8 Conclusion Cinema is a very dominant medium in all respects since its emergence. It reaches across all the sections of society. Cinemas bear a powerful influence on the minds of people of all ages, from a small child to the aged. Every new element, things, situations experienced in the lives of the human kind is expressed through the cinemas and vice versa. Cinema attracts people of all sections of society and it creates job for every sect of people. For example from a tea serving boy, light boy to a person who painted the bigger than life size portraits of the actors to the poster designers. These posters help build the visual culture of the city and cinema. This chapter unfolded different styles of composition of the cinema posters and their characteristics of painting adopted by the poster artists. The essence of the film could reach to people through the medium of poster design. The outdoor display of these huge posters created a kind of visual culture of the city. But today s inbuilt multiscreen display of films inside multiplex has made the cinema world concealed inside the malls as they become more and more invisible to the regular citizens. Instead of dismantling or pulling down these old cinema halls and centers by which the entire panorama of Indian cinema and its influence on visual culture will be wiped out, it would be worthwhile using the existing cinema halls in number of ways such as having a library adjacent of with cinema related literature, interaction of exchange of ideas amongst the public and the celebrities and with specific advertising arenas, displaying the history or cinema advertising, and related exhibitions which could showcase the visual culture through Indian cinema for the younger generation. 235