CINEMA STUDIES

Paper Code: 
JMC144C
Credits: 
4
Contact Hours: 
60.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 
  • Develop a foundational understanding of cinema's evolution, including its roots in theatre.
  • Explore and critically evaluate major cinematic theories, and how they shape film analysis and interpretation.
  • Examine the interplay between cinematic technologies, narrative forms, and aesthetic elements.
  • Analyse key film movements and genres in a global and Indian context.
  • Understand the development and impact of the studio, star, and censorship systems within Indian and global cinema.

 

12.00
Unit I: 
Theatre and the Origins of Cinema
  • Theatrical Traditions: Global and Indian performance traditions (Greek, Sanskrit, Noh, Parsi theatre) and their influence on early cinema.
  • The Birth of Film: Transition from stage to screen; the global emergence of silent film.
  • The Studio and Star Systems: The rise and fall of the Hollywood and Indian studio systems.
  • Censorship: Early censorship in theatre and cinema in India and globally.

 

 

12.00
Unit II: 
The Evolution of Cinema and Its Aesthetics
  • Silent Cinema and the Cinema of Attractions: The global silent film movement, including India’s early contributions.
  • Technical and Symbolic Elements: Key cinematic elements like mise-en-scène, editing, and sound.
  • Narrative and Genre Analysis: Approaching film through narrative structures and genre studies, with a focus on Indian cinema genres.
  • Cinematic Forms: Experimental, classical, and deconstructive approaches to genre development in Indian and global contexts.

 

12.00
Unit III: 
Film Theory and Critical Approaches
  • Key Theories: Soviet Montage, Russian Formalism, and the Frankfurt School applied to global and Indian cinema.
  • Auteur Theory: Western and Indian perspectives, from Satyajit Ray to contemporary Indian directors.
  • Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, and Semiotics: Linguistics, feminist, and queer approaches in film analysis.

 

12.00
Unit IV: 
Global and Indian Film Movements
  • World Movements: Soviet Socialist Cinema, German Expressionism, Italian Neorealism, and New Wave movements in France, Germany, and Japan.
  • Indian Parallel Cinema: Influences of world movements on Indian filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak.
  • Modernism and New Wave Cinema: French, German, and Japanese New Waves compared with Indian art and parallel cinema.
  • Post-War Global Cinema: Post-war movements and their reflection in Indian cinema.

 

12.00
Unit V: 
Indian Cinema: History, Trends, and Transformations
  • Early Indian Cinema: Dadasaheb Phalke and pioneers of Indian cinema.
  • Golden Age and Parallel Cinema: Social and cultural narratives in the 1950s–1970s, including the rise of art cinema.
  • Contemporary Indian Cinema: Transition from the 1980s to digital and multiplex revolutions.
  • Globalisation and NRI Cinema: Trends, transformations, and the influence of globalisation on modern Indian cinema.
Essential Readings: 
  • The Moving Image: Kishore Vallicha., Orient Longman, New Delhi
  • Partha Chatterji. The Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Post-Colonial Histories. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
  • Ashish Nandy. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism. Bombay, Calcutta, Madras: Oxford University Press. 1983.
  • Michel Foucault. The Foucault Reader, ed. P Rabinow. Harmondsworth: 1984.
  • The Oxford History of World cinema: Oxford university Press
  • Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change. K. Moti Gokulsing, K. Gokulsing, Wimal Dissanayake -Trentham Books – Revised and Updated -2004

 

References: 
  • Cinema Studies – Susan Hayward – Routledge 2007
  • Pleasure and the Nation – Rachel Dwyer and Christopher Pinney – OUP
  • Film as Social Practice – Graeme Turner – Routledge – London -2006
  • Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema -Ira Bhasker & Richard Allen -Tulika Press -2009
  • Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic in Indian Cinema -Ashish Nandy, Vinay Lal – OUP -2007
  • Indian Popular Cinema: Industry, Ideology and Consciousness –ManjunathPendakur -Hampton Press, Inc. 2003.
  • Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema –Govind Nihalani and Saibal Chatterjee – Encyclopedia Britannica (India) Pvt Ltd -2003
  • Virdi, J. (2003). The Cinematic ImagiNation: Indian Popular Films as Social History.  New Delhi: Permanent Black.
  • Shrivastava, S. (2007). Passionate Modernity: Sexuality, Class and Consumption in India. Routledge.
  • Neale, S. (1980). Genre. London: British Film Institute.
  • Athique, A. (2011, July). From cinema hall to multiplex: A public history. South Asian Popular Culture, 9(2), 147-160.
  • Bakhtin, M. (1968). Speech genres and other late essays. (V. W. McGee, Trans.) Texas: University of Texas Press.

E Resources: 

 

 

Academic Year: 
2024-2025
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