Divya Choudhary's Assignments 2015-17

“Adam was but human- this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake; he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake is not forbidding the serpent, then he would have eaten the serpent.” - Mark Twain

History of Film:

The history of film began in the 1890s, with the invention of the first motion- picture cameras and the establishment of first film production companies and cinemas. The first film of the 1890s were under a minute long and until 1927, motion pictures were produced without sound. The first rotation camera was introduced in 1897. Then came the first film studio in the same year. Close-up shots were introduced in 1900. The first use of animation in movies was in 1899. The feature length multi-reel film was a 1906 Australia production. The first successful permanent theatre showing only film was “The Nickelodeon” in Pittsburgh in 1905. From about 1910, American films had the largest share of the market in all European countries except France.

As film grew longer, specialist writers were employed to simplify more complex stories derived from novels. Genres began to be used as categories, were further subdivided. By 1914, continuity cinema was the established mode of commercial cinema. During the 1960s, the studio system in Hollywood declined. Graphic images of bloody death and gunfights were first seen in 1970s. During the 1980s VCR s came. The early 1990s saw the development of a commercially successful independent cinema in the United States.

Beginning of Indian Cinema:

The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic cultures of Indian states. Cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country and as many as 1000 films in various languages of India are produced annually.

Expatriates in countries such as the UK and the US garnered international audiences for Indian films of various languages. Dadasaheb Phalke is the father of Indian cinema. Dadasaheb Phalke Award, for life time contribution to cinema, was instituted in his honor, by the Government of India in 1969, and is the most prestigious and coveted award in Indian cinema.

In the 10^th century, Indian cinema along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries became global enterprise. India ranks first the terms of annual film output. Indian film industry reached overall Rs 93 billion in revenues and it is projected to rise to 150 billion in 2016. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.

Following the screening of Lumiere moving pictures in London (1895) cinema became a sensation across Europe and by July 1896 the Lumiere films had been in show in Bombay. The first Indian film released in India was “Shree Pundalik” a silent film in Marathi by Dadasaheb Tarne on 18 May 1912 at “Coronation Cinematograph” Mumbai.

The full- length motion picture in India was produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. He was the scholar on Indian languages and culture. He brought together elements from Sanskrit epics to produce his “Raja Harish Chandra” (1913). It was played by male actors. The film marked a historic benchmark in the film industry in India. During the early twentieth century cinema as a medium gained popularity across India’s population and its many economic sections.

What is a Film?

The central board of film certification, the regulatory film body of India regularly orders directors to remove anything it deems offensive including sex, nudity, violence or subjects considered politically subversive. According to Supreme court of India:

In 2002, the film war and peace depicting scenes of nuclear testing and the September 11, 2001 attacks, created by Anand Patwardhan was asked to cut but the count decreed the cuts unconstitutional and the film was shown uncut.

In 2006, seven states of India have banned the release or exhibition of the Hollywood movie. The Da Vinci Code including the text. However, high courts later on lifted the ban and the movie was shown later on in two states.

Define Censorship:

“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.”

-Potter Stewart

“Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.”

-William Westmoreland

“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.”

-Henry Louis Gates

“Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” -Henry Steele Commager

Film Censorship: A brief history:

Film Censorship was set in motion in India when the Cinematograph Act of 1918 was made law from May 1920. It allowed the exhibition of films only after they had been certified as suitable for public exhibition.

Censor Boards were set up in Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Rangoon and Lahore. All members of the Borders were appointed by the Government. The consisted of the Commissioner of Police, the Collector of Customs, a member of the Indian Educational Services, and three prominent citizens representing the Hindu, Muslim and other communities.

There were primarily concerned with obscenity, the wounding of religious sentiments, or inciting disaffection against the Government. Under the Act, the control was made more rigid and effective countrywide. Amendments to the Act of 1918 in later years made film censorship a function of the Provincial Governments.

In October 1927 an Indian Cinematograph Committee was appointed with an Indian, T. Rangachariar, as Chairman. It observed in its Report submitted two years later that censorship is certainly necessary in India, and is the only effective method of preventing the import, production and public exhibition of films which might demoralize morals, hurt religious susceptibilities or excite communal or racial animosities.

The Cinematograph Act of 1952 continued the British tradition of severe censorship of films that made any references to the political situation or to communal groups. In 1969, the Khosla Commission was appointed to report on the whole film industry. It recommended an autonomous Censor Board without any official government control the examination of a film as a whole and to allow kissing, nudity and violence, if they were integral to the theme. The Government reluctantly accepted the Report, and in 1974 a Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The whims of the I and B Ministry decided which films should be given ‘A’ of ‘U’ Certificates. Political satires like Kissa Kursi Ka were banned.

The Janata regime, appointed a Working Group on National Film Policy. The Working Group’s Report has criticized the rigid approach of the film censors against the exposure of corruption in the police and the Government’s political leadership.

