STANDALONE Vs MULTIPLEXES : A STUDY OF CHANGING TRENDS OF EXHIBITION IN INDIAN CINEMA.
SARITA BOSE ROLL NO – 0006000501025
Dissertation Submitted towards Fulfillment of the Requirements of MA 4th Semester Examinations, 2008
Department of Film Studies Jadavpur University
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT There
are people I would like to thank, whose co-operation and
suggestions have helped me through this dissertation. First, I would like to thank Dr. Moinak Biswas, my dissertation guide and Head, Department of Film Studies, without whose suggestions and advice this dissertation would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Sri Abhijit Roy, Sri Anindya Sengupta, Sri Manas K. Ghosh and Sri Shubham Roychowdhury for their many valuable inputs in my dissertation and for answering my queries. I equally thank Sri Shubhajit Chatterjee and Ms. Madhuja Mukherjee. My gratitude towards Sri Mrinal Kanti Mondal and Sri Pranab K. Patra for helping me with books and journals in the library. I also thank Sri Kishalay Basu, Smt Archana Ghosh and Sri Subrata Dey for their kind co-operation and help during the preparation of this dissertation. Finally, I thank my fellow classmates.
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SYNOPSIS
The film exhibition sector in India belongs to the disorganized industry. And it also goes without saying that the exhibition of films in India is the most under-studied area in the Indian cinema. The form of exhibition in India fueled by the liberalization of the economy has experienced a major change over the last decade. This change is seen in the rapid mushrooming of multiplexes throughout the major metros and suburbs in India. The content and the form of films are also getting influenced by this emerging trend of multiplexes in India.
In this dissertation I have tried to connect various socio-economic and political events which helped the multiplexes to grow so rapidly in the last few years. I have also discussed about the logic behind multiplexes being constructed inside shopping malls, their structures and interiors and how all these appeal to the Indians. The stories or content of the films are also changing with the form of exhibition in India. This dissertation also tries to find an answer behind this. To sum it up, this dissertation is an account of new form of exhibition of films in India and how is this having an effect on the Indian film industry.
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CONTENTS Chapters
Page No.
Chapter 1 : An Introduction to the History of Picture Palaces and Multiplexes
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Chapter 2 : The Old and The New Exhibition of Films in India
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Chapter 3 : Incredible! Indian Films and its Exhibition
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Bibliography
30
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CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF PICTURE PALACES AND MULTIPLEXES There
is no denying of the fact that multiplexes are on the rise in the Indian cities.
Multiplexes have stirred the film exhibition sector and has changed the way of watching films. There are both economic and social reasons behind this rise of multiplex-culture in India. In the chapters of this dissertation I will try to critically examine these reasons and will also try to understand the kind of 'consuming class' and 'spaces' that are being created through the culture of multiplexes. To start with, I will talk about the history of film exhibition in both America and India. Though the history of exhibition of films can be said to have been existing from the very inception of films, what is important here is to locate a certain kind of history of film exhibition which can be compared with the modern day structure of film exhibition in multiplexes.
Film Exhibition : American Chapter
As
early as the 1920s, many film exhibitors had built picture palaces in the central
districts of American cities that earned huge profits 1. Picture Palaces in America were film theatres which performed vaudeville and stage shows before the start of a film. These were mainly located near market areas and places which were well connected to the other parts of the city. Since they provided that extra entertainment to its audiences apart from films, the picture palaces grew popularity among the middle class of America. Douglas Gomery observes that, “The principles of retail location theory, urban geography, and microeconomics all lead to the conclusion that the picture palace was the most sensible economic activity large-city motion entrepreneurs could have undertaken.” 2
1
Douglas Gomery, „The Picture Palace: Economic Sense or Hollywood Nonsense?‟ in The Hollywood Film Industry, ed. Paul Kerr (New York: Routlegde & Kegan Paul., 1986) pp. 205-215. 2 Ibid. p 206.
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By the early 1920s, movie-goers preferred to watch a film 'now rather than later' and to take advantage of the popular vaudeville and stage shows motion picture entrepreneurs started to build lager and larger theatres. The central business districts of the cities were the most obvious locations for these picture palaces as it was easy to travel there. These districts were also an important location because they provided the heart of shopping centers. “Moreover, since downtown was the average city‟s largest shopping center and home of many other commercial recreation activities, city dwellers could combine their shopping and recreation activities all in one journey”, states Gomery. 3 The movie palaces thus supported by the logic of more-show-per-show and shopping center dominated locations grew to become a wannabe for the citizens. The most significant movie palaces in different parts of America were the Leow‟s (New York), Stanley (Philadelphia and Washington DC), Balaban and Katz (Chicago), Saxe Bros. (Milwaukee), Finkelstein and Runin (Minneapolis), North American (San Francisco and Seattle), and West Coast (Los Angeles). 4
All these movie palaces offered live acts and music during the show. A film show during the 1920‟s would generally start with a ten-minute stage act composed keeping in mind the theme music of the film that was about to start. Orchestras would play on the stage followed by a prologue or a presentation. Even comedy and news reels were presented to the audiences. The popularity of these shows indicates that the film goers wanted that „extra‟ zing to be added to their leisure time in inclusion with the films. Thus with a location where it was easy to travel, a place where there was large seating capacity and to top these advantages a place where there was screenings of newest films and live entertainments, it would be hard to believe if these picture palaces were not in demand among the American citizens.
3
Douglas Gomery, „The Picture Palace: Economic Sense or Hollywood Nonsense?‟ in The Hollywood Film Industry, ed. Paul Kerr (New York: Routlegde & Kegan Paul., 1986) pp. 205-215 4 Ibid. p. 207.
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This
form of film exhibition in American was in vogue between 1925 and 1950 and
undoubtedly fetched huge amount of profits. But this business went down with the Great Depression of America. But prior to that period there was an emergence of urban mass in America who had good deal of purchasing power into their hands. These new „suburbanites‟ that evolved during that period purchased automobiles in great numbers, usually from dealers in outlying shopping centers 5. Between 1920s and 1930s the number of vehicle registrations in the US was up by three times and majority of the owners belonged to the middle and the upper middle classes. And due to the fact that the central business district and the outlying business districts did not have the infrastructure to support this sudden outburst of privately owned cars, the outlying centers gained position as they provided shorter drives, less congestion and more parking spaces for the automobiles. The sociologists of University of Chicago recognized this phenomenon and called the outlying centers as “„bright light areas‟ attracting city wide attendance”6.
