Bollywood Movies: Film Synpopsis'

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Director: Yash Chopra

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma

Released: 2012

Synopsis:

Samar Anand played by the actor Shah Rukh Khan is a freelance musician in London. He soon meets Meera Thapar who is played by Katrina Kaif and he is instantly attracted to her. He soon learns that Meera is engaged to marry a childhood friend but she is not happy about it as she's doing it for her dad. However, Samar and Meera start spending a lot  time together and Meera realizes that she is slowly falling in love with Samar. At the same time, Meera realises that she can not  be with him because of her engagement. From then, Meera and Samar make a mutual agreement that they shall not cross the line of friendship but as time goes on they both break the agreement. Tragedy strikes when Samar meets with an accident and is injured badly. Meera soon tells Samar that she believes she cannot love him anymore and tells him to leave her life. Samar does so and decides to join the Indian army as a bomb diffuser and moves to India. 

10 years down the line Samar is now a Major in the Indian army. A journalist named Akira played by Anushka Sharma gets in an accident whilst filming a documentary of the bomb squad and Samar saves her life and they become good friends, she finds his diary, in which he wrote about his love story with Meera that happened in London. Akira is fascinated with Samar and his story and decides to make a documentary about his life in the army. Akira then shifts to London and Samar soon joins her. However, Samar has another accident, and this time he develops retrograde amnesia. He keeps thinking he is still in his life with Meera. Akira decides to bring Meera back to Samar, hoping it will help him bring regain his memory as well as regain his long lost love.

Table No.21

Director: Aditya Datt
Starring: Rajeev Khandelwal, Paresh Rawal, Tena Desae
Released: 2013

This movie is all about love and lies, truth and treachery, money and mind-games. 
The character Vivaan who is played by the talented Rajeev Khandelwal) and Siya played by Tena Desae are a middle-class couple who win a free trip to the exotic Fiji Islands. 
Soon, this fee trip turns into a reality show for 8 million viewers on the internet. The couple is invited by one Mr.Khan played by Paresh Rawal who's a quiz-master of the live game show  but the games follow by such daunting tasks. All they have to do is bare their hearts and say nothing but walk home with the prize money of 21 crores. The rules are simple in this game and the rule is 'if you lie you die' and once in the hot-seat, there's no turning back. The heavenly island turns into a hell-home for the targeted couple and they are torn between a web of lies, truth and shocking reality.
This story stays focused on the lead couple but it is great because the movie brings such  suspense, intrigue and thrill. 



Band Baaja Baarat

Director: Maneesh Sharma
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma
Release:  2010

The character Shruti who is played by Anushka Sharma is a 20-something stubborn girl from a middle class household from New Delhi. She is very focused and determined with preplanned ambitions as she literally has her life planned out and is very goal orientated and will do anything to achieve them, she reaches her final year of college and decided to open her own wedding planning company as its been a passion of hers since. Bittoo played by Ranveer Singh who she meets unexpectedly on a bus journey home is the total opposite of her with literally no ambition in life and just living as days go by  and just spends his time having fun with his mates. But fate brings them together and they meet again and end up  working together in the wedding planning industry.


Cocktail

Director: Homi Adajania
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty
Release: 2013

The story revolves around the characters Gautam Khanna who is played by the actor Saif Ali Khan), Veronica D'Costa portrayed by Deepika Padukone and Meera Gupta playing Diana Penty.

Gautam Khanna's dream is simple, and that is to get to London and have a job and his dream is fulfilled as he does end up getting a good, well paid job. But his mom says that he has to finalise his marriage before he should work a she wants to see her son settle down. He meets a girl called Veronica who he is very fond of and likes a lot as she's a bit of a party animal as well as a wild one with a feisty personality and they start dating, but he doesn't tell his mum about her. Veronica brings her friend along on a random occasion who she meets serendipitously, so they all meet each other and go club and they all have become friends at this point Gautam realises Meera is a great girl as she's very simple, calm and decent and his mum would lover her simplicity. To get his mum off his back he just lies and says he'll be getting married to her and his mum is happy at this point. Meera agrees with the agreement of pretending to get married to him as she really had no say in the situation because of the circumstances, at this point Gautam and veronica are dating but not making it obvious as they don't his mum to suspect anything, slowly as he begins to spend time with both of them he realises that he has starting to gain feelings for his fake marriage partner Meera. This however brings a lot of complications in their friendships as feelings fly out of control which causes a love triangle.

