Changing Trends of Indian Cinema

Acknowledgement

This book has come out with the institutional support of Delhi Metropolitan Education (DME), and the motivation for this entrepreneurship came from the leaders of this institute i.e. Mr. Vipin Sahni, Chairman, Ms. Kiran Sahni, Chairperson and Mr. Aman Sahni, Vice Chairman. The academic guidance came from Honourable Justice Bhanwar Singh, Director General of DME, Dr Ravi Kant Swami, Director, DME and Dr. Manjula Batra, Director Research, DME. Converting the research papers to produce a book on Indian Cinema and Alternate Networks was a big task which could not have been accomplished had the visionary leadership not been there by my side.

DME Media School has witnessed progress leaps and bound in a short period of its existence. The school is known not only for curricular but also for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, but holding an international conference in collaboration with a foreign university i.e. Deakin University of Australia is the first mammoth task that the school has taken up. The first international conference ICAN organized in 2018 only in the month of March witnessed huge participation and the second edition is expected to be momentous again.

For us the objective of a conference is creating storehouse of knowledge for the use of media educators, trainers, researchers and the students. In the first edition of ICAN we produced four books, three in English and one in Hindi. This time also, we have planned the same number of books.

The idea of organizing an international conference on Indian cinema and alternate networks as a collaborative venture churned out during a discussion with Dr. Vikrant Kishore, experienced filmmaker and Course Director – Film, Television and Animation at School of Communications and Creative Arts, Deakin University. It was also decided to take out publications so as to make a permanent contribution to the knowledge world.

ICAN2 is the outcome of the hard work that the faculty members of DME Media School has undergone for more than three months. Right from inception of the idea to drafting the plan and from making the strategy to execution on the ground, the faculty members have been working day and night. Under the supervision of two conveners, Dr. Vikrant Kishore and Dr. Susmita Bala, the energetic team members carried the things forward

I owe a lot to my faculty members without whom this conference and the publication of books would have never happened. When I decided to steer the ship of ICAN2 2018 (International Conference on Indian Cinema and Alternate Networks) as Advisor to the conference along with Dr. Vikrant Kishore and Dr. Susmita Bala in August 2018, Dr. Parul Mehra, Dr. Atul Arora, Ms. Manmeet Kaur, Ms. Neelam Nanda, Ms. Divya Rastogi, Ms. Sanchita Chakraborty, Mr. Pramod Kumar Pandey and Mr. Mohammad Kamil joined hands as Co-Conveners. Mr. Sumantra Sarathi Das, Ms. Kritika Sati, Ms. Deepika Dhawan, Mr. Harjeet Singh Kukreja, Mr. Rahul Joshi, and Ms. Tulika Arora made significant contribution as members of the Organizing Committee of the conference.

I would like to make a mention here of the team of Deakin University which proved a backbone to the conference under the leadership of Professor Matthew Allen, Head, Dr. Sean Redmond, professor in Screen and Design, Dr. John Cumming, Senior Faculty – Film and TV, School of Communications and Creative Arts.

I would also like to thank and appreciate all my friends and colleagues who always motivated and helped me during all the stages of this mammoth task. Special thanks to Dr. Mansavi Maheshwari, Assistant Professors in K.R. Mangalam University, Mr. Hemant Kaushik, senior faculty of TV Today Media Institute

I cannot forget the immense contribution made by Dr. Aman Vats, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Research Division, Amity School of Communication, Amity University, Noida as Reviewer. Along with him, the task of reviewing was handled by Dr. Parul Mehra as internal member of the team.

The galaxy of media educators, researchers and professionals provided an unconditional support to this endeavour. To name a few from the long list, Dr. Devesh Kishore, Professor Emeritus. Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Avam Sanchar Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal, Prof. J.S. Yadav, former Director of IIMC, Prof. K.G. Suresh, Director General, IIMC, Prof. Ashok Agora, Director, Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, Dr. Shahid Rasool, Director, CEMCA (Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia), Mr. Anirban Sarma, National Program Officer, UNSECO, Dr. Dhruv Joyti Pati, Dean, India Today Media Institute, Prof. Subhash Dhuliya, Dean, Sharda University, Prof. Jaishri Jethwaney, former Course Director of Ad & PR in IIMC. Prof. Gita Bamezai, Head of Research in IIMC, Prof. Shambhu Nath Singh, Director School of Journalism and New Media Studies (SOJNMS), IGNOU and Dr. Kiron Bansal, Associate Professor, SOJNMS, IGNOU.

