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What is the reason for the success of Indian films?

In recent years, the prosperous situation of Indian-themed films in Hollywood has made “India” a heavyweight keyword in world films in the new century. “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Pi’s Fantasy Drifting” won the Oscar, and Hollywood’s first-line There are always Indian faces in the movies, but the halo of these honors obscures the fact that Indian films are more prosperous.

From “The Wanderer”, which was first introduced to China in the 1950s, to “Caravan” in the 1970s, and then to “Once Upon a Time in India” in 2003, most Chinese audiences may only have a fragmented view of Indian films. impression.

Until 2011, “Three Silly Troubles in Bollywood” became popular in China, and many people were surprised by the rapid progress of local Indian films, giving rise to the illusion of “magic soldiers descending from heaven”.

As an important film-producing region, India’s film production is the highest in the world , and Bollywood has become one of the world’s largest film production bases, with hundreds of millions of viewers.

Beginning at the end of the 19th century, Indian films with a history of more than 100 years have developed a strong sense of drama, sophisticated film narrative skills, eye-catching sound and picture language, outstanding and occasionally shocking imagination, and facing the world. The Chinese market still adheres to the watch of belief and traditional culture, which can be called a wonderful flower in the world movie. It uses its own unique gesture to seriously tell the past, present and future of India, and depict the world in their eyes.

Might as well dance: ‘Marsala’ carnival

India is a multilingual country, and ethnic groups in different languages ​​have a strong demand for native language films, thus promoting the development of the film industry. But no matter what language they speak, singing and dancing, as a way of life that Indians have inherited from generation to generation, are their common language. The singing and dancing with national characteristics in Indian films is the key to winning the local market, and it is also a magic weapon to quickly arouse the interest of overseas audiences.

A typical Bollywood film has at least five or six gorgeous songs and dances, and it has a happy ending. This labelled Bollywood blockbuster is also known as “Masala” movies. “Masala” means “mixed spice” in Hindi. The “Masala” movie is a combination of love, action, song and dance, comedy elements and a happy ending. Its unique narrative mode is also known as “” The Masala Model”.

In the “Masala Model”, the singing and dancing of Indian films has evolved into an important part as indispensable as language. Eighty percent of the people in India believe in Hinduism, and the songs and dances in the movie first satisfy religious needs .

Among the Indian film songs and dances, the most mainstream is Indian classical dance. The performance mode of Indian classical dance today is a perfect combination of two main forms, descriptive dance and pure dance. Among them, the descriptive dance with a very heavy performance component is the preaching performance of various Hindu myths and legends and moral norms in line with the teachings. There are three core gods in Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Shiva created the dance, and Shiva’s dance is called “Tandava”, which means masculine. But most of the performers are women, so Indian classical dance can be described as “tempered and soft around the fingers”. The most typical image of Shiva is the posture of clasping his hands together and raising his left foot and right. In almost all Indian movies , you can see the heroine with various moods, showing such a dance, paying tribute to the gods of Hinduism.

The Indian film “The Wanderer” was the first Indian film to be introduced into China. It was released in China in 1955. It was re-released in the late 1970s and caused a sensation. The episodes of “The Song of Raz” and “The Song of Lida” in the film are all It is deeply loved by Chinese audiences and resonates with Chinese people after ten years of catastrophe.

The exquisite dance performance of the famous Indian dancer Aruna Irani and the beautiful singing of the famous singer Lata in another Indian film “Caravan” introduced into China at the same time have also become the common memory of that generation. .

“Bollywood Life and Death” is a masterpiece that embodies the pinnacle of Indian film singing and dancing. Its sensual sensuality perfectly explains the subtlety of Indian singing and dancing, which is full of visual impact and provokes the enthusiasm of the audience. Songs and dances in Indian films assume the dual functions of narrative and lyricism, convey the appeal of hope and light, and create a sense of beauty that is both true and illusory.

With the development of the times, the singing and dancing forms of Indian films are also exploring and innovating. Taking into account the limitations of men’s performance in classical dance and the aesthetic tastes of young audiences, traditional classical dance has begun to merge with elements of modern dance, and “Once Upon a Time in India” is a successful example.

