We are a nation of movie buffs. Cinema influences society and the society influences cinema. It is a give and take relationship. The people buy what the cinema offers and the cinema offers what the people buy. Thus the socio-political history of India can be written down looking at how the cinema has transformed over 7 decades.
Let’s look at the initial stage of cinema, movies like do beegha zameen, pathar panchali depicted feudalism in its true form. Hero married to a girl chosen for him by his parents and didn’t dare raise his voice against the society. Then we got independence, and the world changed. The society, filled with hopes, thought that all their problems will be dealt with and the common man would be looked after as we had attained ‘Swaraj’. Happy days were in the next page of the calendar. The star in the movie then had no complaints against the society as hope pervaded anger. He raised voice against his family, told his family about his choice of wife, his choice of lifestyle. Then his dreams were shattered and people realised that happy days were nowhere to be. This anger resulted in the creation of the angry young man in movies like zanzeer and Deewar in the 70’s who had lost faith in the institutions and lost hope as the society itself had lost. Interestingly it was also the period when court’s decision was being defied, extra constitutional elements were on the rise, emergency was declared and Indian politics also saw a very dark phase. The celluloid too depicted a similar character in the form of the angry young man. We also notice that feudal system, zamindars etc. were depicted as antagonist but with urbanisation and industrialization they were replaced by the capitalists, the mill owners and the hero was a mill worker, a taxi driver etc., reflecting the leftist or socialistic pattern of the society. As the population got concentrated in the big cities, slum developed and we also find that the protagonist was also being depicted as the local goon of the slum, part of a gang ruling the streets and indulging in drugs, mob violence, etc., showing how the urban culture changed dramatically within a short span of time. Then we see the villain was the policeman, the politicians and those in power whereas the common man respected and admired the politicians during the 40’s. In late 90’s the villain was the Pakistani terrorist for obvious reasons as the tension was high with our neighbour.
As the nation was liberalised and capitalism dominated socialism, rapid growth took place. Earlier middle-class consisted educated lawyers, doctors, teachers etc. but now millions of uneducated but skilled people entered the middle class for the first time as per capita income rose. This new middle class wanted glamour, wanted brand new cars and luxurious lifestyle and hence the cinema in the early 2000’s depicted the same where the Hero lived in a mansion, movies were shot abroad and the NRI culture also dominated the characters in the cinema like in ‘Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gam’.
This culture changed too as we can see the new generation took the luxury for granted. Their parents kept fridge in the living room but now fridge was being kept in the kitchen. Owning a car was no longer an aspiration. Young generation is educated and broad minded and wants to fight against the evils of the society. One interesting thing we notice today; villain is no longer a person, it is the society itself which is depicted as cruel. We can see movies like ‘Bariely Ki Barfi’, ‘Andhadun’, ‘Badhai Ho’, ‘Sui Dhaga’, etc., centred at a small town and dealing with the problems faced by the society dominating over commercial cinema starred by the Khans in Bollywood.
Let us take the music for instance. Recall the good old songs, soothing, pleasant and lively. They too tell us a lot about the society back then. “mere samne wali khidki mein ek chand ka tukda rehta he”. In essence it is about a man who falls in love at first sight, he compares the face of his love with that of the moon. Romantic, but dark; the society doesn’t allow him to meet her, so he only stares at her from a distance, hoping to get a chance to glance at her while walking by her house. He wants to be near her but it is difficult; what will people think, what will his parents think, so he ends up waiting to catch a glimpse of her through her window at the opposite end of the street. Let’s take up another song- “ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga”. It is evergreen, yet dark. Why is it that the protagonist talks about the appearance of a girl. Is the appearance all that matters about a woman? None of the songs back then talked about the beauty of a woman’s character, her dreams, or her aspirations. These songs reflect the ignorance of the society towards the basic needs and perspective of women.
Let us jump to the present; where women have broken the shackles of patriarchy, lead MNCs and work in corporate sector. We see movies like ‘Veere De Wedding’, ‘Highway’, and ‘Queen’ where women rebel against the society, own their life and their opinion. A movie like ‘Lunchbox’ depicts a sweet relationship between a lady whose husband indulges in extra marital affair and a widower. ‘Padman’ talks about a man’s fight against the taboo revolving aground menstrual hygiene. These movies would have certainly failed in the box office 5-6 years back. Thus movies now a days show world from women’s point of view, talks about their insecurities, their challenges as well. Today we come across “me too”, “I bleed” which show cinema and society reflect each other and walk hand in hand.
Now let us take up the typical blockbusters and draw a parallel between the demeanour of the protagonist and that of the society. Where do popular dialogues like “uske na mein uski han he” come from? Why is that the Hero in the movie never backs off despite being turned down by a girl? Why does he chase her, stalk her, and indulge in eve teasing, and yet, the girl finally falls for him? Why is that the villain abducts the sister, mother, wife to avenge the protagonist? Ask a girl; a no means a no! Yet, look at the dark alleys of our society, where men find it tough to accept rejection. They resort to violence, some throw acid on her face because the Hero never accepts defeat and the endings always are happy. So if your ending isn’t happy it is her fault. Leading actors like Aamir Khan himself regrets enacting those characters who do utter nonsense to woo the lady. Actresses like Kangana Ranaut have resolved not do item numbers for the chartbusters, as songs like “kaddu katega toh sab mein batega” depict women as a commodity within the reach of a man. Now have you noticed these scenes are gradually fading. Take the example of Sharukh, learning to dance and embrace the so called modernity to impress his wife Anushka in the romantic movie ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’.
The cinema is the mirror through which the society looks at itself. Some say movies sell dreams not reality; but the fact is that reality sows the seeds of our dreams and our dreams in turn bring new reality. Time and tide wait for none; people change, society changes and so does cinema. To peek into any society, peek into its cinema.
