South Asian cinema |
South Asian cinema refers to the cinema of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. The terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and South East Asia. See also Asian cinema, East Asian cinema and Southeast Asian cinema.
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Styles and genres
The scope of South Asian cinema is huge and takes in a wide array of different film styles, linguistic regions and genres. South Asian cinema is particularly famous in the West for:
Regional industries
India contains many state languages which have film industries centered around them. Although Hindi is the official language of government business of northern regions of India, its often-used dialect Hindustani is the most widespread language but covering only 40% of the total population, and English is widely understood irrespective of region, the state languages are preserved for official use by different states in India, and many have as many speakers as an average European nation. Regional industries have also tended to produce a higher percentage of serious art film and political film. Bangladeshi cinema is filmed in Bengali and Sri Lankan cinema is filmed in Sinhala and Tamil. Last but not least is Indonesian cinema. In the beginning the Indonesian cinema grew after World War I, rooted from the Folk Theater Drama called Dardanela. Under Usmar Ismail, Indonesian cinema became the new entertainment in 1950 to 1980. Hundred of film stars were born, such as: Citra Dewi (1960), Tanty Yosepha (1970). Yenny Rachman and Christine Hakim (1980) and Dian Sastro (late 1990s). Teguh Karya was one of the leading Film Director in Indonesia after the era of Usmar Ismail. Now, by the popularity of television, film is replaced with electronic cinema which is popular as sinetron. This industry has made the Indian born producer, Raam Punjabi, a tycon of sinetron in Indonesia.
Indian cinema
- Bollywood, the Hindi/Hindustani film industry, based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay). This film industry is the most prolific and popular in South Asia and one of the most prolific in the world.
- Tamil Cinema, the Tamil film industry based in the Kodambakkam area of Chennai (formerly Madras). It is the second most popular branch of Indian Cinema. Tamil films are also made in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada.
- Bengali film industry, long centered in the Tollygunge district of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). This film industry is known for producing many internationally acclaimed films by directors such as Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak.
- Telugu film industry, sometimes known as Tollywood, which comes from the mixture of Hollywood and Telugu, based in Hyderabad. It was formerly located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- Gujarati cinema, based in Gujarat.
- Malayalam film industry, based in Kerala. Several of its directors such as Shaji N. Karun have also received international acclaim.
- Kannada film industry, based in Bangalore, Karnataka.
- Ollywood, the Oriya film industry based in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack.
- Marathi film industry, based in Mumbai and Pune.
- Punjabi film industry, based in Punjab,India.
- Assamese film industry, based in Assam. This is the only major film industry in North-East India.
Pakistani cinema
- Lollywood, the Punjabi and Urdu film industry based in Lahore.
- Karachi film industry, the Urdu film industry based in Karachi.
- Pashto film industry, the Pashto language film industry based in Peshawar.
Bangladeshi cinema
- Bangladeshi film industry, the Bengali film industry based in Dhaka. Has recently begun receiving international acclaim with films by directors such as Tareque Masud and Morshedul Islam.
Others
Key figures of South Asian cinema
With the rise in popularity of South Asian cinema in the West, especially due to the twenty million Indian immigrants spread across the world, Western audiences are becoming more familiar with many of the industry's film-makers and stars. Some, like Satyajit Ray, who has been praised as the greatest director of all time by such luminaries as Akira Kurosawa, and who has often been cited as one of the three best directors of the 20th century, are legendary amongst film circles already. Some consider Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen to be the foremost Indian directors.
Directors
- Khwaja Ahmed Abbas - Saat Hindustani
- K. Asif - Mughal-e-Azam
- Mahboob
- Puttanna Kanagal - (Belli moda).
- Satyajit Ray – internationally acclaimed Bengali film director, widely regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema (Apu trilogy).
- K. Viswanath - Telugu director known for films like Swathi Muthyam, Swayam Krushi.