Rationale of Censorship:

All citizens, says Article 19(1) and (2) of the Constitution, shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.

K. A. Abbas challenged the censorship of films in general and pre- censorship in particular in the Supreme Court in November 1969. In its verdict delivered on September 24, 1970, the Supreme- Court said that ‘censorship in India’ has full justification in the field of exhibition of films.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC):

The Central Board of Film Censors is set up by the Central Government under the powers granted it by the Cinematograph Act and the Cinematograph Rules 1958. The Board is headed by a chairman, appointed by the Central Government and is assisted to 12- 35 members.

Advisory Panels:

Advisory Panels are constituted at each regional office by the Central Government which also decides, in consultation with the CBFC, the number of panel members for each office. The members are appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the CBFC.

How Films are Censored:

The examining committee consists of a member from the Advisory Panel and an examining officer in the case of short film, while in the case of a feature film four members from the Advisory Panel and an examining offer. This film to be examined must be complete in every sense, with the background music and all sound effects duly recorded on the film itself.

Under the Amendment Act, 1983, all previews of films for the purpose of certification and the reports and record related to it, will be treated as confidential. The names of members of the Examining Committee will not be disclosed to any other person including the application or his representative. The applicant or his representative will not be allowed to be present inside the preview theatre.

If for any reason, the members of committees felt that any particular portion for film has to be cut, there could not be any ‘confidentiality’ about these opinions especially when the privilege was not claimed on the ground of public interest.

A film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and is examined in the light of the period depicted in the film and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to whom the film relates, provided that the film does not deprave the morality of the audience.

Objectives of film certification:

Detailed Guidelines for certification:

Anti-social activities such as violence are not glorified or justified.
Scenes which have the effect of justifying or glorifying drinking are shown.
Human sensibilities are not offended by vulgarity, obscenity or depravity.
Such dual meaning words as obviously cater to baser instincts are not allowed.
Scenes degrading or denigrating women in any manner are not presented.
Visual or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not presented.
The sovereignty and integrity or India is not called in question.
The security of the State is not jeopardized or endangered.
Friendly relations with foreign state are not strained.
Public order is not engaged.

“Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but, unlike charity, it should end there.” -Clare Booth Luce

Conclusion:

Not only the moves but Music, Dramas, Maps, Books, Regional films, Documentaries, which hurt the feeling of the people are banned or censored. A film with distorted history, tradition or culture that is feared to create controversy are harm to the national integrity.

Given the reach and power of the film medium, without censorship there might be a flood of grade Z or reactionary films,. Hence, censorship is significant but we should see that Censor board doesn’t become puppets of power.

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Bringing ‘India of Darkness’ into Light: A socio Political study of Arvind Adiga’s The white tiger.

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Name: - Divya Chodhary

Course: - M.A. English

Semester: - 4

Batch: - 2015-2017

Enrolment no: - PG15101007

Submitted to: - Smt. S.B.Gardi Dept. of English MKBU

Email id: - choudharydivya400@gmail.com

Paper no: - The New Literature

Topic: - Bringing ‘India of Darkness’ into Light: A socio Political study of Arvind Adiga’s The white tiger.

Abstract:

This study has investigated how Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize winner debut novel The White Tiger (2008) has protested against the popular image of a shiny India. This analysis is important because it has identified how

The politicians have misled the people of India by creating a wrong logic of progress and improvement. Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger is a socio-political critic of modern India because it contributing and interpreting the life and culture of the people of rural and urban India by interpreting some metaphors.

In his Book the White Tiger Adiga talks about the discrimination between rich and poor. He also talked about that how rich people are exploiting the poor’s from centuries and how they are neglected by the power position. But in today’s time the center of focus of the new writers, journalists are raising this issue and bring justice to them.

There are many books and films which are coming out with the new idea of “Shining India”, and carried the life of underclass people who are neglected by the power position. In this Arvind Adiga also took a bold step by narrating the stories of the unprivileged people who live in the “Darkness of the society”. The central theme of the novel is to diagnose the Indian Society which has many burning issues like “Illiteracy, Poverty, Unemployment, Caste discrimination, Corruption and most important population. The result of India’s freedom has been expended by the insignificant minority and the other of the population has been harshly changed.

The story of The White Tiger was the life and struggle of Balram Halwai, a little guy, in his quest for economic, social and cultural freedom. It was a difficult struggle as he had been “confined behind bars of class, caste, illiteracy, zamindar system and poverty”. Here Balram referred to his village as ‘darkness’, full of “sadness, Poverty and illiteracy”. Here Balram also tried to uncover the struggle of the working class who are working under overpowering poverty.

