Videos by Vikrant Kishore
Ep1 - The Bombay Talkies:
Australia India cinematic connection started strongly post mid-1990s... more Ep1 - The Bombay Talkies:
Australia India cinematic connection started strongly post mid-1990s onwards, but the relationship goes way back to the 1920s during the glorious studio era of Indian cinema. Two people stand out, firstly Marie Ann Evans, popularly known as Fearless Nadia, an Australian who found great success in Indian cinema. The other is the great Himanshu Rai, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema, founder of the Bombay Talkies. It is through Himanshu’s grandsons Peter, Paul, and Walter Dietze based in Melbourne, that many of his work and behind the scene stories have come to light, through some exciting works, such as the Bombay Talkies exhibition that was held in Melbourne from 8th February to 2nd July 2017 in the Australian Centre for the Moving Images! In this interview, we discuss the work of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani and how they revolutionised Indian cinema.
- Filmed & Edited by Dr Vikrant Kishore
Australia India cinematic connection started strongly post mid-1990s onwards, but the relationship goes way back to the 1920s during the glorious studio era of Indian cinema. Two people stand out, firstly Marie Ann Evans, popularly known as Fearless Nadia, an Australian who found great success in Indian cinema. The other is the great Himanshu Rai, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema, founder of the Bombay Talkies. It is through Himanshu’s grandsons Peter, Paul, and Walter Dietze based in Melbourne, that many of his work and behind the scene stories have come to light, through some exciting works, such as the Bombay Talkies exhibition that was held in Melbourne from 8th February to 2nd July 2017 in the Australian Centre for the Moving Images! In this interview, we discuss the work of Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani and how they revolutionised Indian cinema.
- Filmed & Edited by Dr Vikrant Kishore
63 views
Bollywood actor, director, and editor Vipin Sharma has worked in many Indian and international fi... more Bollywood actor, director, and editor Vipin Sharma has worked in many Indian and international films. He is known for his films Tare Zameen Par (2007), Main Aur Charles (2015), Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), Hotel Mumbai (2018), Simmba (2018), Gone Kesh (2019), and the popular web-series Pataal Lok (2020). In this episode we discuss acting in Hindi cinema, and if there are any difference in relation to the Western films? Vipin provides some interesting insight regarding how Bollywood works.
40 views
In this vodcast with Australian Indian filmmaker Anupam Sharma we discuss the production and cons... more In this vodcast with Australian Indian filmmaker Anupam Sharma we discuss the production and consumption of mainstream Hindi cinema. We converse why the escapist fare till date dominates, and what drives the audience to film theatres in India? We also probe how the streaming services/OTT platforms is shifting the style of storytelling.
42 views
This is a Vodcast created for the Asian Media and Cultures Network, Deakin University, Melbourne,... more This is a Vodcast created for the Asian Media and Cultures Network, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia - 2021
Abstract:
The varna or the caste structure is an integral part of Hinduism, earlier it started on the basis of one’s profession, but later transmogrified on the basis of birth! It became an enabling factor for the ones at the top of the hierarchy but disabling, and discriminatory for the ones at the bottom, especially for those, who were considered out of that hierarchy, the fifth varna, often referred to as Dalits in its most modern assertion. Of course, Indian cinema has been often questioned for its one-sided narrative of the high class, and high castes, and its failure to acknowledge or to take up stories of the marginalised. It has been a problematic issue, which to date has not been addressed effectively. In this vodcast, we discuss why the mainstream Indian cinema has failed to take up the issue of caste-based discrimination, oppression, and violence effectively?
Abstract:
The varna or the caste structure is an integral part of Hinduism, earlier it started on the basis of one’s profession, but later transmogrified on the basis of birth! It became an enabling factor for the ones at the top of the hierarchy but disabling, and discriminatory for the ones at the bottom, especially for those, who were considered out of that hierarchy, the fifth varna, often referred to as Dalits in its most modern assertion. Of course, Indian cinema has been often questioned for its one-sided narrative of the high class, and high castes, and its failure to acknowledge or to take up stories of the marginalised. It has been a problematic issue, which to date has not been addressed effectively. In this vodcast, we discuss why the mainstream Indian cinema has failed to take up the issue of caste-based discrimination, oppression, and violence effectively?
34 views
Papers by Vikrant Kishore
Transforming knowledge through practice: improving Chinese students understanding of theoretical and conceptual approaches in documentary studies
Media practice and education, Mar 5, 2024
The utilisation of Indian folk dance forms in Bollywood - Hybridisation or exploitation?
