Film
(Image credit:
Saregama India/UFO Production/O28 Films
)
By Kaleem Aftab27th May 2023
There is a clichéd image of Indian cinema as chaste and innocent – but there's always been a darker side to it too, as a transgressive new film at Cannes is affirming, writes Kaleem Aftab.
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One of the things Indian cinema is known for all around the world, as well as song-and-dance numbers, is its chasteness, as a result of popular Bollywood productions, which historically didn't even allow for kissing on screen, let alone sex scenes. Indeed, Bollywood directors over the last century have had to find ways to depict sexiness in understated, suggestive ways that get past the disapproving glare of the controlling censors – like a big number featuring a demure actress in a white sari running through a fountain, for example.
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But anyone who imagines that all Indiancinema is so innocent was in for a big surprise at this year's CannesFilm Festival. Director Kanu Behl's Agra, which played last Thursday in the Director's Fortnight sidebar section, is a shocking and forthright look at sexually repressed men in India that is replete with nudity and explicit sex scenes. It is also the latest addition to a lineage of transgressive, alternativeIndiancinema that barely gets talked about. As Behl himself says: "There are so manyfilms made in India, and there is a split personality, almost like two different ideas ofIndiancinema that are there. There is the much more popular Bollywood version ofIndiancinema, which a lot more people know about, and there is also the parallel independentfilmworld where a lot of interesting work has happened, not just now or in the past 5 or 10 years, but over decades.
Agra looks at the issue of sexual violence in India through the story of one disturbed man (Credit: Saregama India/UFO Production/O28 Films)
Agra tells the story of a repressed call centre employee named Guru, who lives in a small house with his parents and married siblings. There is no space for him to have a partner or a sex life without everyone in his cramped household knowing and commenting, so he wants to have an extension built. Wildly frustrated, Guru spends his days addicted to dating apps and acts out a series of violent sexual fantasies, though Behl never makes clear whether these are real events, or figments of Guru's imagination. There is a touch of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman in how Guru's obsessions and delusions blur fact and fiction. It's a boldfilmwhere the first sex scene ends with a woman turning into a giant rodent, and we begin to realise that Guru is a fantasist.
While this scene has an air of the absurd, Behl doesn't shy away from showing some of Guru's more angry and violent fantasies. It's shocking and, at times, unbearable to watch as theIndiandirector tries to take the spectator inside the dangerous mind of a very sick man fantasising about overpowering women and asserting his masculinity.
"Thefilmlooks at certain secret spaces in everybody's lives, which no one wants to talk about," says the 42-year-old director. "There was this sexual repression that I had felt growing up as a boy in northern India, and not just me, I had seen so many people struggling with the delayed sexual maturity," Behl adds.
I decided that to make a film about a deeply vulnerable person who doesn't know how to deal with the opposite sex. I had to show how they behave in dastardly, unexpected ways – Kanu Behl
Behl'sfilmexamines the problem of sexual repression, and suggests that it is connected to India's especially high sexual violence rates. Although thefilmdoesn't try to look at the broader picture of sexual violence in India, the subtext is that men's sexual immaturity is one of the drivers making India "one of the most dangerous places to be a woman", as a 2021 Guardian report suggested. In 2012, a brutal gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi ensured India's high sexual violence rates were brought to the world's attention. In the aftermath of the incident, theIndianparliament introduced stiffer penalties for sexual crimes, but it seems to have made little difference to the crime rates. Rape reports have risen, and many more are scared to come forward. In reflecting on this dark subject matter through the story of one disturbed man, Bhel has made afilmthat has broken many taboos, even if that wasn't the director's intention. "I didn't set out to break any taboos, but the subject forced me to do so," he says.
The whole issue of sexual mores and sexual violence in India was a subject that was tricky for Behl to face. His first draft of the story didn't show explicit sexual scenes. While attending the Three Rivers residency forfilmmakers, it was pointed out to him that he had to visualise the ugly and darker side of the story for the audience to comprehend the extent that his repression had warped his physical desires. "The tutor read a draft and asked me why I was making thefilm, and I said because I want to deal with sexual repression and physical spaces in India. The tutor said, then why are you not doing it? If you really want to do it, you can't do it in a half-baked manner. That night I decided that to make afilmabout a deeply vulnerable person who doesn't know how to deal with the opposite sex. I had to show how they behave in dastardly, unexpected ways."
