2. Introduction
• Bollywood portrayals as a reflection of society
• Constructs a version of social reality
• Defines what is considered ‘normal’
• In the last few decades representations of class have evolved
• Pre-Independence - Nationalism
• Post - Independence - Nehruvian dream
• Social realism
• Class struggle an important theme, sometimes the main theme
• Focus on poverty, discrimination
• Wealth linked to corruption and exploitation
3. • 1990s onwards
• Dramatic liberalization of Indian economy
• Urban setting
• Representation of elite India - fast cars and branded clothes
• Bollywood as an escape from reality
• Grand narratives and fantastical events
• Glamour and glitz
4. “The Indian audience doesn’t want to watch poor people.”
- Zoya Akhtar
• A recent analysis of lead characters of more than 250 films released in 2013 and 2014 by The Hindu
newspaper revealed that only six lead characters belonged to a backward caste. The Indian national
daily collected information available publicly on characters as well as the storyline of each of these films
for its report.
• The world inhabited by upper classes is the new normal
“If someone makes a film where the hero is not rich then they call it an alternative film. Why is a film
about a poor man alternative in India? Majority of Indians are poor!”
6. Rickshawalas and Taxi Drivers
• Earlier - lead characters being rickshaw walas and taxi drivers -
their spaces, their lives
• e.g. Taxi Driver (1954) and Main Rickshawala, Chhoti Bahen
(1959)
• Now - Almost non-existent, very less screen space
• When screenspace is given,
• Aiding the Upper class protagonist: Taxi No. 9211 (2006)
and Tamasha (2015)
• Cause of embarrassment: Raja Hindustani (1996), Tanu
Weds Manu Returns (2015)
• Tribute to Rickshawalas - Aap ka Suroor
8. Labourers and Working Class
• Labourers, their daily struggle and their socio-political struggles has been an
inspiration for filmmakers
• Cinema experimented with the themes focused on the lives and woes of
workers
• Eg: Do Bheega Zameen, Naya daur, Paigham, Mazdoor, Deewar, Namak
haram, Coolie, Kaala Patthar, Koyla
• Bollywood kept the changing face of labour and its changing political
undertones
• Made the films reach out to larger audience
9. Rural to Urban Migration
• The films are known for its socialist theme about
the gritty, unpleasant struggles of those who are
the most vulnerable
• It captures the compulsions of poor farmer who is
forced to migrate and earn in a new city
Do Bigha Zamin(1953)
14. Vendors
• Markets often used as backdrops, especially in romantic sequences
• Street vendors, hawkers etc. usually as subsidiary charcaters
• Clear dearth of representation in Bollywood
• Often pop up in song sequences
• With the shift to Western-style malls, reducing need for these characterizations
15. Vendors
• A parodic/exaggerated representation by mainstream Bollywood
• When depicted, shown as:
• Children compelled to work
• Lower class a vulnerable group
• Lower class aiding upper class protagonists to
achieve their ambitions
• Lower class more likely to indulge in wrongdoings
16. Exception to the Rule
Saudagar - 1973
• Lead Actor - Amitabh Bachchan
• Rural setting
• Selling of gur (jaggery)
• Exception to the rule that characters of vendors
do not find major representation in Bollywood
films
18. • 1970s- Raghu chachas and Ramu kakas; genial, subservient.
Simple, established class roles, lower class wasn’t even
expected to transcend the circumstances of his birth
• Mili (1975)- manservant accompanies protagonist throughout
his journeys, serves as his protector against intruders. He is
also a drinking partner, their relationship almost like
squabbling spouses
• Some films of the 70s experimented with the class roles.
Servants portrayed as sources of wisdom, godly
characteristics- Bawarchi (1972).
Chupke Chupke (1975)- questioning class distinctions, love
affair with the driver
19. • 1980s- servants as subsidiary characters, providing
slapstick comedy, social commentary takes a backseat.
Servant class invisibilized as joint families declined
• Also shifted to cover ideas like social mobility which is
covered in today in movies like Titli (2015)
• 1990s- blurred class roles. Movies like Hum Aapke Hain
Kaun (1994) where protagonist and servant are buddies
20. • 2000s and 2010s- Modern day depiction of
domestic help is fluid
• Some like Piku (2015) which portray themes like
the master’s complete dependence on the servant
which is similar to what was covered even in the
70s in movies like Sholay
• Talvar (2015) portrays the servant as a possible
source of threat, while establishing him as a
benevolent caretaker
21. • Affection, interdependence, friendship were some of the themes covered
• Domestic help as one of the lower class communities that are actually integral
to the plot, and the protagonists
• Representation of this community has not followed a linear pattern of
evolution; some themes are recurrent over the years, some films emphasize
particular themes which have been significant through different time periods
Domestic Help
22. Conclusion
• Changes in representation over the years as a reflection of changing society
• Evolution from central themes/characters to subsidiary roles
• Identity of the lower class groups shaped by their lower class profession or with
respect to the protagonist
• Even with an urban setting, they are ‘outsiders’ with rural roots
• Skewed representations of these groups which influences perceptions of reality
‘wealth was linked directly to the corrupt, exploitative and dissolute world of old money or the landowning classes who aligned themselves with the colonial masters’.
within which ideological tensions can be contained and resolved
story of farmer Shambhu Mahato's (played brilliantly by Balraj Sahni)quest to save his meagre land from the clutches of a greedy zamindar
An important film in the early parallel cinema of India, considered to be a trend setter
B.R. Chopra's post-independence tale of a village starts with a quote from Gandhi, warning against the replacement of man by machines
the film begins deals with the challenge local tongawallahs face from industrialisation
The lives of the tongawallahs turn upside down when one day the village landlord's son starts a bus service
Iqbal is a confident, charismatic character who has sworn to protect the socially backward railway coolies, who are treated abysmally
Iqbal organises a strike that brings the station to a standstill
Iqbal eventually becomes the leader of a leftist trade union and fights elections against the capitalist villain of the movie
This was a time when entire movies revolved around the lives of the working class, translating the socio-economic struggles of the time onto the silver screen, at times beautifully
The absence of the worker from mainstream movies only increases class distinctions
The empathy for the working class and its struggles, that cinema once helped foster, is now lacking
In a hyper-capitalistic India, it's almost inevitable that the worker as a character has been pushed to the fringes
Merely a prop that completes a scene in most cases
Iconic songs include Zindagi Kaisi Yeh Paheli Hai and Khaike Paan Banaraswala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHNolrmY1KM
Upper class not able to make jaggery and earn income. Hard-labour and such jobs restricted to poorer classes