Dancing to the tunes of Bollywood (Part 2)
Background: Folk dance and music forms are quite widespread across India, each region, language a... more Background: Folk dance and music forms are quite widespread across India, each region, language and religious and social groups bringing their own flavour, style and types. Since the introduction of talkies in India, song and dance sequences have been utilised in cinema in various manners. The early films borrowed heavily from the Indian folk and classical dance forms to design/choreograph the song and dance sequences. In addition, the colonial culture and Hollywood musicals of the 1930s also influenced the Indian cinema tremendously. From utilising the song-dance in uncorrupted forms, soon filmmakers started experimenting with creating fusion dance forms, freely mixing Indian folk and classical dance forms with dance forms from across the world, especially Western, African and East European dance forms (Kishore, 2014). The appropriation folk music and dance forms and their hybridised representation in Bollywood films also posed challenges for the folk dance forms for its survival. Bollywood song and dance became a competitor as well as a model to imitate and emulate for Indian folk dance froms practiced in grassroots level. Barnouw & Krishnaswamy (1963, p.72) state that “while the influence of folk music and dance strengthened the film, it also had other effects. It meant an almost mortal blow to Jatras and other kinds of folk drama.” Without a doubt, folk dance forms face grave challenge due to its appropriation, hybridisation and glamorous and spectacular representation on films. In recent years, the popular Bollywood cinema song and dance sequences have impacted the “actual” folk dance practices tremendously (Kishore, 2014). Thus, one can witness a cross-cultural flow which initially started with Indian folk dance forms lending itself to song and dance sequences in Indian/Bollywood cinema from 1930s onward. While post 1960’s a reverse cultural flow started, the popular Indian cinema song and dance sequences started influencing the folk dance forms. Contribution: This film focuses on the folk dance forms of India; therefore, this contributes immensely in the field cultural studies. Especially the discussion on Chhau/Bhangra dance form brings forth the debate on the impact of popular cinema on the traditional dance and theatre (Chhau has been included in “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO, 2010). this film provides a different perspective of globalisation and modernisation through the changes that are shaped in the folk dance forms through cinema. Significance: This film is one of the first to analyse the impact of Bollywood cinema on the folk dance forms of India; with specific case studies of folk dance forms such as Bhangra and Chhau. Bollywood song and dance sequences have been much of a point of discussion and debate in the academic circle; this film provides an overview of the construction, stylisation, design and depiction of folk song and dance sequences in Bollywood.
âDil Dance Maare Reâ
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Oct 17, 2014
Bollywood Vamps and Vixens: Representations of the Negative Women Characters in Bollywood Films
BRILL eBooks, 2014
When it comes to the representation of women, Bollywood/Hindi Cinema has followed certain stereot... more When it comes to the representation of women, Bollywood/Hindi Cinema has followed certain stereotypical norms in most of the films: woman as mother, lover, spouse, sister or woman as vamp, prostitute, and cabaret dancer. Bollywood cinema has exploited the vamp's character in almost every film, characterising them as mean, seductive, coquette and vixenish, characterless and promiscuous. Since the lead actresses in the early Bollywood cinema were mainly shown as a virtuous and morally upright people, the vamp characters fulfilled the requirement of the eroticised, fetishised and sexualised imagery for the male gaze. In Bollywood cinema, the vamps are mainly depicted as cabaret dancers, courtesans, prostitutes and girlfriends of the villains. The depiction of the vamps in Hindi cinema has followed the archetype that was set in the 1930s and 1940s and continued until the late 1990s. Actors such as Helen, Bindu, Aruna Irani, Kalpana Iyer and Shashikala became notoriously popular, playing vamps during 1960-80s portraying an image of uninhibited, feral and licentious female and predominantly having a westernised outlook. In this chapter, I will examine the representations of the negative women characters in Bollywood films of the 21st century, and explore if their representation has changed in any way from that of the films of pre-2000s. I will examine how Bollywood films represent the duality of good and evil, virtuous and wicked. I will also analyse how the Bollywood vamp figure has been used to exploit eroticism, especially through the song and dance sequences. To conclude, I will discuss how in the 2000s the female characters in Bollywood cinema are no more represented in terms of black and white, the new age female characters operate in the grey zone, where the role of the lead actress can be actively interpreted as the merger of the classic heroine and vamp characters.
Reinventing Sunny Leone: From a porn star to a Bollywood Star!
While, Steven Daigle, a Big Brother (USA, 2008) reality show contestant encashed his popularity b... more While, Steven Daigle, a Big Brother (USA, 2008) reality show contestant encashed his popularity by featuring in gay porn, it was almost the opposite for the established Canadian-Indian porn star Sunny Leone. After a decade-long career in the porn industry, Leone accepted an invitation to appear as a contestant in Bigg Boss (Season 5, 2011), the Indian version of the reality TV show Big Brother. Born to Punjabi Sikh parents, Karenjit Kaur Vohra took on the screen name Sunny Leone as she entered the porn industry. In a carefully crafted set-up during her stint in Bigg Boss, well-known Bollywood director/producer Mahesh Bhatt, went especially inside the Bigg Boss house to offer her a lead role in his film – Jism 2/Body 2, an erotic thriller. Jism 2 faced much anger and criticism from all corners of India for featuring a porn star. Nevertheless, it earned moderate success, paving the way for Leone to feature in many such movies. Almost all the internet search engines have, since 2011 ranked Sunny Leone among the top search keywords from India. Each controversy and negative remark against Leone helped her to strengthen her image as a seductress/femme fatale. Moving from a porn background and taking on new found success as a Bollywood star meant, much needed to be changed for Sunny Leone. The article will delve into the reinvention of Leone from a porn star to a Bollywood star. It will seek to address questions such as, what makes Leone popular in India? Does Leone challenge the implicit taboos imposed by the conservative society or she operates in a surreptitious manner? Has Bollywood tamed Leone or has it exploited her sexuality for its own benefit?
