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Zugl.: Wien, Univ., überarb. Diplomarbeit, 2006

In this dissertation, I trace the contours of state control and capital in India, starting from the 1970s and see how the state’s increasingly centralizing tendencies and authoritarianism, in the service of capital, creates cultures of violence, fatalism, desperation, and ultimately, even more desire for authoritarianism. I study male stardom in Bombay cinema, beginning withAmitabh Bachchan (who was the reigning star in the 1970s and 80s), and following up with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan (who have been successful stars from the early 90s), to understand how changing subjectivities, responding to changing socio-economic reality, were formulated and expressed through these star texts by the film industry. Through the study of these stars, I try to understand how dominant ideas of masculinities were being formulated and how misogyny came to be a prominent aspect of those formulations, because of social structures of caste and patriarchy as well as neoliberal precarity. I also study the cultures of fascist violence that have emerged in India under the rightwing Hindu nationalist BJP government in the light of increased individualization and self-commodification under neoliberalism. I contend that the socio-political system that enhances individualization and self-commodification and thus, gives rise to a heightened celebrity culture, is also responsible for the limits on the agency of the stars and celebrities through the formation of a totalitarian state. I study Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as the ultimate celebrity commodity text to understand the future of stardom itself in India.

The master diploma thesis introduces the Indian film industry and focuses on the differences from the Czech film environment. The thesis starts with a sociodemographic and historical introduction and continues with the financial system and distribution. The aim of the master diloma thesis is to introduce the Indian film making in detail to the Czech servis companies. The thesis was written on the personal experience of the author, a four-months-long study visit in Mumbai and interviews with Indian and Czech professionals.

Thesis (M.F.A.) / The purpose of this project is to redefine the word "Bollywood" as more than a regional or cultural cinema, focusing instead on the unique style of the films that is often neglected or dismissed by film critics. The aspects explored are the development of Bollywood style from 1995 to the mid 2000s as exhibited by the films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and Dhoom (2004), and a subsequent development of a reflexive neo-Bollywood style beginning in the mid-2000s, exhibited by the films Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), Dhoom 2 (2006), and Chennai Express (2013). Close analysis of these films shows an aesthetic of melodrama that applies not only to the narrative of the films but more noticeably and importantly to the filmic style of the narrative and the subsequent themes that emerge. To further illustrate Bollywood as a style, the project analyzes Bollywood’s stylistic influences outside of India, including readings of television shows Smash and Glee, and films Moulin Rouge! (2001), Strictly Ballroom (1992), and Chicago (2002). This project aims to vindicate Bollywood as a complex artistic expression that privileges an emotional reality over a mimetic reality. / 2031-01-01

The transgender community in India, commonly known as hijras, consists of people who were born as males but address themselves as females. They have been considered as the third gender in India for millennia and have had specific religious and sociocultural values and roles, but are forced to live in shadows in this day and age. Isolation of this community is also reflected in the way transgender characters are represented in Indian entertainment media. The study analyses two transgender themed films semiotically and the audience reception of those representations by 20 members of the transgender community. Semiotics is a helpful tool to understand the ways signs communicate ideas to viewers. This study applies syntagmatic and paradigmatic analyses to understand how images are used to represent and relay information to the audience. Reception theory along with double colonization has been incorporated in this study to analyse the ways in which the transgender community interprets the representations in entertainment media.

Pakistani Americans grow up dealing with two very different cultures. The Pakistani culture is more traditional and is dealt with inside the home while the American culture is more modern and is dealt with outside the home. So, when making a life-altering decision such as what kind of partner to marry, what factors do Pakistani Americans rely on to pick their mates? Are they more traditional or are they modem? And do the drastic love-based themes of Bollywood movies have any influence on this decision? Surveys were conducted with 31 students from the University of Central Florida's Muslim Students' Association to find the amount of influence from factors such as enculturation, acculturation, parents and friends~ Bollywood movies, and ethnic identity. Results showed a slight gender difference in that woman seemed a bit more influenced than men by Bollywood films. The results also suggested that the more students showed influence by parents, the more they showed interest in love-based relationships and the viewing of Bollywood films.

