Dancing Styles in Indian Cinema

Many different cultural cinemas are changing and trying to keep up with many of the advances seen recently in Hollywood. Even films that are almost strictly national cinemas still contain some type of modernization orwestern influence adapted from Hollywood. Bollywood is an Indian film industry whose films are Mumbai-based Hindi language films. Bollywood cinema has many components which make these films unique to Indian culture and Indian cinema, but also have elements that have been adapted to westernized Hollywood style cinema. A main aspect that is seen in many Bollywood films is Bollywood dancing. Bollywood dancing in a national trait in Indian cinema. These contemporary and lively and energetic dances to Indian music have recently adopted new dancing styles and techniques from different countries and cultures as well as some that have adapted from Hollywood such as hip hop and disco.

Bollywood dancing is used in many Bollywood films. “ Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham ”

 is a Bollywood film made in 2001 and produced by Yash Raj films . The film's director is Karan Joha . This film is about a young man, Rahul who is forced into an arranged marriage that he does not agree to. After his adopted father, Yash, finds out that he married the women Rahul loved, instead of the woman of the arrangement, he becomes enraged and disowns his son. His son moves to London with his new wife and starts a new life. After years of separation, Rahul's younger brother, Rohan ventures to London to bring his brother and his family back to India to be together again. Throu

ghout this film, there are many dance sequences portrayed in Bollywood style dancing. These dance moves are highly energetic with flowing motions, upbeat rhythms, and whole-body movements. According to the article “Bringing Bollywood Home”,  Bollywood is “ a dance style that is fun, energetic and very expressive. The movement requires sharp control, good expression, timing and rhythm”.  These dancing styles seem to have adopted Westernized Hollywood styles of dancing as well as traditional Indian styles and integrated them into what is now considered to be “Bollywood” dancing. Paul Bibby states in the article “Sari Sari Night” that,   " Bollywood dance is a fusion of half a dozen different forms - Bhangra, Arabic, hip-hop and jazz," Shah says. ‘It takes everything from the West and puts it into a big melting pot with other styles. So what we're essentially doing is imitating Indians who are imitating the West - it's a bit of a bizarre thing but it works.’" In the film, the dancing scenes help to portray the story. In several scenes, the emotions of the love story is meant to be expressed. In the article “Hop + Bollywood Moves = Big Crowds” it explains that, “ in a Bollywood movie, the dancers are trying to tell a story of romance.”

The 2003 Hindi film “Kal Ho Naa Ho”,

 also produced by Yash Raj films,was directed by Nikhil Advani . This film is about a woman, Naina, whose family life is terrible. She struggles through rough times until she meets Aman. Aman helps to solve the family's problems and bring happiness to them. After a love triangle between Naina, Aman, and a friend named Rohit, Aman gives up his love for Naina because of a health condition he possesses so that Rohit and Naina can have a long life together. Naina eventually discovers the reason for Aman's actions and finds out he does love her. After everything is solved, Rohit and Naina marry, and after time passes, they comfort Aman as he passes on. This film has many Bollywood styled dance scenes as well. The scenes help to portray the emotions and story of the film through movements, expressions, and moods. The music helps to relay the emotions gathered by the audience as well as by setting the tone of the scene and story being told. The costumes of the dancers are normally very elaborate and colorful. The materials used and the styles of the fabric help to enhance the visual effects of the movements of the dancers. The lighting and camera angles of the scenes also help to enhance all of these features of the settings of the scenes. All of these aspects represent the story being expressed through the dance sequences.