In “Robot Love”, there are both the latest European and American electronic music, as well as the hot and beautiful Indian national customs. It neither rejects foreign excellent elements because of sticking to tradition, nor does it blindly “worship the ocean” and lose local advantages. A benign interaction between national characteristics and world trends has been achieved.

The victory of narrative: traditional dramatic elements + anti-sky imagination

If the duration of a movie exceeds three hours, it will definitely challenge the limit of the audience’s tolerance; if it exceeds the limit at every turn, and wants you to watch it tirelessly, I am afraid that only Indian movies dare to do this.

Universal values ​​such as love, friendship, family mission, destiny, and morality are common motifs in Indian films. The entanglement and disillusionment of love, the distress and rise of heroes, deception and revenge, rules and betrayal… The extreme plot setting detours, reverses, confronts, and sublimates in the fierce shock of opening and closing. This is the traditional Indian drama.

The basic formula is supplemented by the jumping of space, the use of montage, the transformation of narrative structure and other film methods to create a spectacle with great visual impact. You can say that this method is very vulgar and has strong grass-roots characteristics, but it can be used to the extreme of the “vulgar” model, so that you have never seen it before, and it can be regarded as a new way.

Love is always the top-grossing theme in Indian movies. Compared with the sadistic and bitter dramas like “Bollywood Life and Death”, those Korean dramas that have earned enough tears from Chinese audiences are all weak.

“Bollywood Life and Death” tells a love story of “childhood and childhood” into an epic. The confrontation of classes, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the impermanence of fate make the tension of the story continue to expand, and the original deep love The cruel plot of a pair of bi people who did not meet again after their death broke people’s expectations for a happy ending in Bollywood and formed a strong appeal of love tragedy. It is a classic example of Bollywood romance films at the beginning of the new century.

An important reason for the rapid rise of Indian films is the overall development of the film industry , which includes practical technologies such as 3D and digital animation modeling, and all these means of expression serve the imagination of the creators. When the various modes of romantic films are familiar to the audience, cross-species love is imperative.

Taking care of reality: local characteristics in line with international trends

The core that Indian film adheres to – nationality and locality , on the one hand, builds an unbreakable cultural barrier for Indian film culture, and on the other hand is an excellent entry point to connect with the global mainstream film market.

In recent years, Indian films have kept pace with the times, learned from the experience of successful commercial films in the global market, and faced social reality head-on. Whether it is racial issues, religious issues, or other social conflicts, they have become the focus of Indian films.

For example, “Life and Death in Bollywood”, which accused the caste system, “Three idiots in Bollywood” and “Stars on Earth”, which reflected on the education system, and “My Name is Khan” and “New York” which opposed racial discrimination , “Once Upon a Time in India”, “The Colors of Bassati”, which resisted colonial rule, and “Aqaba the Great”, which tolerated different beliefs, are all based on a mixture of Indian religious beliefs, family ethics, and folk customs and etiquette. , reflecting the concern for social issues and the reflection on system construction.

Indian reality-themed films blended with international mainstream films with a variety of expression styles, sweeping the international box office. Among them, “Once Upon a Time in India” was nominated for an Oscar in 2002, and “Colors of Bassati” won 8 of the 2006 Global Indian Film Awards. In 2009, the overseas box office of “Three Silly Trouble in Bollywood” accounted for half of the total box office. The situation of applause and audience proves the success of the Indian film business model, and also realizes the value transmission and cultural output of Indian films.

It is undeniable that Indian cinema is experiencing its golden age. Whether in industrial production or in the market, Indian cinema has created miracles that belong to this era.

Indian films lastingly satisfy the unique audio-visual tastes of local audiences, are inclusive and continue to stimulate and cultivate the aesthetic acceptance of Indian films by overseas audiences.

Perhaps, we can learn from the benefits that are beneficial to the development of the Chinese film industry, and we can also experience their enthusiasm and sincerity for life, and feel their responsibility and courage to face the proposition of survival from the life of smiles and tears in Indian films.