Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Abstract not available

This dissertation focuses on a content analysis through which representation of women in Bollywood cinema is examined. Bollywood has been a major point of reference for Indian culture in the last century and will undoubtedly persist for years to come. To an extent, Bollywood has shaped the way in which people read Indian culture as well as reflecting India's events, traditions, values and customs by the mere fact that it is a pervasive and inescapable force in Indian society. Women have been and to an extent still are represented as mere wallpaper in Bollywood films. Issues around gender, gender-based violence, femininity, women's rights and sexuality (outside of being a sexpot) are often ignored and in most cases, subverted. Feminist discourse in the west has taken this up in relation to Hollywood (cf. Mulvey, 1975; Kuhn, 1984; Kaplan, 2000) however, discussions of gender in eastern cinema has yet to be fully developed. Even though there is a body of work in this field (cf. Butalia, 1984; Datta, 2000) there is room for far more in-depth investigation. This study explores the ways in which women are represented and misrepresented in Bollywood cinema by looking at the main features which make Bollywood what it is: the stock characters, song and dance routines and elaborate dress. Each of these elements is discussed by using one or two films to illustrate the formula that is used in Bollywood cinema to undermine women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This dissertation focuses on a textual analysis of the representation of femininity and female sexuality in popular Hindi cinema. Popular Hindi cinema has been a major point of reference for Indian culture in the last century, and will undoubtedly persist in the 21 st century. To an extent, Hindi cinema has shaped and reflected the burgeoning transformation of a 'traditional India' to a 'modern India'. (I use the term modern to reflect the impact the west has had on Indian society, and how this impact in turn is reflected on screen). Issues surrounding gender and sexuality tend to be avoided, if not subverted in Hindi cinema. More specifically, issues surrounding femininity and female sexuality in Hindi cinema is either not recognised or 'mis-recognised' on screen. Feminist studies, in relation to film, have taken up these issues, to a large extent in the west (cf. Hollows, 2000; Kaplan, 2000; Macdonald, 1995). Chatterji (1998) maintains that the interest of feminists in film began as a general concern for the underrepresentation and mis-representation of women in cinema. This study explores issues surrounding the 'presences' and 'absences' (as identified by Chatterji) in the representations of female sexuality and femininity in popular Hindi cinema. The project offers a comparative study of the films produced by two popular Hindi cinema filmmakers. Pooja Bhatt's Jism (The Body) (January, 2003) is analysed in comparison to Karan Johar's Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham (Sometimes happiness, sometimes sadness) (November, 2000). The study compares, contrasts and analyses the ways in which each of these films (and thus, how each filmmaker) positions female sexuality and femininity in popular Hindi cinema. Keywords: popular Hindi cinema, femininity, female sexuality, gender, representation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

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A particular youth identity in the South African Indian diaspora is being forged in a nexus o flocal and global forces . The globalisation of Bollywood and its popularity as a global media and the international commodification of the Indian exotic have occurred at the same time as the valorisation of 'difference' in the local political landscape. Indian youth, as young members of the South African Indian diaspora, are inheritors both of a conservative - yet adaptable - home culture and the marginalised identities of apartheid. However, the tensions between their desire to be recognised as both 'modern' South Africans and as ' traditional ' Indians create a space in which they are able to (re)create for themselves an identity that can encompass both their home cultures and the desires of a Westernised modernity through the tropes of Bollywood. Bollywood speaks to its diasporic audiences through representations of an idealised 'traditional yet modern' India. Although India is not a place of return for this young generation, Bollywood representations of successful diasporic Indian culture and participation in the globalised Bollywood industry through concerts and international award ceremonies has provided an opportunity for young Indians in South Africa to re-examine their local Indian identities and feel invited to re-identify with the global diasporas of India.

This thesis proposes that the merging of the theories of ‘accented’ cinema and postcolonial feminisms allows for the establishment of a theoretical framework for the analysis of (what will be argued for) an emerging postcolonial feminist film practice. In An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001), Hamid Naficy argues that even though the experiences of diaspora and exile differ from one person to the next, films produced by diasporic filmmakers exhibit similarities at various levels. These similarities, he says, arise as a result of a tension between a very distinct connection to the native country and the need to conform to the host society in which these filmmakers now live. Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta are women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora whose films depict Indian women – in comparison with their popular cinematic construction - in unconventional and controversial ways. These characters, at some crucial point in the films, transgress their oppressive nationalist representation through the reclaiming of their bodies and sexual identities. This similarity of construction in Nair and Mehta’s female protagonists, as a result, facilitates a filtering of postcolonial feminisms throughout the narrative of their films. Even though the postcolonial feminist writings of Chandra Talpade Mohanty (1991, 1994, 1997) and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999) do not relate directly to the study of film or cinematic practices, their works, specifically those regarding the construction, maintenance and perpetuation of nation and nationalism in postcolonial narratives, serve as a specifically gender-focused appropriation of Naficy’s theories. Mohanty and Spivak’s arguments surrounding the use of text and, particularly, narrative as tools for the representation and empowerment of Third world women, women of colour and subaltern women, work toward illustrating how postcolonial feminisms articulate through a specific moment of ‘accented’ filmmaking: that of women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

Bollywood cinema continues to evolve. As a result, it has become a transnational/cultural role player for Indian audiences worldwide. There has always been a strong link between Bollywood cinema and Indian society. Over the years, it has contributed to the dialogue on women’s roles and position in Indian society. In the past, Bollywood filmmakers were faithful to representations of women who were bound by patriarchal structures in the sense that they were expected to be loyal to ancient Indian traditions and belief-systems. Based on the increase in Indian migration, contemporary Bollywood filmmakers are now catering to the demands of the Indian diaspora and therefore, a more global market. The impact of transnationalism on the representation of women in many Bollywood films has further added to the creation of open spaces for the Bollywood heroine. In this regard, the films of auteur director Karan Johar are valuable because they provide audiences with material that suggests re-thinking patriarchal structures in a transnational world. This study will examine the representation of women in three selected films of Johar within the framework of feminist theory (Indian context). The impact that transnationalism has had on the Indian diaspora and the manner in which this translates into the narratives and representations of female characters in Bollywood films will be discussed. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)

Bollywood cinema continues to evolve. As a result, it has become a transnational/cultural role player for Indian audiences worldwide. There has always been a strong link between Bollywood cinema and Indian society. Over the years, it has contributed to the dialogue on women’s roles and position in Indian society. In the past, Bollywood filmmakers were faithful to representations of women who were bound by patriarchal structures in the sense that they were expected to be loyal to ancient Indian traditions and belief-systems. Based on the increase in Indian migration, contemporary Bollywood filmmakers are now catering to the demands of the Indian diaspora and therefore, a more global market. The impact of transnationalism on the representation of women in many Bollywood films has further added to the creation of open spaces for the Bollywood heroine. In this regard, the films of auteur director Karan Johar are valuable because they provide audiences with material that suggests re-thinking patriarchal structures in a transnational world. This study will examine the representation of women in three selected films of Johar within the framework of feminist theory (Indian context). The impact that transnationalism has had on the Indian diaspora and the manner in which this translates into the narratives and representations of female characters in Bollywood films will be discussed. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)