Bollywood dancing is a melting pot of many styles and influences. Typical Bollywood dancing is a“blend of Bombay, now Mumbai and the centre of the Indian film industry, and Hollywood. Growing out of classical Indian dance styles such as Bharatanatyam and Kathak the mix of Bollywood dance styles draws on Bhangra folk dancing and Latino and Arabic influences” according to the article "Joy in the Swirl of."   These dances also involve the western influence of pop culture in America with “the blend of all kinds of dance in Bollywood, including hip hop, jazz and funk”  which is also mentioned in the article "Joy in the Swirl of."  In the film ” Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghan”

, an example of westernized dance movements used in the Bollywood dance sequences of this film is disco style dancing. In this scene, several dance moves were used that come from the disco era in the Unites States. Some of the moves reflected specifically the dance moves from John Travolta in the film “Saturday Night Fever” 

from 1977. The style of disco moves used in this film has influenced films throughout history in Hollywood. Now it seems that the disco era has spread to Indian Films with Bollywood dancing as well. The Bollywood film “Kal Ho Naa Ho” has several Bollywood dance scenes as well. These dance scenes reflect the Hollywood and American pop culture styles of hip hop dancing. The movements have been influenced from music videos, Hollywood films, and performances in hip hop dancing. An example of a dance scene is to the song “You Are My Sonia” 

in the film “Kal Ho Naa Ho”. In the scene, the two characters dance to each other in a club type location. The dancing is all synchronized for each character’s “side”. The specific moves in this dance scene resemble moves from the American music video “Single Ladies

” by Beyonce Knowles. The style of movement in each of these dance scenes look very similar and are of the same style. The arm movements, body motions, and overall style are very similar and represent typical hip hop style dancing. Not only does Bollywood adapt dance forms, but it uses settings as well. Another trait about the Bollywood dancing scene in the song “You Are My Sonia” is the setting. In the scene, the characters are dancing in a night club. The atmosphere and setting of the scene is very similar to the settings of many Hollywood films that have dance scenes. As an example of the type of setting used in a Hollywood film, the film

“Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” 

shows a few club scenes where the atmospheres are very similar. The lighting used, the style of music, the colors of the frames, and the movements of the characters are very similar to the scene in “You Are My Sonia” in the film “Kal Ho Naa Ho”.

The adaptation of Westernized Hollywood styles in Bollywood productions is significant. The article "Joy in the Swirl of" explains “ Think of high energy, vibrant colors and masses of dancers with a look that fuses East and West cultural influences and you have Bollywood dancing, a style that has had universal appeal for many years largely because of the global proliferation of Indian Bollywood movies and large-scale stage productions”. By the blending of these styles, Indian films “promote the influence of Bollywood culture in the West and you have a social dance phenomena” as stated in the article "Joy in the Swirl of."  The Indian film’s adaptive Bollywood dancing has made these films quite unique. Even though Bollywood dancing has been influenced by other countries and cultures, the dancing itself in Bollywood film has made it a national trait of Indian cinema.

Bollywood dancing is not only effective from the dance moves alone. The singing, bright costumes, scenery, lighting, editing, setting, and overall tone of Bollywood dancing have evolved with the help of Hollywood influence. In the film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghan”, the Bollywood dancing was influenced by the disco era in America’s pop culture. In the film “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, there were dance scenes that resembled that of Hollywood’s hip hop dancing styles. The films used the Bollywood dancing to illustrate the emotions and plots of the stories throughout the films. The dances can convey stories by the dancers that envelope the audience. Through the adaptations and evolutions of westernized Hollywood dance moves as well as the traditional Indian dances, Bollwyood dancing has become the art form it is today. And even though the Bollywood dancing has evolved with the influence of other countries’ styles of dancing, Bollywood dancing is very much a national trait of Indian cinema.  

 

Works Cited

Bibby, Paul. "Sari, Sari Night." Sydney Morning Herald 29 June 2007 24. Web.21 Apr 2009.

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"Bringing Bollywood Home." The Canberra Times 09/04/2005 22. Web.21 Apr 2009.

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"Hip Hop + Bollywood Moves = Big Crowds." China DAily 20 Feb 2009 Web.21 Apr 2009.

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"Joy in the Swirl of." The Canberra Times 03 Dec 2008 8. Web.21 Apr 2009.

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