Film and Cultural Identity

Film and Cultural Identity:

 

Meanings of stereotype, ideology,culture, power and representation…

Stereotypes - 
are basically fixed and over generalised beliefs about certain groups or a class of people.

for example: a typical stereotype about Scotland would be that it snows a lot and that they all wear kilts as well as they all play the bag pipes.. (but obviously we know that all Scottish people don't actually do thats but as I said its just a stereotype!)


Ideology… is a system of ideas especially one which forms the basis or either economical or political theory and policy. for example  the set of beliefs or characteristics of a social group or individual.

Culture…is ideas and customs and behaviour of particular people of a society.

Power… is the capacity and ability to direct or influence the audiences of others and the ability to do something in a particular way.

Representation…is the description or portrayal of something in a particular way, like the action of speaking on behalf of someone or the state of being represented.

Foreign films and there cultural identity

1- Amelie - (FRANCE)  
The movie Amelie is a French romantic comedy that was released in the year of 2001. The location of the film is Paris and culture and history has had a huge impact on the movie as a whole; the country France and the city Paris is being clearly portrayed as the city of love and its shown to be that Paris is full of wonder and the place is very lively as well as great to be in. The culture and context of the way the film is portrayed is giving the audience a very beautiful impression on the city Paris and its shown in a very positive way. Paris has been shown to look very perfect as it has that certain stereotype that it is a city of love and dreams can come true. I noticed that the colour red is used a lot in this movie and that shows to me that the people are looking for love or that they are in love showing us that France is a passionate country.

2 - City of God (BRAZIL)
The movie City of God is set in the country of Brazil in the 1960's it shows us the many problems of the country which are the extreme poverty, overcrowding and violence due to the extreme gangs.

3 - Tsotsi (SOUTH AFRICA)
The movie Tsotsi is a South African movie which was released in 2005. The film shows the high rate of poverty and the addiction of crime. Africa has been a region with a very diverse population with several ethnics and language groups. 

 4 - Separation (IRAN)

The movie Separation is an Iranian film, which was released in the year of 2011. The genre of the movie is known as a drama film. This movie demonstrates the influence of cultural diplomacy.

My chosen country to talk about the film and cultural identity is India.
I have chosen India because to has a huge film base named Bollywood.

Country: India - Bollywood

India (Flag)

This is the Bollywood mood board which I have done.

Brief outline on the country India 

India is a country in Asia. Its capital is New Delhi and the largest city in India is known as Mumbai. Mumbai is also known of the city of Bollywood, where a lot of the films are produced also a lot of the well known big stars are from Mumbai too. India is the seventh largest country and the most populated country with roughly over 1.2 billion people and the most populous democracy in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi is very well known as he was famous for the important part he played in gaining India's independence. The most popular sport played in India is Cricket.

The national emblem of India.

The Tiger known as India's associated animal

Gathering evidence of cultural relevance

Characters:

From the four films I have chosen I believe that some of the characters from the movies  are actually quite similar to me especially the one in the film Cocktail. The character Meera (Diana Penty) is her name, she's quite simple and family orientated and I believe I am like this. I would fit into being and playing this character well because her personality similarly matches mine, even the clothing she wears is quite similar to what I would wear and the way she is as person in terms of the way she acts with people and talks to people is definitely similar to me. The characters in the film are also quite similar to my family in ways especially the ones who do live in india because of the way there lifestyle is in terms of living in the village and being quite loud and vibrant in both ways personality and clothing, they are also quite outspoken too.

Experiences:

Some of the experiences that the characters go through are quite similar in terms of what  I have been through and probably will go through at different stages of life and this connects with others  in all cultures because the feelings and events could happen to anyone and it doesn't really matter about the culture in this sense. The way that the characters are quite independent in terms of the fact that they have travelled alone that is definitely similar to me because I have been to India by myself and therefore I feel quite connected to this character and I know how she felt when she got there and what sort of feelings she had been going through. Other experiences which are similar are the relationships they share with their friends, the way that most of the characters are in trims of with each other as well as there family is what I am like and how I am treated too because I am quite open minded and sincere.

Place:

The places in which the characters have lived in these movies re quite similar to the ones I have been and  lived in. I have been India many times I know exactly what the places are like and what to expect in the certain areas they area at. 

