Cinema, and particularly Indian cinema, seems nothing but an extension and exaggeration of everything a people desires and aspires at the deepest level. That's why palatial bungalows, flashy lifestyle, a peppy and upbeat attitude of the protagonist, perfect dialogue delivery and super human strength and many more features so deeply resonate with the audiences that commercial cinema has ruled the roost for almost 7 decades since the last century.
One such characteristic or feature that stands out and has a covert and overt mass appeal is that of sensuality. No doubt the comment of Neha Dhupia : "Either Shahrukh Khan or sex sells in Bollywood."
It comes as no surprise that for the land of Kama Sutra, having a conservative society with suppressed avenues to vent ones sexuality, the only way is to seek it and find an outlet at the same time through out mainstream cinemas. (Though parallel and B grade cinemas do exist, their reach and appeal is inevitably dwarfed by the mainstream cinema).
No wonder the dream merchants regularly have an undertone of sex and sexuality in our films.
Let's see the hallmarks of the Indian film industry, or precisely Hindi cinema, and the origin and milestones with regards to sensuality[in each era].
Early Beginning -- The Indian film industry had it's genesis with the release of the film 'Raja Harishchandra' in 1916. And before we knew, within just a few decades the 'film industry' began taking shape, with dozens of movies releasing within the next 2 decades.
The earliest memorable symbol of sensuality in the film industry was the 4 minute long on-screen kiss between husband-wife actor-actress duo Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. This scene went on to become an iconic one and still lingers on in the memory of our senior generation.
The next image that comes to mind is the two-piece worn by Shobhana Samarth in the movie [ ] which was also a radical move of sorts, inspired by the west and influencing the later Bollywood divas to experiment on screen with bare-essentials.
The next damsel to set tongues wagging was the demure Sharmila Tagore, who set the screen ablaze by donning bikini; and the hype which ensued thereafter was such that it made her the cover girl on [] magazine.
But it wasn't until the advent of the master craftsman and showman of the millennium that sexuality found its greatest experimentation. From partial nudity of both actors and actresses to topless scenes; no one flirted with the Indian censor board more then Raj Kapoor. It's amazing how he got around the board when even until 90's and well into 2000's we have had film makers at loggerheads with them.
The 70's were the most promiscuous of the eras of the Indian film industry with item girls cum heroines dotting the silver screen. Zeeat Aman seemed to be the leading lady of the pack along with Parveen Babi, and Dimple Kapadia just paving a way in the film industry. Donning bikinis and low cuts were as common as if it were the culture of the land. It wasn't until the 2000's that the trend would catch up in the Indian metros.
The 80's until mid 90's saw a lull in Bollywood with very few quality movies being produced. But still we could see some leading ladies making the temperatures soar and accelerate libidos. One such newcomer was Mandakini who shed her inhibitions to give her countrymen a taste of natural living and simplicity; though it was widely perceived as blatant vulgarity and considered as outraging the sensibilities of a conservative nation.
Pooja Bhatt to tried to desexualize the feminine body and sought to give it a more aesthetic appeal, but that didn't seem to go down well with some morality upholders.
Thus, it took a lot of time and experimentation on the part of our film makers to come out with a movie with alarming depth and reality as "Bandit Queen" by Shekhar Kapur and "Kama Sutra" by Mira Nair..By this time the audience were a bit matured and acceptable to newer forms of cinema. But it seemed that this too was short-lived, as was being increasingly clear that the pall bearer of angst against experimental and sensuous cinema and film makers had shifted from self-proclaimed morality groups to politicians.
2000's was not that sizzling a decade as very few actresses could recreate the sensuousness that was created by a Saira Banu or a Zeenat Aman. We also, to some extent, had out share of heroines chiseling to the perfect hour-glass shape to don the much often missed two-piece -- some to resurrect their careers and some because the 'script so demanded'. Thus, Kareena, Priyanka, Bipasha, Mallika and others enrobed and saw the film collections soaring and fans rejoicing.