- Kamal Amrohi - Mahal Pakeeza Razia Sultan
- Ritwik Ghatak – Bengali film director, (Nagarik, Meghe Dhaka Tara).
- Mrinal Sen – well-respected Bengali film director, has won awards at major film festivals (Baishey Shravan, Bhuvan Shome).
- Guru Dutt – Hindi actor, director and producer of the 1950s and '60s (Mr. & Mrs. '55, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Pyaasa).
- S.M. Yusuf - Nek Parveen
- Akbar Khan S Tajmahal
- V. Shantaram – Hindi director and actor (Do Aankhen Barah Haath).
- Ashutosh Gowariker – Contemporary Hindi actor, director and producer (Lagaan).
- K. Balachander – Prominent Tamil director who's also had success in films like Ek Duuje Ke Liye.
- Bimal Roy – One of the most successful Hindi film directors of all time (Devdas (1955 film), Do Bigha Zameen.
- Vijay Anand – Bollywood actor, director and producer mainly during the 1960s and '70s. (Johnny Mera Naam, Jewel Thief)
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee – Hindi film director known for a number of films (Anand, Abhimaan).
- Nasir Hussain - (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak)
- Sudhir Mishra – Contemporary director and screenwriter (Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Chameli (Movie)).
- Bharathiraja – Tamil director who captured village life (Muthal Mariyathai, Vedham Pudhithu).
- Saawan Kumar
- Sikder diamond
- Balu Mahendra – Sri Lanka-born Tamil and Malayalam director (Sandhya Raagam, Veedu).
- Prakash Jha – Contemporary Hindi director (Gangaajal, Apaharan).
- S.S. Rajamouli - A highly successful commercial Telugu director.
- Cheran – Award-winning Tamil director and actor (Autograph, Thavamai Thavamirundhu)
- Adoor Gopalakrishnan – Prominent Malayalam director (Elippathayam, Swayamvaram).
- Mani Shankar – Director of Bollywood action thrillers (16 December, Tango Charlie)
- S. Shankar – Popular Tamil director and producer (Mudhalvan, Anniyan, Sivaji: The Boss)
- A. R. Murugadoss – Popular Kollywood and Tollywood director (Ghajini, Stalin)
- Ram Gopal Varma – Tollywood and Bollywood director known for his gritty films. (Shiva, Rangeela).
- Mani Ratnam – Generally works in Tamil films but has worked in Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada industries (Kannathil Muthamittal, Guru).
- Shekhar Kapur – British India-born director and producer (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen).
- Shyam Benegal – Important part of the New India Cinema movement (Ankur, Bhumika).
- Upendra - (A, Om).
- K. S. Ravikumar - Highly successful Tamil commercial film director (Muthu, Padayappa, Dasavathaaram)
- Madhur Bhandarkar – Director and screenwriter Page 3, Chandni Bar).
- Deepa Mehta – Indian-born Canadian director best known for her "elements trilogy". Fire, Earth, Water).
- Aparna Sen – Bengali Indian actress and director (36 Chowringhee Lane, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer).
- Ketan Mehta – (Bhavni Bhavai, Maya Memsaab).
- Rakesh Roshan – (Karan Arjun, Krrish).
- Mira Nair – (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay!).
- Girish Karnad - (Anand Bhairavi).
- Govind Nihalani – Cinematographer and director.
- Santosh Sivan – Award-winning cinematographer and director (The Terrorist, Asoka).
- Gurinder Chadha – British director (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice).
- Karan Johar – Actor, screenwriter and director; hosts TV chat show, Koffee with Karan (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna).
- Prakash Mehra – (Zanjeer, Hera Pheri).
- Ramesh Sippy – (Saagar, Sholay).
- Manmohan Desai – (Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony).
- Basu Chatterjee – (Chitchor).
- Rajkumar Santoshi – (Ghayal, Andaz apna apna).
- Partho Sen-Gupta – Avant-garde independent director (Hava Aney Dey).
- Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra – Director and screenwriter (Aks, Rang De Basanti).