The DNA of Indian cinema
Behl follows in fine footsteps – for the darker side of Indiancinema has always existed, says Meenakshi Shedde, India and South Asia delegate for the BerlinFilm Festival and a senior programme advisor to the TorontoFilmFestival, who is sitting on the Critic's Week jury at Cannes this year. "We have always had a potent transgressive gene. It's not been dominant, but it's been in the DNA ofIndiancinema from the very beginning. It's probably common in a lot of cultures where at the birth of cinema, it was only transgressive people makingfilms. In India, it was the low caste, the marginalised, and the migrants making movies because it was considered sleazy to work infilms."
Neo-noir Kennedy is another Indian film at this year's Cannes that is pushing boundaries (Credit: Zee Studios/Good Bad Films)
The 1913 silentfilmRaja Harishchandra, often considered to be India's first feature-length movie, popularised cinema in India, but such was the low esteem the seventh art was held in at the time that director Dadasaheb Phalke had to get a male actor to play the female lead. Just being in thefilmindustry was a transgressive act.
"And that [transgressive] streak has long continued, gathering momentum in the 1950s into the 1970s with the Parallel cinema moment. If you look at Satyajit Ray'sfilms, for example, Pather Panchali was made in 1955, and a lot of his contemporaries and distinguished fellow artists, including Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, did very transgressive, political cinema that questioned what was going on."
Yet that independent strand ofIndiancinema was long hard to find, especially outside India, where it was mainstream Bollywoodfilms, with the traditional "masala" formula of romance, songs and happy endings, that were the ones that travelled. And by the 1990s, the alternativeIndian movement had largely vanished due to the rising costs offilmmaking, with Bollywood gaining momentum and eating up all the space by tapping into the non-Indian resident market overseas. The economic realities led to a lack of desire fromIndianexhibitors to release anything but the Hindi cinema mainstream.
Agra so successfully manages to get us into Guru's psyche that the film becomes abhorrent, attacking our senses
However the rise of digital technology in the 21st Century, resulting in filmmaking becoming cheaper, has led to a revival of independentIndiancinema in recent years, withfilmmakers such as Shonali Bose and Anurag Kashyap rising to prominence. As censorship has relaxed, the topics being tackled have broadened, withfilms looking at troubling political histories and social causes such as LGBTQ rights. Thesefilms have found audiences at festivals such as Berlin and Cannes. Kashyap's latestfilm, the neo-noir Kennedy, purporting to be based on real-life police corruption in India, is playing in the Midnight Section of the CannesFilmFestival, a section that celebrates cinema that pushes the boundaries.
And as this strand ofIndiancinema has begun finding more critical acclaim around the world, it has also had an impact on popular Bollywood cinema, with the studios having to adapt theirfilms to the changing tastes of the audience, making them less chaste and tackling daring subject matters. "This has led to the 'masala' guys of Bollywood dealing with more topical subjects in realistic ways," says Shedde, who also points out conversely that filmmakers from the independent scene have been "embracing song-and-dance to be more accessible to a large audience."
It's certainly an exciting time forIndiancinema, with the promise of an era of rich, diverse and divisivefilms that are more in tune with Indiancinema's transgressive roots than the Bollywood output that took over.These films hold a mirror up to society and like the works of Gaspar Noé, Jack Smith and Kenneth Anger (who died this week), to name three filmmakers, they are by their nature incredibly divisive and at times extremely difficult to watch. Agra fits into this mould. Behl so successfully manages to get us into Guru's psyche that the film becomes abhorrent, attacking our senses and creating an unpleasant visceral reaction. Even as the plot widens to include money-lending, the distinction between fact and fiction is difficult to discern, which some will find powerfully unnerving, and others may find simply confusing. But the best thing about Behl's is work that it manages to tackle one of India's biggest and least talked-about issues without feeling like a lecture. May more and more Indian cinema be just as provocative and creatively bold.