The Motion picture entrepreneurs, recognizing what potential these picture palaces had, invested in them in accordance with the shape of the city which determined the ease of transportation of the masses. For example, the 'fan shaped city' had most of the picture palaces due to its centrality and transportation advantages; the 'rectangular city' had a lesser number of picture palaces, and even less picture palaces existed in the 'square cities'. Later events such as the Great Depression, the advent of television, the further growth of American cities and the antitrust decisions against Hollywood big studios, destroyed the basis of monopoly profit on which the profitability of the picture palaces rested7. Picture palaces were built in an optimal location between the rich who lived in the edges of the city, and the middle class, living in the inner parts of the city. Douglas Gomery says that, “Mass transit and automobiles made the journey to such theatres inexpensive and convenient. Nearby restaurants, cabarets, dance halls, and arcades provided entertainment before and after the movie show”. These outlying theatres provided total entertainment through live vaudeville and stage shows accompanied by 5
Douglas Gomery, „The Picture Palace: Economic Sense or Hollywood Nonsense?‟ in The Hollywood Film Industry, ed. Paul Kerr (New York: Routlegde & Kegan Paul., 1986) pp. 205-215 6 Ibid. p. 213. 7 Ibid. p 215.
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orchestras. Though the ticket prices were as high as two-thirds as that general theatre the shows were immensely successful.
Besides
these factors, the parking facility provided by the outlying centers also
contributed to the popularity of the picture palaces. As has been discussed earlier that there had been a sudden outburst in the purchasing power of the middle class and there was a huge sell of automobiles, the outlying centers took full advantage of this trend thus increasing the popularity of picture palaces more than what otherwise their popularity would have been without the parking facilities provided by them. All of these above factors thus resulted into huge revenues for owners like B & K and exhibition of films were being counted among the most profitable enterprise in the film industry.
Television and the American Film Industry
During the late 1960s America
witnessed the growth of Television which effected the
number of film going audiences into theatres8. In his book Paul Monaco states that the decrease in the footfall in film theatres by the American film goers is “caused by the impact of Television accompanied by changing demographics and lifestyles” 9. It was observed that where TV came first the decline was most quick. Not only this, it was also observed that whenever there would be a new telecast or programme in an area the footfall in the film theatres would decline more rapidly in that area. Television viewership was thus inversely proportionate to the viewership of films in theatres. It was later found out that the Americans haven‟t lost interest in films rather they had lost interest in leaving the comforts of their houses to spend time and money on leisure. Thus a remarkable shift was happening in the American film culture.
8 9
Paul Monaco in The Sixties (1960-1969), (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 40-51 Ibid.
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There
was 95% growth in metropolitan areas and people dwelling in these areas had
many other options other than watching films to spend their time with. Some of these included outdoor sports like swimming, golfing, tennis, bowling etc. apart from watching Television. Thus Television became a competitor of the film industry. This was just one among many other problems that the film industry was facing. In Paul Monaco‟s words, “Real problem was that films produced in the new formats still relied on Hollywood‟s Classic story formulas, sentiments and themes” 10. The same old plots were no longer drawing attention of the masses. There was a change in the very composition of the audiences. Films with family as its main theme were no longer attractive to a group of people. Also these old formulas were not in lieu with the thought process of the young generation as these plots made the young generation feel alienated.
In the later years of the 1960‟s, there was an increasing interest for art films. It was the young generation who were to be found inside the art film houses. The art films appealed to their sensibilities. As Monaco puts it, “The art film audience was self defined as better educated, more sophisticated and more cosmopolitan in its tastes” 11. More European art films were gaining popularity with this generation. They had their own identity by being different from the classical Hollywood cinema which relied more on formulas. The art houses were already making a mark in the exhibition sector and the Hollywood film industry had to find ways to survive in the race. The main problem that posed before the Hollywood film industry was that they couldn‟t identify what was drawing the young adults to these art houses. Whether it was the art houses with their aesthetically made „cutting edge‟ films or the films themselves which had sensationalistic effects merged with Hollywood formulas. Whatever the reason was the fact that the art houses were gaining importance over the classical Hollywood cinema is to be noted here.
10
Paul Monaco in The Sixties (1960-1969), (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 40-51
11
Ibid.
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These art films had alienation and existential angst as their main subject or theme and it got down well with the educated and sophisticated young adults. From horror films to soft core sex to action and adventure everything was in demand with them. These films represented their own mental condition in one way and on the other brought out the rebellious part in them. They were constantly liking films which attacked or challenged the American culture and society. Films challenging the American conventions, rules, family/parental values and representing present day thoughts about society were much popular in this circuit of the young adults. “They identified at a more intellectual level with the visceral and emotional rebellion of restless, alienated young suburbanites” says Monaco12.
Changing Face of Film Exhibition in America
There were reasons the coming together of which brought in the concept of multiplexes in America during the 1960s. The spread of education and the rise in sophisticated individuals brought about by it is one reason of the many reasons. Other reasons include growing land prices. Due to the backlash of audiences many exhibition houses had to be closed down or to be sold off amounting to huge losses. The growing land prices were becoming heavy on the exhibitors who had to buy areas in order to build the theatres. Other form of exhibition as that of Drive-Inns also faced failure due to this.
Drive-Inns were a popular form of film exhibition in America during the 1940s. These were „outdoor movie theatres‟. People would come and watch films under the open sky. There was no rule to keep mum so as not to disturb others. Though the Drive-Inns were subject to weather conditions they were quite popular among many people. Teenagers could talk among each other while watching a film; parents could watch a film with their baby sleeping on the back seat. The reasons differed but the result was always on the side of the Drive-Inns. But these film watchers definitely had to compromise on the „aesthetic
12
Paul Monaco in The Sixties (1960-1969), (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 40-51.
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value and the entertainment value‟13 of watching a film inside a theatre. With the increase in the land prices they too had to close down since they required more space to project films on the screens. Drive-Inns thus became hard to afford. Since the rising prices of lands made to open Drive-Inns nearly impossible in suburbs and many theatres by that time were closing down, a new smaller cost effective form of exhibition emerged as „Multiplex‟.
Stanley
H. Durwood of Kansas City, Missouri was the first person to construct a
multiplex inside a shopping mall consisting of two screens and a single projection booth. This system also resized the labour and projection costs. The exhibition form was thus reformed and Durwood‟s model of multiplex became a standard model and a blueprint for further development of such multiplexes. When other theatres and Drive-Inns were closing down multiplexes were growing in number. Multiplexes also had the commercial advantage of less investment per screen, labour and projectionist‟s prices. These multiplexes were built with cinder blocks and contained two to eight separate theatres each having 100 to 300 seats. The staffing was also done meticulously. The staffs were mainly younger in age who were able to do more within a given time.