The distinguished scholars of cinema who agreed to support in various capacities like experts of plenary sessions, chairing technical session and conducting workshops include Mr. Nimish Kapoor, Scientist ‘E’ and Head, Science Films Division Vigyan Prasar. Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dr. Asad Nizam, Deputy Director, Electronic Media Production Centre (EMPC), IGNOU, Dr. O.P. Dewal, Associate Professor, SOJNMS, IGNOU, Ms. Shubhra Gupta, renowned film critic associated with The Indian Express, Dr. Namrata Joshi, Head, Journalism and Mass Communication Department, Guru Nanak Dev University Regional Campus, Jalandhar, Dr. Gauri Chakraborty, Joint HOD, ASCO, Amity University, Noida, Mr. Iqbal Rizvi, Senior print and broadcast journalist and author of Poster Bolte Hain, Mr. Alok Verma, senior broadcast journalist and media entrepreneur, Prof. Kiran Bala, Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, K.R. Mangalam

University, Gurugram and Mr. Aditya Seth, Academic Consultant for the University of South Wales in Cardiff, Wales, U.K.

At my work place, I received exceptional support from all the schools of DME. Mr. Anmol Ratan Mehta helped with his designing skills and Mr. Pawan Saxena provided valuable logistic support. Mr. C.M. Anand, Administrative Officer and Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Technical Head were instrumental in facilitating the smooth conduct of the conference. Mr. Sunder provided support in critical areas of creativity and execution.

In the last, I must make a mention of documentary Me Too which has been produced by the journalism students for screening in the conference. Some students have also initiated graffiti on the walls as a prelude to the conference.

Prof. (Dr.) Susmita Bala

Head, DME Media School

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Preface

Cinema makes a lasting effect on viewers’ mind. It not only entertains but enlightens too. It is the real documentation of the culture, history, heritage and societal issues in a country. Cinema fascinates, it is alluring and captivating, and that is how it draws crowd to theatres all across the globe.

For the creative people cinema is a craft and not an academic subject. Learning the craft may be easy with an ingenious approach and skill friendly attitude. But, academics has its own importance. It gives a depth, an understanding to the producer of cinematic content. Educational institutions perform this job either through prescribing the subject in curriculum or organizing film appreciation workshops.

Besides academic and creative aspect, film making also involves technology and marketing. The arrival of OTT signals the departure of satellite age and internet based promotional tools have changed the dynamics of business. There is an earnest need to appreciate and comprehend these changes in whichever capacity we are associated with cinema whether as producer of content or merely consuming the content as viewer.

ICAN2 held on November 16, 17 and 18, 2018, at DME provided a platform for all those who love cinema and want to live with cinema. Technical sessions (8), plenary sessions (3) and workshops (3) during International Conference on Indian Cinema and Alternate Networks delivered ample opportunities to film academia and film makers.

This conference looked at various aspects of Indian cinema while looking into how its reception and consumption, collaboration and distribution have changed over the years. Various aspects of Indian cinema were researched, analysed and discussed by scholars and filmmakers in different sessions of the conference.

ICAN2 provided ocean of knowledge in terms of research based writings by eminent and emerging scholars from India and abroad. The research papers presented in this international conference are being published in the form of four books, three in English and one in Hindi. This book Changing Trends of Indian Cinema is one of these books. The other two books are titled “Bollywood Women and Indian Society” and “World Cinema and Alternate Networks”.

This book Changing Trends of Indian Cinema discusses the effect of urbanization on films right from themes to emergence of multiplexes. Some authors talk about the commercial aspects in filmmaking business. Some other authors have focused on the real lifeline of Indian cinema – romance, music and dance in the write ups published in this book.

This book comprises many articles written on biopics and period drama in Indian cinema. While biopics have been interpreted as tools of motivation and promotion, period dramas are accused of distorting history. Freedom of filmmakers and the issue of censorship

has also been discussed in some articles.

Film reviews incorporating analysis and criticism is an important component in film studies and many scholars have chosen this subject for writing articles. Many eminent media scholars, researchers and film experts have contributed to this book by penning down the outcome of their research and analysis. Hope, this book will benefit the cine lovers.

Prof. (Dr.) Ambrish Saxena

Dean, DME Media School