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FAQs
Which Indian movie is very famous? ›
1. Pyaasa (1957) This film by Guru Dutt about a struggling poet in post Independence India.
What is the name of the famous film making area in India? ›Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, is the world's largest film studio.
What is the capital of Indian film industry? ›Since then the Mumbai has remained the main center of indian Film Industry for a period of century. The film city has been named as Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari for the memory of the father of Indian film industry Mr. Dada Saheb Phalke .
Where was the first Indian film made? ›Raja Harishchandra is a 1913 silent film, directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is widely regarded as the first full-length feature film ever made in India, and it premiered on May 3, 1913, at the Coronation Cinema in Mumbai (then Bombay).
Which is the No 1 movie in India of all time? ›Here is a look at the top eight highest-grossing Indian movies worldwide. Dangal is the highest grossing India film worldwide.
Which movie is biggest hit in India? ›Dangal is one of the highest-grossing Indian movies of all time.
Who is biggest film industry in India? ›Bollywood is the actual name of India's Hindi film industry. The country's film industry contains various languages. Including Tamil (Kollywood), Telugu (Tollywood) and Hindi (Bollywood). In fact, Kollywood is the largest producer with over 260 films.
What are the top 3 film industry in India? ›- Bollywood. From our childhoods, we've identified with a vast range of Hindi-language films. ...
- Tamil Film Industry. ...
- Telugu Film Industry. ...
- Malyalam Film Industry. ...
- Kannada Film Industry. ...
- Bhojpuri Film Industry. ...
- Punjabi Film Industry. ...
- Orissa Film Industry.
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language.
Who is the top actor in India? ›| SN | Actor | Latest Movie |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | NTR Jr. | Simhadri 4K |
| 2. | Yash Gowda | KGF Chapter 2 |
| 3. | Shah Rukh Khan | Pathaan |
| 4. | Prabhas | Adipurush |
Which is the second biggest Indian film industry? ›
In addition to Bollywood, it is one of India's earliest film industries. Thalaiva hails from Tamil cinema, India's second-largest film industry.
Why is India called Bollywood? ›The name Bollywood is a portmanteau (a blend of two words), combining Bombay and Hollywood. The city of Bombay, which is known as Mumbai today, is where the Hindi-language Indian film industry is based — in other words, it's the Hollywood of India.
Which is the first Indian movie to win Oscar? ›This year's second win was for the short documentary “The Elephant Whisperers”, a portrait of a poor couple in Tamil Nadu and their bond with a baby elephant. Made by Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, the documentary was the first Indian film to win an Oscar.
Which was the first Indian Colour film? ›Kisan Kanya was a 1937 Hindi Cinecolor feature film which was directed by Moti Gidwani and produced by Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Pictures. It is largely remembered by the Indian public on account of it being India's first indigenously made colour film.
Who was the first Indian actor? ›The first actor in India was Dattatraya Damodar Dabke.
What is the last biggest hit in Bollywood? ›Overview. The highest-grossing film in India is Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), with a total domestic gross of ₹1,429.83 crore (US$218 million). The film broke a number of domestic records, grossing over ₹415 crore in its opening weekend.
Who has done the most movies in India? ›Brahmanandam acted in more than 1,000 films.
Who is India's No 1 film director? ›| Rank | Celebrity | Highest ever collections (in Cr) |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Siddharth Anand | 543.050 (2023) |
| 02 | Sudipto Sen | 238.970 (2023) |
| 03 | Luv Ranjan | 149.050 (2023) |
| 04 | Farhad Samji | 194.600 (2019) |
United States: The U.S. film industry is one of the largest and most successful in the world, and generates significant revenue from the production, distribution, and exhibition of films and television shows. The U.S. has a well-established distribution system that allows films to reach audiences around the world.
Who has the biggest fans in Indian film industry? ›- Shah Rukh Khan. Shah Rukh Khan is ranked on the 1st position in the list fan following actors in India. ...