But what is important to be note here is that all the multiplexes were strategically placed in or near shopping centers. This brings us back to the works of Douglas Gomery where it had been observed that during the 1920‟s almost all the picture palaces were built near market areas. In 1960 America, what is found is that multiplexes were not only built near market places they were built inside shopping malls. By the late 1960‟s multiplexes were becoming commercially more viable. The number of persons visiting a shopping malls also depended on the multiplex or the number of screens it had. Many would just come to watch a film. Since most shopping centers provided free parking spaces, multiplexes used this to their advantage of remaining open till night. Due to this shopping centers also started to remain open till late into the night. This also amounts to the fact that the shopping malls also subsidized rates for the multiplexes. 13
Ibid. pp. 40-51
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Many old theatres
were renovated after this trend of multiplexes in the later years of
1960 and were converted into multi screen theatres and many among them made it a point to provide free parking spaces. For e.g. Sacks „Cheri‟, a three-plex, is the world‟s first self proclaimed “Drive – Up”14. The „Cheri‟ provided garage for a thousand cars which was equivalent to the offerings of free parking spaces by the suburban shopping malls. This is thus logical that due to this structure of film exhibition many entrepreneurs would come into play. Companies like General Cinema and National Cinema became prominent in the film exhibition sector. But there was also a not-so-glamorous side to this. Many projectionists were losing their jobs. Since the multiplex owners were strict on cutting down their investments and multiple screen theatres didn‟t required more than one projectionist the position of the projectionists slowly slided. Monaco states that, “Given the enormously changed demographics of the movie going audience by the late 1960s, then, the most typical ingredients for exhibitor success became a combination of shopping center locations, multiscreen operations, free shopping center parking (or the “drive-up” concept), limited seating per screen, projection automation, and the elimination of projectionists from the payroll” 15. This singularly concludes the condition of the film exhibition sector or the reasons behind the growth of multiplexes in America during the 1960s.
14 15
Paul Monaco in The Sixties (1960-1969), (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), pp. 40-51 Ibid.
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CHAPTER 2 : THE OLD AND THE NEW EXHIBITION OF FILMS IN INDIA In India film exhibition theatres could be found to exist since the early 1910s. Kaushik Bhaumik in his Ph.D theses has done a research on the emergence of Bombay Film Industry and in one of his chapters he talks about theatres in Bombay during the 1910s. The earliest theatres in Bombay were located in two different zones of the city. These two were the Fort area and the Native Town. In the former area there existed The Excelsior and the Empire and in the later area other theatres were located. The two cinema halls that were located in the Fort were quite enriched in the sense of its structures and locales catering mainly to Europeans, Eurasians and the Upper class Indians thus garnering a disproportionate amount of cultural capital of the cinema industry. To quote from Bhaumik: “They showed an exclusive selection of imported films, mainly Hollywood social dramas, comedies and costume dramas. They were theatre halls and provided the audience with comfortable surroundings” 16.
The
construction or rather the architecture of the theatres, the films that were being
exhibited there and the kind of audiences they drew reflected the atmosphere of the Fort area in Bombay, which was known as a place built up for the pleasure of elites far from the maddening crowds and noise of the city. The rest of the cinema halls were located near the market area or the bazaar. Between 1913 and 1916, many cinema halls came up on Sandhurst Road. This road was built during 1910s and the cinema halls grew alongside the road. The earliest of the cinema halls like the Coronation, the American – Indian, the Olympia and the New Alhambra were located at street junctions alongside this road and were surrounded by open spaces. These bazaar areas were filled with wholesale dealers and shops selling goods of all kinds and employing a considerable section of the work force of the city. High commercial activities formed the din and bustle of this road. 16
Kaushik Bhaumik, '1st Chapter: The Bombay Cinema: The Silent film Era, 1913-1928‟, in The Emergence of the Bombay Film Industry, 1913-1916, (PhD thesis, St. Antony‟s College, University of Oxford, 2001), pp 24-29.
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Majority of the audiences that flocked towards the cinema halls of this road would include merchants, shopkeepers, clerks, coolies and servants and young people.
Watching cinema had become a complex experience which was related to the growing urbanity of early 20th Century Bombay. The show-timings of these picture palaces, (these were also sometimes called picture palaces as with their counterparts in America) were flexible in accordance with the urban lifestyle of being. They began to have more varied ticketing system. With the coming of the World War, the shows were extended to include a comic film and news gazette as part of the programme. There was a high commercial growth during World War I and its effect can be seen through the rise of many cinema halls during this period. Cinema became a part of this new commercial life. Not only cinema halls but branded products also came to the fore. Many individual ventures also came up. There was a change of outlook towards commerce which then again had its effect on the lifestyle of the people specially the commercial community and its workers. Bhaumik says that, “If the maze of streets bordering Sandhurst Road reflected an older style of mercantile capitalism, Sandhurst Road itself was the symbol of the new economy based on branded goods and leisure spent in the cinema, restaurants and retail shops. Cinema became a branded good to be sold to new classes of audiences being formed in this period”. 17
There were also other players in this context. One of the majors was The Grant RoadLamington Road Cinemas. Though Grant Road was established on the other end of the same street that opened on Sandhurst Road it had in addition to what Sandhurst Road had a more cosmopolitan atmosphere, billiards rooms, bars, refreshment rooms, bakeries, professional chambers, schools and upmarket residential localities, which gave it a more urban outlook compared to the bazaars which characterized Sandhurst Road. Imperial, El Dorado, Majestic and Precious were the main cinema halls that came up in Grant Road.
17
Kaushik Bhaumik, '1st Chapter: The Bombay Cinema: The Silent film Era, 1913-1928‟, in The Emergence of the Bombay Film Industry, 1913-1916, (PhD thesis, St. Antony‟s College, University of Oxford, 2001), pp 24-29
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These theatres were popular among the elite and can be said that Grant Road possessed the same aura that the Fort had if compared to the Native Town.
