INDIAN PARALLEL CINEMA

In the early 1940s, the first major organization of theatre artists, IPTA – Indian People’s Theatre Association was established. This organization brought an art film movement aimed to capture realism in films, called ‘Indian Parallel Cinema.” The new wave that came into Indian cinema just before the French and Japanese New wave was influenced heavily by Italian Neo-Realism, realism in poetry, and more.

Indian Parallel cinema aimed to capture the essence of its time and gives the audience something more than just entertainment. This filmmaking style evolved from social consciousness and realism in other forms of art as well as the social status of the country - the pre-independent era, and the Bengal famine. The weight of this great shift was first taken up by Bengali cinema. Parallel cinema brought realism not only in the storytelling in the cinemas but also in how it is portrayed, the characters who play the roles, the music that is used, and everything that came closer to realism and what the audience could relate to.

The most famous Indian neorealist was Satyajit Ray who directed some of the greatest films in Indian history like Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito, Apur Sansar (Apu’s trilogy), and more.

Some of the earliest films and filmmakers to bring parallel cinema to the screens were:-

• Nagrik- Ritwik Ghatak -1952

• Do Bigha Zameen- Bimal Roy- 1953

• Neecha Nagar- Chetan Anand- 1946

DHOBI GHAT (2011)

Director: Kiran Rao

Spiraling within four loosely entangled stories of characters, this film captures the city of Mumbai as raw and realistically as a person walking through the city and observing it themselves. The camera work throughout the film plays a very important role in making the film more realistic. It is clear that the cameraman is also on a constant journey around the city has captured along with the characters. The slight shakes in the scenes give a feel to the viewers that the camera is not set on a tripod for a flawless shot.

Most of the film is in English, not for the reason of being an English spoken film but because the characters speaking in English are privileged enough to know the language. It brings out the clear class and privilege difference between the moneyed and the Dhobiwala who cannot even afford his higher education. The whole film plays on the track of class barrier versus love.

The filmmaker takes the audience with her in her journey around Bombay as the film is shot in raw and real locations, from construction sites to the most famous sites in Bombay- Marine Drive, Juhu Beach, Dhobi Ghat in Mahalaxmi, and many more. Lightweight cameras like Super 16 and MiniDV were used to shoot the film.

Jumpcut was one of the main technical features of the French New Wave cinema. This technique has been used in many places in the movie. Jump cuts in the scenes are used to depict the difference between space and time in two scenes and characters. A haphazard editing style is also followed in the film.

The film has a slight mix of Italian Neo-Realism and French New Wave along with Indian parallel cinema, but unlike Italian Neo-Realistic cinema where real people were used to playing the roles, actual actors have been used in the film.

Each character had a dominant emotion that played along with their story, like Amir Khan’s character of Arun – a high society painter who was pensive and moody. Whereas Shai’s (Monica Dogra) character, an investment banker with a passion for photography, has an edge of selfishness in her.

Prateik Babbar, who was still a rising actor during the time of the film, has carried a large and important chunk of the film alone on his shoulders and has done an excellent job of it. He is our Dhobiwala, the aspiring actor whose eyes are full of innocence and the one who takes Shai and the audience on a short tour of Mumbai.

PATHER PANCHALI (1955) (Bengali Cinema)

Director: Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray’s directorial debut, Pather Panchali is a simple story of a small family in rural Bengal, set in the 1920s. It is a story of family, struggles, society, norms and love. The film takes the audience back in time and places them in the small village around which the story revolves.

Satyajit Ray was greatly influenced by the Italian Neo-Realistic films, especially Bicycle Thieves. Just like the casting in Italian Neo-Realistic Films which uses social actors or non-actors, Subir Banerjee, the actor who plays the role of Apu in the film was chosen after Satyajit Ray’s wife saw him playing on the roof of their neighbouring apartment.

To make the film as realistic as possible, Ray went to great lengths such as pausing the shoot for days so that Kanu Banerjee – who played the role of Apu’s father – could grow his hair because a priest at that time would not be able to afford such a haircut. There is a scene where a very excited Apu is running in a field of kaash flowers to see a train for the first time. People from the crew were hidden in the fields to gain realistic expressions from the child who had no prior experience or training as an actor.

Many scenes are backed by subtle music in the background, suiting the emotion of the film. In spite of this, there are no songs. However, we do hear a slight humming by the characters here and there, like the old aunt singing baby Apu to sleep in his cradle. The film evokes intense emotions with each character and their relationship with other characters. The mother figure is portrayed as a lady who is strong with rough edges, and necessarily so as the entire burden of the household falls directly upon her. Even though the character comes off as cruel at times, there are moments in which we get to see her tenderness towards her children. Another delight the film presents us with is the sibling bond between Apu and Durga which is the perfect blend of doting, coddling and unconditional love.

UDAAN (2010)

Director: Vikramaditya Motwane

Udaan is a story of just another average boy from a middle-class home, who is a dreamer. The film revolves around Rohan (Rajat Barmecha), a teenage boy in a house with an extremely authoritarian and abusive father who has anger issues.

The film has perfectly captured the emotional turmoil, teenage angst and rebellion that are common in kids of a similar age group. It is a story that many children may have gone through or are going through. It is the acting that grips the audience and suffocates them but also pushes them to watch the fight until the end. Various hues of human emotion have been portrayed with immense perfection that makes the audience truly feel while watching it. The dim lighting and the intense music throughout the film add to the feeling of claustrophobia that the protagonist is feeling.

Rohan, who wants to be a writer is a quiet boy and only expresses what he really feels in his writing and storytelling. There is a scene where Rohan is in the hospital, looking after his little brother who has been prey to their father’s abuse. Rohan’s storytelling has gathered a crowd around them and they are eager to hear more until his father steps in and the teenager are too afraid to continue. The ending, though left somewhat hanging is still a breath of fresh air for the audience after Rohan and his brother manage to break free from their abusive father and run away. Vikramaditya Motwane has captured realism with such an intensity that it makes it a very hard to watch the film yet nothing less than amazing.

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