- Salman Khan. ...
- Rajinikanth. ...
- Amitabh Bachchan. ...
- Ajith Kumar. ...
- Yash. ...
- Aamir Khan. ...
- Pawan Kalyan.
Which is biggest film industry in South India? ›
Chennai: The Tamil film industry has topped the market size of south Indian cinema at 2,950 crore, which is followed by the Telugu film industry at 2,500 crore, a CII report has revealed.
Who is the legend of Indian film industry? ›DILIP KUMAR: Popularly known as the 'Tragedy King' of Indian Cinema, he was the first actor to receive the Filmfare Best Actor Award.
Who started Bollywood in India? ›No article can ever start without mentioning the father of the Indian film industry, Dadasaheb Phalke released the first-ever full-length feature film 'Raja Harishchandra' in 1913. Did you know? Raja Harishchandra was the first Bollywood movie ever!
Why is it called Lollywood? ›"Lollywood" is a portmanteau derived from Lahore and "Hollywood", a shorthand reference for the American film industry, Hollywood.
Who is the biggest Indian superstar? ›Amitabh Bachchan
The Shahenshah of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan is the perfect combination of megastardom along with great acting talent. Even at the age of 80, he is one of the busiest & most popular stars.
Amitabh Bachchan
He is considered one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema.
- May 11, 2023. ChatGPT rates top 10 sexiest male actors in Bollywood. ...
- Sexiest Bollywood actors. We asked ChatGPT to tell us the top 10 sexiest Bollywood actors and rate them out of 10. ...
- Hrithik Roshan. ...
- Ranveer Singh. ...
- Shahid Kapoor. ...
- Varun Dhawan. ...
- Sidharth Malhotra. ...
- Ranbir Kapoor.
Nigeria. The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood is the cinema of Nigeria. The Nigerian Film Industry is the largest movie industry globally in terms of output, and is the third largest, in terms of overall revenues generated.
Which film industry is growing in India? ›As per the report, revenues of the south Indian film industry comprising Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam almost doubled to ₹7,836 crore in 2022 from ₹3,988 crore in 2021.
Which came first Hollywood or Bollywood? ›Yes, Bollywood's first film was a short production in 1899, whereas Hollywood's first film came out in 1910. So the point is why should we follow Hollywood? Why are we keeping names which influence Bollywood from Hollywood? As we are older than Hollywood.
Why is Tollywood called Tollywood? ›
The nickname Tollywood is a portmanteau of the words Telugu and Hollywood.
Where is Nollywood? ›Nollywood is the main Nigerian movie production and releases most of the titles in English-speaking West Africa. Despite the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the film industry in Nigeria did not stop. On the contrary, it even increased the number of productions significantly in 2020 and 2021.
Who is the only Indian to win an Oscar? ›At the 55th Academy Awards, Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to win an Academy Award for designing the costumes. Ravi Shankar was nominated for Best Original Score for the same film. As of 2023, three Indian films have been nominated for Best International Feature—Mother India, Salaam Bombay!
Has any Indian film won Oscar? ›Rahman and Gulzar's “Jai Ho” received the Best Original Song Oscar for the movie Slumdog Millionaire. But that wasn't all; he also won a second Oscar for Best Original Score for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.
Which Indian song won Oscar? ›The song “Jai Ho,” written by Rahman and Gulzar, won the Best Original Song Oscar for the film Slumdog Millionaire.
Which was the first silent film in India? ›In 1913 he released India's first silent film, Raja Harishchandra, a work based on Hindu mythology. The film, scripted, produced, directed, and distributed by Phalke, was a huge success and an important milestone in Indian cinematic history.
What is the oldest color film? ›FIRST MOVIE EVER MADE IN COLOR
The first commercially produced film in natural color was A Visit to the Seaside (1908). The eight-minute British short film used the Kinemacolor process to capture a series of shots of the Brighton Southern England seafront.
My Dear Kuttichathan ( transl. My dear little goblin) is a 1984 Indian Malayalam-language fantasy film directed by Jijo Punnoose and produced by his father Navodaya Appachan under Navodaya Studio. It was the first Indian film to be filmed in 3D format.