The new cinema halls projected a different image of the cinema. Bhaumik in his theses says that, “They were symbolic of the cinema-as-urban-lifestyle, an activity which had to be separated from the humdrum routine of life and stood for the gaining of cultural capital from the experience. If the Sandhurst Road halls sold cinema as a new commodity, the Grant Road - Lamington Road halls bestowed prestige on it” 18. The war proved to be profitable for some entrepreneurs who made hefty amounts during the war time and were now investing in the exhibition sector. Cinema halls outside the Fort was no longer leisure, it had already acquired a cultural prestige. This was clearly reflected through the décor and architecture of the cinema halls. Another road that came up during the 1910s, named as Lamington Road had much higher „urbanity index‟ 19 than the Grant Road. The Royal Opera House (ROH) which was opened in 1915 became the symbol of the shifting scale of entertainment halls in the Native Town. It was one of the places where distinctions broke down between the Joneses and the masses in the post war period. Combining imported music-hall entertainment, Parsi theatre and imported cinema, it catered to a mixed audience of Europeans and Indian upper and middle classes. It became a major site of interaction between Indian and Western popular cultures. The facilities that ROH provided to its audiences were much higher than what the owners of the cinema halls in the Fort provided. ROH symbolized the new era of entertainment in post war Bombay. “In keeping with the increasing commodification of leisure activities, the ROH reflected the attitudes and changed lifestyles of the new middle class 20” says Bhaumik.
18
Kaushik Bhaumik, '1st Chapter: The Bombay Cinema: The Silent film Era, 1913-1928‟, in The Emergence of the Bombay Film Industry, 1913-1916, (PhD thesis, St. Antony‟s College, University of Oxford, 2001), pp 24-29. 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid.
15
Though
everyone from the Fort to other smaller parts of Bombay watched the same
films, the contexts or rather the atmosphere in which they were watched were different or rather it can also be said that the „experience‟ of watching cinema varied from theatre to theatre and from one area to the other. The segregation of the audience‟s tastes went a long way towards expanding the exhibition circuit and the entrepreneurs tried to ensure that a good number of the population saw films without stepping outside their locality. Thus more the segregation of the audiences more the creation of a audience-niche which again means more films in the market and which eventually effects the number of cinema halls.
The above as borrowed from Bhaumik
theses clearly indicates that the existence of a
place which merged cinema with other forms of leisure already existed. They were called picture palaces or the movie palaces. They took a back seat in later decades. Single screen theatres later came to rule the roost. These theatres were mainly constructed in market areas or on road sides. But majority of these theatres were constructed keeping in mind the common man barring some which had really good infrastructure and was only for the elite class. After the liberalization of economic policy in India in 1991 and the opening of doors to FDI, the form film exhibition sector has changed. There is now corporatisation of the film exhibition sector, which has led to a rapid growth of multiplexes in India.
Television and the Indian Film Industry
As in the case of America, Indian film industry also faced trouble with the coming of Television in India. The rise of Cable TV in India had negative effect on the film industry. With the rise of Cable TV Networks films reached inside peoples houses thus declining footfalls in theatres. The first Cable TV Network goes back to 1984 with 100 subscribers21. After that there had been a steep rise in the number of subscribers of Cable
21
PC Chatterji, „Postscript‟, in Broadcasting in India, (New Delhi: Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., 1991) p. 220
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TV. There was a steady rise of subscribers from 100 to 450 recording a hike of almost 350 percent. There had been a consistent rise of subscribers from 50 to 70 percent after that22. Thus the popularity of Cable TV was on the rise as more and more people started subscribing to it.
Cable TV thus became a good refuge to spend the leisure time. Now one can share time with family, within the comfort zone of the house. There was no need to go out of home to watch a film or theatre. One can now lay back at home, relax with family members and enjoy whatever channel or TV content they want to. This is not saying that everybody would do the same or the man vanished from the streets or film theatres but it is to say that Cable TV proved to be a good alternative for spending leisure time with family without getting out of home and spending money on film tickets. This sudden spread of Cable TV among the masses posed a problem for the film exhibitors.
Most Cable Channels would broadcast several films a day, a privileged facility for the subscribers alongside telecast of other different channels. This obviously meant that now people can enjoy films within the purview of the comfort of the four walls of their homes. Thus there was a gradual decline in the number of film goers. This eventually affected the film exhibition houses and which again had its effect on the number of films produced annually. As PC Chatterji says, “The chief motive for subscribing to a network is to get more entertainment and entertainment means mainly viewing Hindi feature films” 23. Hindi features were being broadcast alongside Doordarshan and other foreign channels. Other popular programmes that were being watched by the subscribers were Western musicals, English feature films and plays from Pakistan. Apart from these TV programmes, Cable TV owners would broadcasted Hindi feature films which was one of the most sought after facilities that the subscribers looked for and thus with these facilities the number of Cable TV subscribers steadily increased due to which the number of film audiences started to wane thus affecting the film exhibition theatres.
22 23
PC Chatterji, „Postscript‟, in Broadcasting in India, (New Delhi: Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., 1991) Ibid.
17
And since
less audience in theatres meant less number of films produced as they are
directly proportionate to each other, the production of Hindi films was also effected by the decline of audiences in film theatres. A table to show the decline in Hindi film production is given below:-
No. Year
of
Hindi
film produced
1986
159
1987
150
1988
182
1989
176
1990
200
1991
215
1992
189
1993
183
1994
155
1995
157
Source: Encyclopedia of Indian Films
The above statistics is clearly indicating the fact that that the production of the number Hindi films has declined after 1984, the year when the first Cable TV Network started its broadcast. The numbers of films produced are well below 200 films per year. This is startling given to the fact that India is world‟s second largest country in production of films. Thus, as given in the table the films produced per year were inconsistent and low in the early years of Cable TV. Though production crossed the 200 mark in 1990 and 1991 but then again a gradual fall could be noticed in the production of films during 1992 to 1995. In 1995, Government of India passed the Cable TV Act, to put a check on the Cable TV operators.
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The Liberated Economy of India and it’s effect on Film Exhibition
In 1991, the Congress Government with Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister of India passed The Liberalisation policy or The New Economic Policy in which market share of foreign investment companies were upped to 51% from 49%. This made many foreign companies to invest in India as India emerged as a free market to the world. This brought about a major change in the economy of India which affected the demographics, lifestyles and mentality of the working middle class.
Five years after the liberalisation India
experienced an annual growth of 6.7% GDP 24.
Information Technology (IT), Banking and Finance emerged as the mega industries with high income salaries for its employees. Global IT companies were hiring more and more of the educated middle class. This eventually gave a global platform for the middle class Indians to work on and to think global. This was also the time when more and more employees of these global companies would be sent to their main offices situated may be in America or some other developed countries of the world. There was also a gradual rise in the number of Non Residential Indians. What Acharya finds is that, “The policies towards foreign portfolio and direct investment have been greatly liberalized. As a result, the ratio of traded goods to GDP has more than doubled from less than 15 percent to nearly 33 percent. Because of the sustained boom in software exports and worker remittances, the ratio of current receipts (goods exports plus gross invisibles) has more than tripled from 8 percent to over 24 percent of GDP. Foreign investment has risen from negligible levels to US $ 20 billion in 2005/6”25.
