Origin of india popular cinema presentation

Dr. Ashraf Aziz's presentation on the birth of Popular Cinema in India.

1. Respectfully Remembering Babasaheb Ambedkar

2. Origin of Unique Popular Indian cinema “All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing” Hindi Film By ASHRAF AZIZ

3. Lagtaa nahin hai dil meraa ujday dayaar mein kis ki bani hai aalam -e- naa_paayedaar mein kah do in hasraton se kahin aur jaa basein itani jagah kahaan hai dil -e- daagdaar mein umr -e- daraaz maang kar laaye they chaar din do arzoo mein kaT gaye do intezaar mein kitnaa hai bad_naseeb 'Zafar' dafn key liye do gaz zamin bhi na mili kuu -e- yaar mein Bahadur Shah

4. Fruits of the Printing Press/Typography Due to lack of mass literacy in English, ordinary people could not access valuable information

5. " Nature , red in tooth and claw " -- Lord Tennyson

6. I am greatly indebted to the writings of Marshall McLuhan in formulating my thoughts on the special nature of popular Indian cinema.

7. The Gutenberg Galaxy

8. The Gutenberg Galaxy

9. With the invention of the printing press nearly 500 years ago, the age of typography had begun. The printed book was the spaceship which took Europeans into the Gutenberg Galaxy. Engagement with typography unlocked the genius of the left hemisphere of the brain. Because this is where the speech and numbers centers are located. This is the problem-solving hemisphere. The Europeans’ Ages of Discovery had started. What did they discover? Reformation Renaissance The Heliocentric universe The secrets of the human body The Scientific Method with which to unlock nature’s secrets Navigational technology and crafts to travel to the New World and New Old World Enlightenment leading to incremental democratic societies Knowledge is Power. Knowledge is gained by reading printed books is Exponential Power. [Digital technology not withstanding, nothing beats the printed book as the instrument of truly opening the human mind. It is futile to think that one can skipped the book on the road to wisdom. The book created the computer and not the other way around.]

10. The Age of the European Empires Great Britain France Spain Portugal Holland Denmark Belgium All of these nations discovered the New Worlds, occupied them and treated the land, its nature and its peoples as their property. Why Not? Nature abhors vacuum. Wherever there is vacuum, power will fill it. Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut, India, in July 8, 1497. He immediately sensed a sub-continental proportion of vacuum. You know the rest of that history . . . .

11. “His initial voyage to India (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and therefore, the West and the Orient.” Vasco da Gama , 1st Count of Vidigueira (1460 –1524),

12. Portrait of a European painted by Mughal artists, Ca.1590

13. “Photography: A mystic act, rather than a mechanical process which captured one’s inner self in a photograph and thus deprived him of his strength.” -- O. P. Joshi

14. Chod gaye balam Mujhe hai akela Chod gaye

15. The manuscript was an aid to memory. It was used to initiate recitation or chanting. It also contained miniatures and other decorations to help remember the message. The manuscript is an aid to oral/aural communication.

16. No nation is fonder of singing and dancing and than the Indian. -- Arrian , Greek Historian The Song: India’s Calling Card

17. Ik dil ke tukde hazar hue Ik yahan gira Ik wahan gira Sanskrit blowing into vernacular languages of India

18. It takes a village to raise a child – African Proverb

19. “Gods created man and the world. The culture’s heroes completed the creation and the history of all these divine and semi-divine works is preserved in myths. By re-actualizing sacred history, by imitating divine behavior, man puts and keeps himself close to the gods—that is, in the real and the significant.” [I found the works of Mircea Eliade inspiring in writing my works]

20. Nine Nights: Watching Almora Come Alive With Ramlila Dramas

21. Mumbai artists put on Radha-Krishna lila dance-play

22. Raja Harishchandra 1913

23. The eye has conquered the domain of other special senses In Western countries

24. The Ear has conquered the domain of other special senses In Eastern countries

25. One point perspective

26. Maria Misra (2007) “ Phalke’s films challenged caste and gender conventions to provide an internationalize ideal nation . . . Film was a powerful agent of egalitarian internationalism, not hierarchical nationalism, because it showed Indians how other societies were organized. It was also a medium for projecting democratic values in to a hierarchical culture.” Raja Harishchandra

27. Gandhjee in South Africa (1890s)

28. Rachel Dwyer: Filming the Gods Filming the Gods Religion and Indian Cinema This is one of the best books about the early Indian popular film. It has helped me to develop this presentation.

29. India: the multicultural kaleidoscope

30. Entertain first and instruct later

31. Georges Méliès (1861 –1938) Auguste (1862- 1954) and Louis Lumière (1864 -1948)

32. Amritsar Massacre 1919

33. Dadasaheb Phalke , the Father of Indian cinema

34. Thank You

35. References Barnouw , E and Krishnaswamy, S. Indian Films. Oxford University Press; 2 edition (May 29, 1980) Dwyer, R. Filming the Gods. Routledge; 1 edition (September 27, 2006) Eliade, M. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (October 23, 1987) Gutman, J.M. Through Indian Eyes. Oxford University Press; 1st Edition (July 22, 1982) McLuhan, M. Understanding Media. The MIT Press; Reprint edition (October 20, 1994) McLuhan, M. The Guttenberg Galaxy. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division; Centennial Edition (July 31, 2011) Nehru, J. The Discovery of India. Penguin Books; New Ed edition (November 1, 2004) Nehru, J. An Autobiography. Penguin Books; 07-May-2004 edition (November 28, 2004) Guha R. India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy; Ecco (2008)

36. Special Acknowledgements Babasaheb Ambedkar Professor Salil Misra , ProVice Chancellor, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi And all those visionaries who founded, nourished and sustained this remarkable university

37. Acknowledgements Desaram , Vijyalakshmi , Radio Broadcaster, Writer Professor Jawarimal Parakh & Family Mr. Asad Zaidi & Family Dr. Barbara Dunn, Geneticist/Oncologist Stafford Battle, Graphic Designer “I have no words to express my gratitude to composer/writer, poet Naushadsahab who always inspired love and respect for the popular musical Indian film.” Phir teri kahani yaad ai Phir tera fasana yaad aya . . .