BART 22A22 - Bollywood and Beyond: Art and Politics of Indian Cinema

Indian cinema, seen in the West and specifically in France through the prism of ‘Bollywood', suffers from the image of a commercial and ‘kitsch' industry only dedicated to making profits at the box-office. Not only is this vision derogatory (as if Indians would make an ‘inferior' type of cinema), and unaware of the diversity of Indian cinema (whether taken from a territorial or artistic point of view), it also puts aside what Indian cinema actually says of India, its history, its society, its place in the world (especially the one it wants to have). ‘All films are political', used to say New Wave's director Louis Malle, who actually knew India, where he shot his Phantom India documentary in 1968. This twelve-lesson course proposes to look into Indian cinema's history and artistic diversity in order to offer a perspective on India's past and present through its own images. During this workshop, students will learn the basic and specific codes of making an Indian film, with the use of multiple film extracts taken from several periods and locations of Indian cinema which will be analyzed and discussed in class, with a particular focus on the Hindi film industry. Students are expected to actively participate in these discussions. From the third session, each course will focus on the analysis of a particular film, linked to the theme addressed, which will be the subject of a presentation by a small group of students. However, all students will be required to have seen the film in question.

Ophélie WIEL

Atelier

English

Spring 2024-2025

To validate the course, the student is expected to pass the following assignments: 1°) group work: group oral presentations (in pairs) of a specific Indian movie linked to the theme of each session (30% of the final grade) 2°) written essay: an essay on one typical element/object of Indian cinema analyzed individually by each student (40% of the final grade) 3°) group work: students working in groups (in pairs or groups of 3) will be expected to write a 1-page fictional synopsis of a Hindi masala movie, based on elements taught during the course, and to make a 10min video (using their phone) as if they were narrating the movie to an Indian film star to convince him/her to sign for the film (30% of the final grade).

At the end of the course, the student is expected to : 1°) Recognize the basic elements of the making of an Indian film 2°) Be able to analyze an Indian film 3°) Understand some elements of Indian society and politics through the prism of its cinema