24
Shankar Acharya, „India‟s Growth: Past and Future‟, . visited on 4th April, 2008. 25 Ibid.
19
Thus
the new middle class was rising with growing aspirations with their global
counterparts. This new rising middle class was now effecting consumption, production and investments in India. This working middle class which was growing with a steep rate had a hefty earning with quite a disposable amount. The numbers are rising still and the business giants are leaving no stones unturned to gain as much as they can from this highly educated and sophisticated global Indians.
From this economic change in the lives of the middle class Indians it is not hard to say that their lifestyle and thinking are also bound to change. They were now thinking global and were availing all the facilities that they can possibly achieve with their disposable incomes. Thus a new class was emerging. This is the class which would spend a considerable amount of money on leisure and luxury. They would spend on buying new cars, luxury houses and getting something extra out of each spending.
During the early years of 1990s, many new private channels were also launched. Many Private companies were investing in media brining out channels each different from the other. There were different programmes too dedicated to different sections of society. For e.g. there would be cartoons for children, teleserials for the elders in a family and also teleserials for teenage viewers that would be telecast in a single channel in different time slots. Thus the channels would try to get hold of everyone in a family through their programmes. This was also a time when Cable TV Network was spreading rapidly. The new middle class were subscribing to their Cable operators so as to get not only Indian channels but to get globally dominant channels as well. This shows a shift in attitude of the new class. Since they also could watch a film in their Cable channels, it was illogical to for them to go out to a cinema theatre just to watch a film. The comfort of the house was too much to compromise with. The film exhibition sector was thus experiencing a reduction in footfalls in theatres which eventually effected film production (page 14).
20
The now rising affluent middle class was considering home to be a better place to watch a film rather than visit a shabby theatre. Since films were also available in Cable channels and CDs, there was no need to worry about latest films. There was one more reason added to the decline of audience in theatres. It was the availability of parking lots. This new emerged class owing cars wanted to park their cars in safety places rather than on road sides. Since most of the cinema halls provided no such facilities they were cautiously neglecting these theatres. As Taneja puts it, “The gentry drives cars……….The gentry has seceded from the city‟s chaotic public transport network. The gentry is seceding from the older model of the cinema hall, which with all its class differentiation, was still a space where all social groups sat under the same roof”26.
Thus, a place to park the car also became a condition for the urban middle class. Taneja records a report that had been published in The Indian Express
New Delhi, August 8: MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) Commissioner Rakesh Mehta today filed an affidavit before the Delhi High Court, detailing a coordinated policy to improve parking facilities in the city. “The court had, on August 4, asked the Corporation, the NDMC, DDA (Delhi Development Authority) and the Transport Department to work together and draft a policy on parking”. Mehta told the court today that the growing vehicular population was one of the major problems. All the agencies have observed that multi-level parking is needed in view of the shortage of space, he said. 27
Thus the number of cars were rising in the streets of the capital of India resulting into the reluctance of the affluent middle class to visit places which didn‟t have parking facility. And since almost all the theatres had no parking facilities this class was slowly diminishing from these theatres so much so that many of these theatres had to either close down, sold or reduce the ticket prices to as minimum as possible.
26
Anand Vivek Taneja, „Begum Samru and the Security Guard‟ in Sarai READER 2005: Bare Acts (Delhi: Sarai Media Lab) 27 Ibid.
21
Taneja
while investing this trend in Delhi says that, “Mr R.K. Saxena, the Proprietor-
Manager of the Delhi Commercial Press, Chandni Chowk, which once printed tickets for over 40 Delhi cinemas, told me how, in his business, the cinema ticket printing is increasingly being replaced by tickets for parking (multiplex cinemas have computerized ticketing, and do not outsource). The manager of Moti Cinema told me that the gentry will not come to the hall because there is no parking space. Eros Cinema in Jangpura, currently closed, is stated to open as a multiplex in two years. The manager claims that they will wipe out the nearest competition, 3Cs, because they have parking space for 150 cars.”28 India’s brush up with Multiplexes
Though
there are many reasons behind the steep growing of multiplexes in India,
providing of parking area is one. And since multiplexes are constructed inside shopping malls, the people can shop and watch a film at the same time. It becomes an outdoor spot for family gatherings. It is the facility of getting everything under one roof is what attracts the people. One can come just to shop or just to watch a film or can come to do both. There is no dearth of options and the middle class is spoilt for choice as to where and how they would spend their money. And with facilities such as free parking spaces one can come shop or do whatever one wants inside the shopping mall without ever worrying about the condition of the car or the car being theft. PVR Cinemas which is India‟s first multiplex, opened in Saket, New Delhi in June 1997 consisted of a parking area which could accommodate 300-400 cars at a given time29. It also pays the Delhi Government the highest entertainment tax.
Delhi having more cars than any other metros taken together is sure to face trouble when it comes to parking. And when this comes to the upper middle class they are sure to prefer effortless parking rather than being clueless about where to park their cars in the 28
Anand Vivek Taneja, „Begum Samru and the Security Guard‟ in Sarai READER 2005: Bare Acts (Delhi: Sarai Media Lab). 29 Ibid.
22
busy markets areas and roads. Thus the number of upper middle class has receded from the busy streets and shabby theatres of Delhi and they are more to be found now in the multiplexes where there is ample space for every car. Thus parking lot played an important role drawing the urban upper middle class crowd towards multiplexes.
A
revolution was started by PVR Cinemas in 1997 in the exhibition sector. Many
business groups later came up with their multiplex brands. Important among them are Adlabs Films, INOX Leisure and Shringar Cinemas. These business houses have two major advantages over single screen theatres. Firstly, they were constructed inside shopping malls thus decreasing on the amount of land investment. With increasing high land prices especially in metros it would be very heavy on the investors to construct a multiscreen theatre with a lot of parking space. The easier and a more cost effective way is to merge with a shopping mall thus subsidizing investments on both the land owning and parking spaces. Generally, the shopping malls and the multiplex owners share the same parking area both of them thus cutting down on parking space prices.
Secondly,
the multiplex owners get huge tax exemption from the Government 30.