Indian Cinema - Filmic Content, Social Interface and New Technologies: An Overview!
Sirens, coquettes and vamps—the sexualized and eroticised representation of women in the Indian reality series “Bigg Boss 5”
In this article, I will analyse the sexualized and eroticized representation of women participant... more In this article, I will analyse the sexualized and eroticized representation of women participants in the popular reality series “Bigg Boss” (season 5). Since 2006, “Bigg Boss” has had a successful run on Indian television; the series focuses on celebrity contestants. Bigg Boss has been extremely controversial for the sexualized and vulgarized representation of women and the use of abusive language. By examining the professional background of women participants, the various tasks delegated and specific sexualized and eroticized representation of women in the series, I will argue how the Bigg Boss series exploits the female sexuality. Keywords: Reality Shows, Bigg Boss 5, Sexual, Vulgar, Representation, Indian Television, Bollywood
Amitabh Bachchan: from ‘angry young man’ to ‘flirtatious old man’: changing representations of masculinity in Bollywood!
Dil Dance Maare Re' Bollywoodisation of the Indian folk dance forms
This chapter analyses the representation of folk dance forms in song and dance sequences of Yash ... more This chapter analyses the representation of folk dance forms in song and dance sequences of Yash Raj Films (YRF) from the 2000s onwards. It begins by examining the context of the cultural landscape of the 2000s, which was shaped by the increasing dominance of US-led popular culture. These new cultural influences were brought in by the network of global media conglomerates in a post-global India whose economy was thoroughly integrated into the globalised economic order. The ubiquitous presence of US-led global popular culture is better defined as a process of negotiation rather than as straightforward cultural imperialism. As part of this process of negotiation, Indian filmmakers appropriated global cultural influences to recreate cultural products with indigenised elements for local audiences. The analysis focuses n two celebrated song and dance sequences from the YRF films Veer-Zaara (2004) and Tashan (2008) to reveal the interesting ways in which folk dance forms are utilised and hybridised with Western (specifically American) popular culture.
The Bombay Talkies - A curated segment for Cineaste International Film Festival of India (CIFFI) 2020
Choreographing fantastic spectacles: song and dance sequences in Bollywood cinema
Dance of the Hindu Gods to the Western Electronic Beats: The Bollywoodisation of Purulia Style of Chhau Dance
Majority of the Bollywood song-dance sequences are inspired/influenced/hybridised with Western po... more Majority of the Bollywood song-dance sequences are inspired/influenced/hybridised with Western popular culture, and often plays the role of a catalyst to bring exoticised, spectacularised, glamorised and glocalised images to people. These Bollywood song-dance sequences over the years have influenced the traditional folk, and classical dance forms of India tremendously, both in terms of form and content; for example, Purulia style of Chhau Dance - a prominent folk dance form of the eastern part of India. Known as the theatre of gods, Chhau dance repertoire is based mainly on Hindu religious mythologies, such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas carrying the message of good triumphing over evil. In this paper, I will examine how Bollywood cinema impacts Purulia style of Chhau dance, and how the traditional Chhau performances are giving way to a more hybridised (bollywoodised) version of Chhau dance. I draw upon Arjun Appadurai's (1991) conjecture 'imagined selves and imagine world' to analyse the perspective of the Chhau dance practitioners, and experts (through personal interviews), why and how the hybridisation of Chhau is taking place and does the new hybridised form challenge the traditional form of the Chhau dance?
From Real to Reel: Folk Dances of India in Bollywood Cinema
Australian-Indians: Making a Difference
www.sbs.com.au, May 25, 2018
Indian cinema : filmic content, social interface and new technologies
\u27Dil Dance Maare Re\u27 Bollywoodisation of the Indian folk dance forms
The systems model of creativity and Indian film: a study of two young music directors from Kerala, India
Australian-Indians: Making a Difference
Dancing to the tunes of Bollywood (Part I)
This film analyses the role of the Indian folk dance forms in Indian cinema, in particular, Hindi... more This film analyses the role of the Indian folk dance forms in Indian cinema, in particular, Hindi/Bollywood cinema. The rich folk and classical dance forms of India have immensely influenced Bollywood song and dance sequences. Bollywood choreographers have over the years utilized Indian folk, classical and traditional Indian dance forms to create, innovate and experiment different style of song and dance sequences. Most of the folk dance forms are glamorized and exoticised while they are represented on screen. In last few decades, Bollywood has been utilizing various dance forms especially the Western popular dance culture, and often plays the role of a catalyst to bring exoticised, spectacularised, glamorised and glocalised images to people. Utilising interviews with filmmakers, dance experts, performers and Bollywood fans, the documentary brings to the fore discussions regarding how Bollywood song-dance sequences are having considerable influence on the traditional folk dance form...