The Shakespeare Salesman offers a comprehensive analysis of Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespeare trilogy that consists of the films: Maqbool (2003), Omkara (2006), and Haider (2014). The trilogy only recently being completed, previous attempts to study Bhardwaj's work have been confined to chapters in books, with their analysis often relegated to the understanding of a greater theme about the industry as a whole, and hence this work intends to accord due space to Bhardwaj's films by making them the centre of the discussion. The analyses of these films show that Bhardwaj's work is torn between issues of authenticity, fidelity, and originality, often leading to what the thesis defines as "narrative crises" that are resolved with thought-provoking, at times problematic, but largely unique methods. Hence each of the three chapters, accorded to the respective film being discussed, focuses on the said crisis. By focusing specifically on these aspects the argument does not, by any means, intend to lessen or mis-portray the achievements, contribution and importance of Bhardwaj's work. On the contrary, all the space that this thesis can afford is accorded to these 'problems' precisely because they have hitherto not been aptly discussed, as the primary subject, in previous literature regarding Bhardwaj's work. The argument...

Through his Bollywood film, Dedh Ishqiya, Abhishek Chaubey addresses matters of comfort and discomfort through the use of typically heteronormative conventions in film. The Bollywood film Dedh Ishqiya, tells the story of a wealthy widow’s search for a new poet husband in the setting of an Urdu poetry gathering (mushaira). She is accompanied and supported by her female friend and handmaiden, Munniya. Their two supposed lovers, Khalujaan and Baban, are thieves, out to steal the love and wealth of these women. However, unbeknownst to these men, the women are lovers themselves and they too are out to steal the love and wealth of a suitor so that they may run away together. Director and co-writer, Abhishek Chaubey, uses conventions drawn from the Sufi, Urdu, and bhakti poetic and literary aesthetic worlds. He builds up an aura of comfort through the use of these conventions. But, he focuses on the complex, but platonic female (sakhi) -bond. Chaubey uses the sakhi bond, as well as other conventions, to draw the viewer into a seemingly heteronormative and conventional (therefore, comfortable) film. But this viewer is then brutally let down when the film subverts those conventional tropes in favor of a non-heteronormative romance. Chaubey does this by referencing Ismat Chughtai’s short story, Lihaaf, and Ridley Scott’s film, Thelma and Louise in his film. Both story and film take the female-bond and complicate it in a way that forces the viewer to examine their own conceptions of comfort, especially those related to sexuality and romance. This thesis focuses on the process of building up comfort through a heteronormative-use of conventions, and then the breaking down of that comfort by referencing Lihaaf and Thelma and Louise. / text

La présente thèse porte sur le cinéma bollywoodien des années 1970-80 et la réactualisation de mythes anciens. L'objectif de ce travail de recherche est de voir si et comment les films populaires indiens réactualisent les mythes anciens par la création de nouvelles figures mythiques, à l'instar de la figure du "Angry Young Man " (le jeune homme en colère) incarné à l'écran par l'acteur Amitabh Bachchan, considéré en Inde comme un véritable dieu vivant. Nous serons amenée à considérer les films de cette période comme un nouveau mode de représentation des mythes anciens, ayant la particularité d'adapter ces derniers aux demandes du public et aux configurations sociales du moment. Pour le montrer, nous analyserons plusieurs films qui nous permettront de déchiffrer les codes spécifiques du cinéma bollywoodien, mais aussi de trouver des passerelles entre les différentes mythologies et les grandes civilisations. Compte tenu de la nature même des sujets abordés, notre réflexion s'inscrira pleinement dans une démarche interculturelle et interdisciplinaire. Par ce biais, nous verrons qu'en Inde, le cinéma constitue un véritable outil de communication, portail ouvrant sur la culture de l'Autre mais aussi un mode de représentation des croyances liées notamment à l'hindouisme - religion regroupant le plus de fidèles et qui est particulièrement représentée dans les arts ( y compris le cinéma).