Multiplex owners not only get lower entertainment tax on themselves they also get an added advantage of getting 100% tax exemption for constructing multiplexes in some major metros for atleast five years, while the story is still different for many cinema theatre owners who have to comply with the taxation laws of the Government. The multiplexes besides getting tax exempted from their revenues also get the advantage of pricing their tickets very high without any law from the Government to hold back their prices. Thus the ticket prices are as high as 6-4% as compared to the ticket prices of the single screen theatres. But this doesn‟t stop the multiplexes from getting more and more attention from a class belonging to a high income stratum with a generous amount of disposable income. They are the new emerged upper middle class „global‟ Indians. They prefer facilities and luxuries provided to them by these multiplexes. Facilities as that of parking areas and luxuries such as special seats of sofas and couches merged with various 30
Adrian M. Athique, „Leisure in the New Economy : The Rapid Rise of the Multiplex in India‟, Unpublished seminar paper, (University of Queensland).
23
food items served to them during the film. This new class firstly wants to feel special and privileged and they are efficiently made to feel so by these multiplexes.
Also
they want to feel like a global citizen which is why the huge architecture of
shopping malls made up of glasses, overhead neon lights, central AC system and spaces made in such a way so as to commensurate with their global counterparts. I would like to argue here that shopping malls and the multiplexes become an extension of the corporate offices which too have the glitz of neon lights and lights coming out of the computer screen. The lights have a very different glow which dazzles the human eye. The glitz and glamour that the shopping mall provides is completely in compliance with the interior of private offices with dazzling structures, colours and lights specially those of the IT offices. Taneja quotes Sonali Rastogi, a representative of Morphogenesis Architecture Studio, a firm that designs corporate offices, shopping malls and multiplexes, “Global Indians. We need to ensure that our newly built environment corresponds, and the paradigm shift in Indian culture be addressed,”31.
Thus many things were happening at the same time. The liberalisation policy, the advent of Television, the rise in the incomes of the middle class and their purchasing power, growing land prices, all these coming together lead to multiplexes being constructed throughout the country. And this is efficiently done with various facilities and structures so as to draw as many people as possible.
31
Anand Vivek Taneja, „Begum Samru and the Security Guard‟ in Sarai READER 2005: Bare Acts (Delhi: Sarai Media Lab)
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CHAPTER 3: INCREDIBLE! INDIAN FILMS AND ITS EXHIBITION This
chapter looks into some emerging trends and features that the Indian Cinema is
experiencing by the change of its exhibition form i.e. from single screen theatres to multi screen theatres or multiplexes. The visible change in the present day Indian Cinema is contributed not only by multiplexes but other socioeconomic changes also. This is discussed in the earlier chapter. In this chapter some case studies of this new trend in the content of Indian Cinema will be done taking into account specifically three areas.
Firstly, I would like to draw attention towards a thematic shift that is now occurring in Indian Cinema. This is a shift from the usual masala flick of Bollywood where one would find seven to eight songs embedded in a three hour long feature film with the protagonists singing and dancing around the trees. The shift is now towards the depiction of reality on screen. Real in the sense that now the actors behave more humanly as opposed to what 70‟s hero did, fighting ten people at one go without major or with minor injuries. The non understandable fight sequences, where one may sometimes gets confused about who is thrashing whom, are being replaced by stylized actions with hi-tech guns, motor bikes and cars and fight techniques like martial arts and karate. But a shift not only in the stylization but also in the narrative structure of the films is also occurring. It is this shift that I first want to draw the attention to.
I
would like to say here that the multiplexes have given birth to a particular kind of
cinema, a kind which is at par with Western standards and they not only win accolades in foreign lands and award ceremonies but also become a major hit among its Indian audiences. The making of the so called off-beat films, films depicting real lives, real stories was first braved by independent film makers or rather film makers not belonging to any camps. They would make films keeping in mind an audience which has enough
25
sensibility to understand what is being said. A kind of audience who is educated and is interested towards the artecrafts of film making.
India witnessed one such film, Hyderabad Blues (Dir. Nagesh Kukunoor, 1998), in the second half of the 1990‟s. It can be said that Hyderabad Blues was India‟s first film to have a mix of Hindi and English language usually known as „Hinglish‟. Interestingly, this was just one year after the first multiplex in India was built. Though the film was first released in Mumbai and not in the PVR Cinemas in Delhi, it went on to become a major hit in India. The popularity of a film like this, which was first ever in India, indicates how the Indian Cinema market was gushing for a breadth of fresh air. The story could easily have been the experience of one‟s next door neighbor. The film had the theme of a NRI coming to India to get himself an Indian bride. NRI matches are a major segment of matrimony in India and there are many Indian films which skillfully play with this area. It should not be forgotten here that this time of the decade saw many Indian corporate executives being transferred abroad and eventually their settlement. This created a huge market for the NRIs. And many films were made with marriages as the main theme around which the narrative revolved.
In case of marriages, Indian films has the tendency to depict them with gala events such as Sangeets, lots of colour, foods etc. It was what the West wants to see and knows about the Indian marriages. These are specifically Punjabi marriages. From Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (Dir. Aditya Chopra, 1995), to Pride and Prejudice (Dir. Gurindhar Chadha, 2004) a great Indian wedding is witnessed. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was India‟s first film which grossed a huge profit outside India as well. Earlier, films profited mostly from inter-country distribution but now an Indian film got footing on the global platform. So, naturally when it‟s India it will somehow try to incorporate marriage. It can easily be said that most Indian films are based on love relations, sometimes love triangles, and would always try to end up with a happy note of marriage and a notion of „they lived happily ever after‟.
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After Indian films started to become global, the marriages also got costlier. One can then find a multi-crore wedding being functioned. Monsoon Wedding (Dir. Mira Nair, 2001) is one such film. Wedding was the central theme and other small stories cropped up here and there from time to time among the family members. Relatives would pour in from different parts of the world and they would talk in Hinglish, participate in sangeets, wear branded clothes and so on and so forth. The characters here are rich and spend lots of money to make the wedding a gala event. The marriages in Indian Cinema are a spectacle. Instances like this can be found in many other films as that of Bend It Like Beckham (Dir. Gurindhar Chadha, 2002), Pride and Prejudice and even films like Kal Ho Na Ho (Dir. Nikhil Advani, 2003) and Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gham (Dir. Karan Johar, 2001) not only show NRI families but their big fat Indian weddings. And it is the Punjabi‟s and the Gujrati‟s which dominate the scene when it comes to the depiction Indian marriages.