Time:
the events in the films are quite similar in terms of what i have been through aswell as what i have seen in life worth other people. the stories are quite common and i think happen to a lot of people in every day life and people genially know a lot of people who are experiencing these events.

Main characters age and gender
The ages in most of the films are roughly 20+ so the characters are quite young. The movies generally have a lot of females in them more than males and the males in the movies seem a lot more older then the females. Overall the main gender is female.

Languages:
the languages in the movies which are spoken are hindi, punjabi and english. I also can speak those three languages. The characters however are very fluent in the ways they speak the languages and are quite fast paces in terms of the way they articulate. Some of the characters in the films are quite philosophical and I feel site connected to that because I feel as a person I am quite sentimental, also one of the films the character is a writer so i feel quite connected because of the poetry which is read in the movies. \

Frequency:
A lot of British and Hollywood film are quite similar to these Bollywood movies that I have analysed because they are quite modern in terms of the stories. The movies I have seen which have similarities are Love Actually, The Wedding Planner, Red Eye…

The Lumiere Legacy (Task 1 and 2)

                                                  LUMIERE BROTHERS

Who were the Lumiere brothers?

Lumière brothers, French inventors and pioneer manufacturers of photographic equipment who devised an early motion-picture camera and projector called the Cinématographe (“cinema” is derived from this name). Auguste Lumière and his brother Louis created the film La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière (1895; “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”), which is considered the first motion picture.

When and where did they live?

The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France and moved to Lyon in 1870, where they both attended La Martiniere, the largest technical school in Lyon

What are the films about?

These factual shorts (or mini-documentaries), termed actualities, with the mundane quality of home movies, included the following:

1. La Sortie des Ouviers de L'Usine Lumière à Lyon (1895) (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory)
2. La Voltige (1895) (Horse Trick Riders)
3. La Pêche aux Poissons Rouges (1895) (Fishing for Goldfish)
4. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon (1895) (The Disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon)
5. Les Forgerons (1895) (Blacksmiths)
6. Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé) (The Gardener or The Sprinkler Sprinkled) (1895)
7. Le Repas (de Bébé) (1895) (Baby's Meal)
8. Le Saut à la Couverture (1895) (Jumping onto the Blanket)
9. La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon (1895) (Cordeliers Square in Lyon)
10. La Mer (Baignade en Mer) (1895) (Bathing in the Sea)

The ten shorts included the famous first comedy (# 6) of a gardener with a watering hose (aka The Sprinkler Sprinkled, Waterer and Watered, or L'Arrouseur Arrose), the factory worker short (# 1, see above), a sequence (# 9) of a horse-drawn carriage approaching toward the camera, and a scene (# 7) of the feeding of a baby. The Lumieres also became known for their 50-second short Arrivee d'un train en gare a La Ciotat (1895) (Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat), which some sources reported was shocking to its first unsophisticated viewing audience. By 1898, the Lumiere's company had produced a short film catalogue with over 1,000 titles.

How long are they? Why?

All the 10 films ran on average 50 seconds long:

1. La Sortie des Ouviers de L'Usine Lumière à Lyon (1895) (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory) (46 seconds)

2. La Voltige (1895) (Horse Trick Riders) (46 seconds)

3. La Pêche aux Poissons Rouges (1895) (Fishing for Goldfish) (42 seconds)

4. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon (1895) (The Disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon) (48 seconds)

5. Les Forgerons (1895) (Blacksmiths) (49 seconds)

6. Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé) (The Gardener or The Sprinkler Sprinkled) (1895) (49 seconds)

7. Le Repas (de Bébé) (1895) (Baby's Meal) (41 seconds)

8. Le Saut à la Couverture (1895) (Jumping onto the Blanket) (41 seconds)

9. La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon (1895) (Cordeliers Square in Lyon) (44 seconds)

10. La Mer (Baignade en Mer) (1895) (Bathing in the Sea) (38 seconds)

What can you say about the cinematography and other aspects of the films’language?

By early 1895, the brothers had invented their own device combining camera with printer and projector and called it the Cinématographe. Patenting it on February 13th 1895, the Cinématographe was much smaller than Edison’s Kinetograph, was lightweight (around five kilograms), and was hand cranked. The Lumières used a film speed of 16 frames per second, much slower compared with Edison’s 48 fps - this meant that less film was used an also the clatter and grinding associated with Edison’s device was reduced.