Here we can see many burning issues of India for example:

1) Socio-Political Conditions of Rural India

2) Socio-Political Conditions of Urban India

3) The Evils of Caste System

4) Dowry System

5) Illiteracy

The journey from poverty towards richness is not a journey from ‘darkness’ into ‘light’. The narrator used the

Metaphor ‘dark’ several time to show the rough side of the rich people. In this novel “Darkness” is used as a metaphor particularly for “Corruption”.

Finally Aravind Adiga’s novel The White Tiger was not only talking about the ‘dark’ living conditions of the miserable poor, but also representing that how the rich had been manipulating the country for their own self-centered end.

The novel had played a major role in promoting the awareness of the people about the ‘darker' aspects of both the poor and the rich representing their deep defeats.

Key Words: Poverty, Darkness, Caste system, taking advantage, Discrimination.

Much of the critical and popular controversy surrounding the 2009 film Slumdog Millionaire is derived from misconceptions over the representational possibilities of popular film, as well as the great national background of film criticism. It is thrilled when it meets the Mumbai slum, this essay debates that Slumdog explores the role of informal knowledge in the navigation of changing urban backgrounds. In this way, it is not despite, but through, the film's rejection of realist common conventions that it offers its interpretation of the city. Police Constable in Slumdog Millionaire revolution of excitement, commentary and controversy surrounding the film Slumdog Millionaire (2009) in India and elsewhere calls for a careful analysis of the possibilities and drawbacks of international cultural production. Film critics and prominent individuals like have criticized the film, if not dismissed it outright, for its repeating of old stereotypes of urban Indian squalor and backwardness. Like most representations of urban poverty, films such as this have the potential to create a sense of a troubled place "out there", disconnected from the comforting world of the viewer. Slumdog contains elements to support this kind of critique, but along with them exist another set of images, plot devices, filmic elements and characterizations that are not so easily plotted onto western fantasies of India. This is not to say the film is not an imaginary - but rather, that within imaginary, there can be elements of truth. Slumdog and The White Tiger both offers a theory of urban navigation which traces leading plots about the all- surrounding power of globalization, and which responds to those narratives by asserting the importance of an alternative monarchy of knowledge outside of the formal domains of the state. Slumdog Millionaire presents of Jamal Malik from boyhood to adolescence, from Mumbai's slums, India, and back to works at a call center seat as a participant on "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?", a game show in which he is so successful in answering the questions that he is suspect of cheating, and is ultimately arrested. with the same manner in The White Tiger it shows that how Balram is also cheating his master in quest or thirst of becoming master himself, he wants to become master himself and wants to have lots of money because according to him he will get respect in society if he will have power and money with him. On the one hand, Jamal's journey through Mumbai's underbelly is marked by come across with abusive teachers, anti-Muslim demonstrators, child beggar gangs, construction mafias and brutal police officers, and in The White Tiger is a socio-political critic of modern India because it contributing and interpreting the life and culture of the people of rural and urban India. Here we can say that the two narratives come together through the primary conceit of flash- back: as Jamal is interrogated by the constable who arrested him, he remembers experiences in his past which led him to the correct answers, and in The white tiger we can see that how Balram is also recollecting his memories that how he spent his childhood in village and why he came to city to earn some money. In the scene when Jamal and Salim reunite as adults, for example, a very different vision of urban reconfiguration appears, and in the white tiger we can see that how Balram and his cousin came to city just to earn some money and after this they both want to become a master and don’t want to go back in their village because they don’t want to leave this urban life or we can say that city life. Here, in Slumdog Millionaire the two brothers stand in the essential of a half-built luxury apartment building high above the city but in The White Tiger we can see that the two cousin brothers they both are in the quest or in need of earning money and become masters because they want to live their life as a master itself.

In the back- ground is not the older city, but the new urban. In the movie Slumdog Millionaire observations of Salim and Jamal moving quickly from a small slum to a nearby sea of glittering new apartment buildings,then Salim turns to Jamal and says, "That used to be our slum. Can you believe that? By introducing Salim, backed by Javed, as a paradigmatic entrepreneur within Mumbai's rise to global status but more importantly identifies a new kind of subject: the urban navigator, the individual who works their way through the underbelly of the transforming city, seeking out a unique path, while activating the opportunities and the limitations this new environment offers. In The White Tiger also we can see that Balram and his cousin brother they both also chooses wrong path be become successful in his life, Balram murdered his master and looted all the money which Mr. Ashok wants to give as a bribe to the politicians. In his Book the White Tiger Adiga talks about the discrimination between rich and poor. He also talked about that how rich people are exploiting the poor’s from centuries and how they are neglected by the power position, and in Slumdog also we can see that how people who are in power position exploiting the poor and ruled over them. In movie Slumdog we can also see that there is a religious discrimination also between Hindu and Muslim community. The people of Hindu community tried to kill Muslim community people from there also we can say that these are the darker sides of India.

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Monday 21 November 2016

General characteristics of Modern literature/ Background

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General characteristics of Modern literature/ Background. from Department of English, M K Bhavnagar University

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