But as the recent trend goes, marriage as the central theme is shifting away. Films are now focusing on individual relationships and lives rather than family gatherings. As Homi Adajania, Director of Being Cyrus puts it, “After all, India is not just Bollywood and a Punjabi wedding” 32. Thus, films are now shifting its base from Indian marriages and are concentrating more on how to project reality or realism on the screen. Examples could be Jhankar Beats (Dir. Sujoy Ghosh, 2003) or Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye (Dir. Sanjay Jha, 2003). In Jhankar Beats one finds the life of three men revolving around their marriage, work and their passion music. One can easily relate to their emotions, feelings and passion. It is the life story of every Indian around. The mundane everydayness of people‟s live is central here. The same is true for Pran Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye which shows life in a Mumbai chawl where people share their lives together and how they come together to save their chawl from the claws of a builder. The depiction of Indians is thus slowly going through a makeover and it is no longer that big fat Indian weddings has to
32
Anupama Chopra, „Hindi Films Get Indie Sprit (No Dancing, Please)‟, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2005 visited on 6th April, 2008.
27
get a screen space to make a film popular, it is now something else that is gaining ground. This is depiction of real people, real lives.
This is a thematic shift. Coming back to Hyderabad Blues, we will find the film not only kick started India‟s first Hinglish film but also it had a different way of story telling. It could easily have been like DDLG or Monsoon Wedding, where in both cases we find the story of a NRI groom coming to India for the cause of marriage. The same theme plays in Hyderabad Blues but the mode of telling the story is definitely different. The issue is dealt with more sensitively. The confused condition of an America returned Indian when to have to terms with Indian realities is something Indian audiences have not seen before. There are many films made after the success of this film. Here I would like to argue that multiplexes have encouraged the making of such films which would caress the urbane sensibility.
Multiplexes
are literally blurring the boundary between commercial cinema and art
cinema. Films like Hyderabad Blues if made in 1980‟s would have easily been labeled as „art‟ cinema. But no more. Films like Astitva (Dir. Mahesh Manjerekar, 2000), Split wide Open (Dir. Dev Benegal, 2000), Every Body Says I Am Fine (Dir. Rahul Bose, 2002), Joggers Park (Dir. Anant Balani, 2003), Morning Raga (Dir. Mahesh Dattani, 2004), White Noise (Dir. Vinta Nanda, 2005) can also be labeled as the so-called „art‟ films. But the Indians now don‟t consider them to be art films anymore in the same sense as they would have done 20 years ago. They are films which can compete globally. All these films are off beat and deals with different subjectivities.
The story line of these films is different from what the stories were used to be in the 70‟s and the 80‟s. During the 70‟s one could predict the end of the narrative. The hero wins atlast and everybody knows it all the way long. But these emerging films may have the protagonists much in place but they don‟t necessarily win at the end. Their persona is different from what it was for the 70‟s hero. For example, in Joggers Park, there is no hero as such. The story revolves around an old judge (played by Victor Banerjee) falling
28
in love with a young aspiring singer (played by Parizad Kolebian). The story is plain and simple. But the way the narrative proceeds the audience is bound to keep glued to the screen to see the end of it. What is found in these films is the apparent lack of a hero who at the end of the film would come and save the day, as it happened during the 70s. Rather we find that the hero is just another person. The protagonists are like common people whom one can easily find on streets or markets. It seems one already knows the characters and can relate to it. It is a story from the life of an usual Indian. Not like hero‟s of 70‟s or 80‟s having extraordinary powers to fight goons and always coming first in competitions.
One film that transcends all these and was a major hit in 2005 is Being Cyrus (Dir. Homi Adajania, 2005). This is India‟s first all English film and has been a hit internationally too. The film is a song and dance less black comedy that revolves around a dysfunctional Parsi family of the Sethnas. The film is set in two locations, Panchgani and Mumbai. The Sethnas lets in Cyrus into their home as pottery artist Dinshaw‟s assistant and all hell break loose after that. The sewing of the story is very interesting. It is the protagonist Cyrus (played by Saif Ali Khan) whom we at the end find to be the main criminal of the story. It is hard to differentiate between the hero and the villain. The hero is the villain and one wouldn‟t know what to do with such a character. Love him or hate him. The point of view with which one watches the film at the end becomes the POV of a criminal. The film is totally twisted and the audience is left to construct the story themselves with flash backs and voices heard by Cyrus.
This
kind of films specially gets released in multiplexes mainly due to two reasons.
Firstly they cater to a „niche‟ audience. The audience for whom the film is made belongs to the affluent middle class and they have grown up watching Western films. For them relating to films like Being Cyrus or Joggers Park is nothing new. They know how to make sense of the film. These niche audiences which prefer to give multiplexes a visit to watch a film are also providing the film makers with various options to make films for them. “A film is a conversation” says director-producer Ram Gopal Varma, head of the
29
Factory, a production house, “The multiplex gives me flexibility and enables me to have a conversation with my intended target audience without worrying about small towns and villages”33. This shows that how the film makers are being constantly being moved by the multiplying number of the urban middle class who like to watch a film in a multiplex rather than in a shabby single theatre with infected seats and refuse filled floors.
Secondly, these films opt for a pan Indian release in all the multiplexes thus recurring the money within weeks. Since the multiplexes have high ticket prices i.e. three to four times higher than that of the prices of an average single screen theatre, and with so much of a wide release of films in multiplexes it is not hard on the producers to get back the money invested in such films. The fact that whether the film is a hit or a miss only comes later. Thus multiplexes work both ways, by giving freedom to film makers to make whatever the kind of films they want to make and by raising the money for the producers within few weeks of the film‟s release.
In
compliance to the above another kind of films are also emerging. That is of low
budget films. It is these films that I take to be the second category. Many film makers are now making low budget off beat films and which is also raking money in the Box – Office. Hyderabad Blues again comes to fore in this category. The film is essentially low budget and director Nagesh Kukunoor himself played in the film as the protagonist. With multiplexes the directors are now ready to experiment with various themes and stories. Some low budget films like Bheja Fry (Dir. Sagar Ballary, 2007), Johnny Gaddaar (Dir. Sriram Raghavan, 2007), Mixed Double (Dir. Rajat Kapoor, 2006), Gangster (Dir. Anurag Basu, 2006), Khoshla ka Ghoshla (Dir. Dibakar Banerjee, 2006), Corporate (Dir. Madhur Bhandarkar, 2006), Iqbal (Dir. Nagesh Kukunoor, 2005), Page 3 (Dir. Madhur Bhandarkar, 2005) and Teen Dewarein (Dir. Nagesh Kukunoor, 2003) has not only received its fair share in the Box Office but also has won many critical acclaims. 33
Anupama Chopra, „Hindi Films Get Indie Sprit (No Dancing, Please)‟, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2005 visited on 6th April, 2008.