- Sanjay Leela Bhansali – Devdas, Black)
- Vikram Bhatt – (Inteha, Deewane Huye Pagal).
- Sanjay Gupta – (Zinda)
- Yash Chopra – Veteran producer and director (Waqt, Deewaar).
- Ramesh Sippy – (Sholay, Andaz)
- Vidhu Vinod Chopra – (An Encounter with Faces, 1942: A Love Story).
- Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar - (America! America!!, Amruthadhaare).
- Yograj Bhat - (Mungaru Male).
- Ajith Nag - (Brinda).
Actors
- Aamir Khan
- Abhishek Bachchan
- Ajay Devgan
- Ajith Kumar
- Akkineni Nagarjuna
- Akkineni Nageswara Rao
- Akshay Kumar
- Ambareesh
- Amitabh Bachchan
- Allu Arjun
- Arshad Warsi
- chiranjeevi
- Dharmendra
- Rajkumar
- Jeetendra
- Vinod Khanna
- Vinod Mehra
- Vishnuvardhan
- Feroz Khan
- Mithun Chakraborty
- Amrish Puri
- Anil Kapoor
- Ashok Kumar
- Dilip Kumar
- Balraj Sahni
- Shahrukh Khan
- Manoj Kumar
- Jackie Shroff
- R. Madhavan
- Kamal Hassan
- Vijay
- Raj Kapoor
- Rishi Kapoor
- Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao
- Balakrishna
- Venkatesh
- Nana Patekar
- Rajkumar
- Rajinikanth
- Rajesh Khanna
- Ramesh Aravind
- Pran
- Vikram
- Shammi Kapoor
- Raaj Kumar
- Mohanlal
- Mammooty
- Sanjeev Kumar
- Surya Sivakumar
- Mehmood
- Mahesh Babu
- Dev Anand
- Om Puri
- Naseeruddin Shah
- Amrish Puri
- Anant Nag
- Kishore Kumar
- Chiranjeevi
- Manoj Bajpai
- Mohanlal
- Saif Ali Khan
- Salman Khan
- Sanjay Dutt
- Sunil Dutt
- Sunny Deol
- Shankar Nag
- Hrithik Roshan
- Suresh Gopi
- Mukesh
- Jagathi Sreekumar
- Thilakan
- M.G. Ramachandran
- Sivaji Ganeshan
- Jayan
- Mohammad Ali
- Nadeem
- Upendra
- Waheed Murad
- Ritesh Deshmukh
Actresses
- Asin Thottumkal
- B. Saroja Devi
- Padmini
- Madhubala
- Madhuri Dixit
- Nutan
- Rekha
- Aishwarya Rai
- Meena Kumari
- Noor Jehan
- Trisha Krishnan
- Divya Spandana (Ramya)
- Devika Rani
- Vyjayanthimala
- Hema Malini
- Smita Patil
- Soundarya
- Sridevi
- Rani Mukerji
- Manisha Koirala
- Prema
- Sharmila Tagore
- Shabana Azmi
- Bipasha Basu
- Jaya Bachchan
- Jayanthi
- Nargis
- Kajol
- Nandita Das
- Tabu
- Dimple Kapadia
- Sushmita Sen
- Juhi Chawala
- Karishma Kapoor
- Soha Ali Khan
- Sonali Bendre
- Priyanka Chopra
- Urmila Matondkar
- Preity Zinta
- Kareena Kapoor
- Amrita Rao
- Ayesha Takia
- Shriya Saran
See also
- Cinema of the world
- Alpavirama South Asian Short Film Festival (Alpavirama)
- Asian cinema
- Cinema of India
- Cinema of Pakistan
- Hindi cinema
- Kannada cinema
- Tamil cinema
- Telugu cinema
- World cinema
- Sambalpuri Cinema
- List of Hollywood-inspired nicknames
Further reading
- Contemporary Asian Cinema, Anne Tereska Ciecko, editor. Berg, 2006. ISBN 1 84520237 6