Who was the first Indian in Hollywood? ›Sabu Dastagir was the first Indian to act in a Hollywood movie. He acted in films like The Elephant Boy', 'Jungle Book' and 'The Thief of Bagdad'. He was an Indian actor famous under the name Sabu and later got US citizenship. Was this answer helpful?
Who is the first heroine of India? ›Durga Bai Kamat was the first female actor in Indian cinema. She is known for being India's first heroine who worked in the second film of Dadasaheb Phalke, 'Mohini Bhasmasur'.
Who is the old best actor in India? ›
Shah Rukh Khan is the only Indian actor in Empire list of 50 greatest actors of all time.
What is the No 1 movie in the world? ›| Rank | Year | Movie |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009 | Avatar |
| 2 | 2019 | Avengers: Endgame |
| 3 | 2022 | Avatar: The Way of Water |
| 4 | 1997 | Titanic |
| SN | Actor | Latest Movie |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | NTR Jr. | Simhadri 4K |
| 2. | Yash Gowda | KGF Chapter 2 |
| 3. | Shah Rukh Khan | Pathaan |
| 4. | Prabhas | Adipurush |
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Who is the biggest movie star in India? ›Amitabh Bachchan
The Shahenshah of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan is the perfect combination of megastardom along with great acting talent.
| Title | Year | Estimated loss (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted for inflation | ||
| Doctor Dolittle | 1967 | $95 |
| Dolittle | 2020 | $57–113 |
| Driven | 2001 | $111 |
| Rank | Title | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gone with the Wind | 1939 |
| 2 | Avatar | 2009 |
| 3 | Titanic | 1997 |
| 4 | Star Wars | 1977 |
- 1 /16. Avengers: Endgame. Opening collection: USD 1.22 billion. ...
- 2 /16. Avengers: Infinity War. Opening collection: USD 640 million. ...
- 3 /16. Spider-Man: No Way Home. ...
- 4 /16. The Fate of the Furious. ...
- 5 /16. Star Wars: The Force Awakens. ...
- 6 /16. Jurassic World. ...
- 7 /16. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. ...
- 8 /16. Captain Marvel.
The 'World of Statistics' released a list of the wealthiest actors on their official Twitter handle recently. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is the only Indian actor to make it to the coveted list. Despite no big relread more... eases in the past four years, SRK emerged as one of the wealthiest actors in the world.
Who is the highest paid actor in Bollywood? ›Salman Khan (Rs 100-150 crore): Salman Khan is the mega superstar of Bollywood. He is known for his fine acting and blockbuster movies. According to media reports, he charges Rs 100 to 150 crores per film.
Which hero has more fans in India? ›
Shah Rukh Khan, also known as the “King of Bollywood,” is undoubtedly one of the most popular actors in the country. He has a massive following not just in India, but also across the world.
What movie has a 100% rating? ›| Name | Year | No. of reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Captain Blood | 1935 | 28 |
| After the Thin Man | 1936 | 23 |
| Pépé le Moko | 1937 | 31 |
| A Star Is Born | 1937 | 23 |
The movie that has a 9. 5 rating is “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994). Directed and written by Frank Darabont, it is an iconic classic and widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all-time.
What is the longest movie ever? ›Background Information: Introducing "Logistics"
This experimental film was conceived and directed by two Swedish artists, Erika Magnusson, and Daniel Andersson. The movie's runtime is a staggering 857 hours, or approximately 35 days and 17 hours, making it an unparalleled cinematic experience.
According to a report by Kroll, a corporate investigation and risk consulting firm, actor Ranveer Singh has been named India's most valuable celebrity of 2022, surpassing cricketer Virat Kohli who held the top spot for five years.
Who is India's biggest male superstar? ›Shah Rukh Khan in 2012. One of the richest actors globally, he is often considered as the biggest movie star in the world.
Who is No 1 richest actor in the world? ›Who is the number one richest actor in the world? Currently, Jami Gertz is the richest actor in the world with a net worth of $3 billion.