30
Previously
small budget projects were used to be taken up by Television or NFDC
(National Film Development Corporation). The Films Division would sponsor projects which were not exactly mainstream and were unable to secure a place in single screen theatre time slots. But times have changed. Now film makers are confident about making small budget films which deliberately lack the fun and galore of spectacles of weddings and designer costumes. Working with a low budget of $450,000 to $1.15 million as opposed to more than $2.5 million of Bollywood, these films are really making it big in the film industry. Page 3 made with a budget of $575,000 made a gross profit of $2.3 million and Iqbal got back its invested money of $685,000 within five weeks of its release34. None of these films have A-list star in its casting. Page 3 shows the life of a newspaper journalist, played by Konkona Sen Sharma, obstacles faced by her and her friends in both their personal and professional life. The film shows many ground realities that is present in Mumbai socialite circuit, lives of celebrities and politics. The film also shows pedophilia and drug business being exchanged among the social high class of the society. In Iqbal on the other hand, one finds the wish and struggle of a deaf – mute boy to play in the National Cricket Team.
Both the films uses actors known for their „serious‟ acting. The films do not have the glamour and glitz of the mainstream Bollywood and is made in a very stylized fashion, every part of narrative interwoven intrinsically with each other. Only ten years ago these kind of films would find no producers. The film makers would have to look out for Governmental or other sources for investments. But now many corporate houses too are investing on Cinemas such as Adlabs Films Pvt. Ltd, Planman Motion Pictures and UTV Movie Production. They invest both in commercial mainstream cinema as well as off beat films thus blurring the boundary between them.
34
Anupama Chopra, „Hindi Films Get Indie Sprit (No Dancing, Please)‟, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2005 visited on 6th April, 2008.
31
This is the third trend in Indian cinema that I want to draw the attention to. Earlier one could have easily made a distinction between commercial cinema and art cinema. Mainstream would be the camp of films with major stars such as Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan and Art Cinema amounted to small budget films with minimal star cast and a serious story line. But, now a new form of films is emerging. These can be said to stay in the boundary of both commercial and art cinema. A Film like Being Cyrus is both that. The film grosses a profit both in India and overseas and is also an off beat film because of its both content and form. Thus the commercial – art cinema binary is getting replaced by a kind of cinema, fueled by the growth of multiplexes in India which is both commercial and art and at the same time.
There is one more reason behind these films getting time slots in the multiplexes. Since the number of screens are more the multiplex can accommodate more than one film at a given time. Moreover, the multiplexes don‟t follow the 12-3-6-9 show timings rule as in standalone theatres35. Thus this leaves the multiplex to juggle time slots between the films. And since the off beat films usually are shorter in length compared to mainstream the multiplexes don‟t find it difficult to fit them into the time slots. As Aparna sharma says, “The ability to manipulate schedules allowed for films of varying lengths to be accommodated. Since non-mainstream films are of varying lengths and usually shorter than an average feature, they could easily be integrated in the multiplex‟s film menu” 36.
The multiplexes also slates out time for mainstreams as they are the main grosser. They still have to compete with single screen theatres as they outnumber the multiplexes since they are situated in every nook and corner of the city. The multiplex reach is not yet that deep. But what multiplexes offer is a film viewing experience. Films are one among the many options that one can opt for in the conglomeration of shopping malls and multiplex. The consumers are spoilt for choice. The shopping malls with its multiplex, food courts and gaming zones provides a good location for family outings. Thus multiplexes are 35
Aparna Sharma in „India‟s Experience with the Multiplex‟, visited on 6th April, 2008. 36
Ibid.
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catering to families and mostly affluent families who have the spending power. “Since it needs only a section that would guarantee a sell out of its limited seats being offered at a higher rate, it tends to exclude the average Bollywood film. But in so doing it has managed to elicit viewership from upper class segments, who previously may have held reservations towards cinema going, given the lack of facilities like air-conditioning, upscale interiors and so on” says Aparna Sharma 37. Thus multiplexes are here to stay with the fast growing economy of India. What future effects will they have on the Indian film industry only time can tell. Since the film exhibition sector is an under researched area, much more work should be done regarding this. To sum up, this dissertation is an insight into a form exhibition of films through multiplexes and the effects it has on the film making industry.
37
Aparna Sharma in „India‟s Experience with the Multiplex‟, visited on 6th April, 2008.
33
BIBLIOGRAPHY Periodicals CINEASTE Sight and Sound Journal of the Moving Image
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Prasad, Madhava M. Ideology of the Hindi Film. A Historical Construction. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994. Tomlinson, Alan, ed. Consumption, Identity, & Style. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Theses and Papers Acharya, Shankar. “India‟s Growth: Past and Future”. Draft Paper for presentation at the Eight Annual Global Development Conference of the Global Development Network, January 14-16, 2007, Beijing. Athique, Adrian M. “Leisure in the New Economy : The Rapid Rise of the Multiplex in India”. Draft of an unpublished seminar paper. Bhaumik, Kaushik. “The Emergence of the Bombay Film Industry, 1913-1916”. Ph.D theses, University of Oxford, 2001.
Electronic Journals Hughes, Stephen P. “The Pride of Place”. Seminar, The Monthly Symposium. Seminar 525: May 2003; Unsettling Cinema: a symposium on the place of Cinema in India. < http://www.indiaseminar.com/2003/525/525%20stephen%20p.%20hughes.htm> Prasad, Madhava. “This Thing Called Bollywood”. Seminar, The Monthly Symposium. Seminar 525: May 2003; Unsettling Cinema: a symposium on the place of Cinema in India. < http://www.indiaseminar.com/2003/525/525%20madhava%20prasad.htm> Sharma, Aparna. “India‟s Experience with the Multiplex”. Seminar, The Monthly Symposium. Seminar 525: May 2003; Unsettling Cinema: a symposium on the place of Cinema in India. < http://www.indiaseminar.com/2003/525/525%20aparna%20sharma.htm>
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Singh, Bhrigupati. “The Problem”. Seminar, The Monthly Symposium. Seminar 525: May 2003; Unsettling Cinema: a symposium on the place of Cinema in India. < http://www.india-seminar.com/2003/525/525%20the%20problem.htm> Vasudevan, Ravi. “Cinema in Urban Space”. Seminar, The Monthly Symposium. Seminar 525: May 2003; Unsettling Cinema: a symposium on the place of Cinema in India. < http://www.indiaseminar.com/2003/525/525%20ravi%20vasudevan.htm>
Websites www.sarai.net www.cscsarchive.org www.jstor.org www.indiafm.com www.imdb.com www.indiantelevision.com
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