Let's hope than in the next decade, we get to the point where sensuousness can be elevated from the level of eroticism and vulgarity to the respectable position of art and aesthetics, which it rightly deserves
One such characteristic or feature that stands out and has a covert and overt mass appeal is that of sensuality. No doubt the comment of Neha Dhupia : "Either Shahrukh Khan or sex sells in Bollywood."
It comes as no surprise that for the land of Kama Sutra, having a conservative society with suppressed avenues to vent ones sexuality, the only way is to seek it and find an outlet at the same time through out mainstream cinemas. (Though parallel and B grade cinemas do exist, their reach and appeal is inevitably dwarfed by the mainstream cinema).
No wonder the dream merchants regularly have an undertone of sex and sexuality in our films.
Let's see the hallmarks of the Indian film industry, or precisely Hindi cinema, and the origin and milestones with regards to sensuality[in each era].
Early Beginning -- The Indian film industry had it's genesis with the release of the film 'Raja Harishchandra' in 1916. And before we knew, within just a few decades the 'film industry' began taking shape, with dozens of movies releasing within the next 2 decades.
The earliest memorable symbol of sensuality in the film industry was the 4 minute long on-screen kiss between husband-wife actor-actress duo Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. This scene went on to become an iconic one and still lingers on in the memory of our senior generation.
The next image that comes to mind is the two-piece worn by Shobhana Samarth in the movie [ ] which was also a radical move of sorts, inspired by the west and influencing the later Bollywood divas to experiment on screen with bare-essentials.
The next damsel to set tongues wagging was the demure Sharmila Tagore, who set the screen ablaze by donning bikini; and the hype which ensued thereafter was such that it made her the cover girl on [] magazine.
But it wasn't until the advent of the master craftsman and showman of the millennium that sexuality found its greatest experimentation. From partial nudity of both actors and actresses to topless scenes; no one flirted with the Indian censor board more then Raj Kapoor. It's amazing how he got around the board when even until 90's and well into 2000's we have had film makers at loggerheads with them.
The 70's were the most promiscuous of the eras of the Indian film industry with item girls cum heroines dotting the silver screen. Zeeat Aman seemed to be the leading lady of the pack along with Parveen Babi, and Dimple Kapadia just paving a way in the film industry. Donning bikinis and low cuts were as common as if it were the culture of the land. It wasn't until the 2000's that the trend would catch up in the Indian metros.
The 80's until mid 90's saw a lull in Bollywood with very few quality movies being produced. But still we could see some leading ladies making the temperatures soar and accelerate libidos. One such newcomer was Mandakini who shed her inhibitions to give her countrymen a taste of natural living and simplicity; though it was widely perceived as blatant vulgarity and considered as outraging the sensibilities of a conservative nation.
Pooja Bhatt to tried to desexualize the feminine body and sought to give it a more aesthetic appeal, but that didn't seem to go down well with some morality upholders.
Thus, it took a lot of time and experimentation on the part of our film makers to come out with a movie with alarming depth and reality as "Bandit Queen" by Shekhar Kapur and "Kama Sutra" by Mira Nair..By this time the audience were a bit matured and acceptable to newer forms of cinema. But it seemed that this too was short-lived, as was being increasingly clear that the pall bearer of angst against experimental and sensuous cinema and film makers had shifted from self-proclaimed morality groups to politicians.
2000's was not that sizzling a decade as very few actresses could recreate the sensuousness that was created by a Saira Banu or a Zeenat Aman. We also, to some extent, had out share of heroines chiseling to the perfect hour-glass shape to don the much often missed two-piece -- some to resurrect their careers and some because the 'script so demanded'. Thus, Kareena, Priyanka, Bipasha, Mallika and others enrobed and saw the film collections soaring and fans rejoicing.
Let's hope than in the next decade, we get to the point where sensuousness can be elevated from the level of eroticism and vulgarity to the respectable position of art and aesthetics, which it rightly deserves
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