Thinking Activity : Postcolonial Studies and Bollywood Movies

Hello Readers ,

          This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Dr.Dilip Barad Sir. In this blog I would like to discuss  postcolonialism and some of bollywood films review on Postcolonialism.

            Watching movies for entertainment and watching movies for study purposes is a very interesting and  different task for us. Because the way we are watching it indicates our thinking ability to see any particular matter. So in this blog I'm going to discuss postcolonialism in two Bollywood movies. 

1."Lagaan" 

2."Rang De Basanti"

         

                       So ,first of all throw light on about postcolonialism ;

 About  Postcolonialism ?

 

                Postcolonialism, the historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of Western colonialism; the term can also be used to describe the concurrent project to reclaim and rethink the history and agency of people subordinated under various forms of imperialism. 

                Postcolonialism signals a possible future of overcoming colonialism, yet new forms of domination or subordination can come in the wake of such changes, including new forms of global empire. Postcolonialism should not be confused with the claim that the world we live in now is actually devoid of colonialism.

               One of the most prominent has been the relation between imperialism and identity. Fanon, a psychoanalyst and philosopher born in Martinique, presented one of the most searing and provocative analyses of the relation between colonized and colonizer in The Wretched of the Earth (1961) as well as in his Black Skin, White Masks .

     Now , we have discuss about movies :

1. "Lagaan " :-

Lagaan , released internationally as Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language epic musical sports film written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, and produced by and starring Aamir Khan, along with debutant Gracy Singh and British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne in supporting roles. Made on a then-unprecedented budget of ₹250 million(US$5.32 million), the movie was the maiden project from Aamir Khan Productions and was shot in villages near Bhuj .

This film is set in 1893, during the late Victorian period of India's colonial British Raj. The story revolves around a small village in Central India, whose inhabitants, burdened by high taxes, and several years of drought, find themselves in an extraordinary situation as an arrogant British army officer challenges them to a game of cricket, as a wager to avoid paying the taxes they owe.

 The narrative spins around this situation as the villagers face the arduous task of learning a game that is alien to them and playing for a result that will change their village's destiny.Lagaan released on 15 June 2001, clashing with Gadar: Ek Prem Katha starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel. Lagaan received widespread critical acclaim and awards at international film festivals, as well as many Indian film awards. It became the third Indian film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film after Mother India (1957) and Salaam Bombay! (1988).

Postcolonial study in the film :-

 We can see that the people are growing seeds in their farm, with their hard work and the benefits taken by the King and British people. They have to give them Lagaan. It shows how British people are plundering them. 

Here we can say that indian king meet Elizabeth and speck with him in Hindi but she can not understand hindi language.here we can say that they British people most of don't know our language but our people speak English very well. This language is the also a part of postcolonialism.

In this movie we can say that British officer put a one deal with king and said if they eat meat Than he talk with other king to less a text. But king said that,

" I cannot betray my religion for my duty." 

                        Here ,we can see that how British people try to control indian people.

In the movie we can see that white people have their own way of looking at Indian people. They think that we are only their servants. We were born to be slaves. As well as Indian people have their own way of looking at lower caste people. The upper class people think that they are our servants. They are untouchables. So this conflict is seen in the movie. The other thing which is pivotal is the character of Lakha and the character of Elizabeth. We can think that we all are good and all Britishers are bad. But it is not so, because there are some good people and things in Britishers and there are bad people and things in Indians also. Like Lakha, he helped the Britishers because he was jealous of Bhuvan.

2. Rang De Basanti :-

Rang De Basanti  is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language drama film written, produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and co-written by Rensil D'Silva.

The film follows a British film student traveling to India to document the story of five freedom fighters of the Indian revolutionary movement. She befriends and casts five young men in the film, which inspires them to fight against the corruption of their own government. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor and British actress Alice Patten. The film was shot primarily in New Delhi.

The film was released globally on 26 January 2006, the Republic Day of India. Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in India, becoming the country's highest-grossing film in its opening weekend and holding the highest opening-day collections for a Bollywood film. 

It received critical acclaim, winning the National Film Award for Best Popular Film, and being nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 BAFTA Awards. Rang De Basanti was chosen as India's official entry for the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category, though it did not ultimately yield a nomination for either award. A. R. Rahman's soundtrack, which earned positive reviews, had two of its tracks considered for an Academy Award nomination. In India, Rang De Basanti won Best Movie at the Filmfare Awards.

Postcolonial Study in the Film :-

The story is about British documentary filmmaker who is determine to make film on Indian freedom fighters based on a diary entries by her grandfather, former officer in Indian Imperial police.

When we look at this film as postcolonial way we find some interesting things.In the movie when British female protagonist She came on Indian airport at that time how Indian people gathered to meet her with excitement, so it’s shows the impact of white person on our mind.

At the beginning of the movie when Sue is coming airport that time Indian people attract with her and try to convertion with British people . That time I am thinking Why we are attract from British people ? Now a days we are mostly follows their rules and cultural also. When outsider sees the act of bribe it’s illegal for them but in India, it become normal for us. This scene very well shown in movie and how Sue react on it, camera also focused well.

When Night party is going on that time suddenly one man came and try to stop the party and said that , Hamari sanskruti ko is ne bigad diya hai ..bandh kro yeh sab . This is not a manners . 

Sue : इन लोगो ने जान दी थी आज़ादी के लिए तुम्हारे देश कि. 

This dialogue represent that these Indian characters not know anything or they don’t focus on their own country, she came and she try to awaken them for freedom and patriotism.

In our country our political situation is very bad. All are currepted people and in movie we can see that when ajay died in plane crush that government blame him infact of accept their mistake. This is shown our government's decision.

When Daljit and Pande fight at that time Sue try to patch up them so if we look at Postcolonial theory it said that why white people required for patch up?why we Indian aren't able to do that?

In this movie we cann see that When the students are shot at a radio station. The authorities proved them as terrorists ! They said that they are the terrorists and they were shot now the public are safe. But we know the real story, that they are not terrorists, they are true students. Even they want to awaken all people to what is going wrong with all people. But they choose a path of violence. 

 One is that Specking style and sense of sue is amazing.

Sue : अपनी ट्रेडिशन का सम्मान करना ही चाहिए.

The other thing is when Sue speaks Hindi, DJ is shocked, because he thinks that white people can not speak and understand Hindi. This is a single story in our mind also. We think the white people can not speak our language. The education topic is also a pivotal element of postcolonialism here.

THANK YOU...