Exploring the Portrayal of Social Issues in Bollywood
The portrayal of social issues and how the audience is addressed within popular Bollywood cinema has evolved throughout history. Many of today’s films now combine elements of parallel cinema and mainstream cinema to address social issues and reach a mass audience. In this discussion, we will explore how social issues are represented in a selection of Bollywood movies from the 1950s, 1970s, and the present day.
Films can be organized into two types of cinema: parallel cinema and mainstream cinema:
- Parallel cinema is typically made for elite audiences and utilizes realism to focus on the country’s contemporary socio-political problems in an attempt to change thought societal processes.
- Mainstream cinema is made for the general audience as a medium to help them escape to a world of fantasy and can exercise a larger widespread influence over people.
The way both parallel and mainstream cinema present social issues vary across the Bollywood timeline. Let's take a look →
The movement of parallel cinema was brought into Bollywood from Bengali cinema. According to Chandra and Bhatia’s “Social Impact of Indian Cinema — An Odyssey from Reel to Real,” :
social issues such as farmer sufferings and untouchability came to the limelight through more meaningful cinema in the 1930s. This is around the same time as the period of time when India was undergoing the struggle for freedom and experiencing economic and social reforms and thus these concepts provided themes to many films at the time such as Bimal Roy’s Do Bhiga Zameen (1953), (Murthy C.S.H.N, 2011).
This alternate form of cinema took an in-depth leap into more socially aware and politically positioned issues that began to take shape from the 1940s to 1960s’. Filmmakers like Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy produced movies like Pyaasa and Do Bigha Zameen, that utilize realism to criticize social issues permeating the post-colonial society like classism. Lets take a look at an example. In the film Pyaasa, through Vijay’s (Guru Dutt) dialogues and songs, the audience can understand the unspoken tension and problems in society. He represents the idea that the middle/upper class has its own struggles and faces certain discrimination. This contrasts the themes shown by previous filmmakers such as Bimal Roy and Raj Kapoor that only the rich were selfish and greedy.
Pyaasa shows the audience that people are willing to trade almost anything for money, whether one is rich or poor.
“Pyaasa” reveals how people are willing to sacrifice almost anything for money, regardless of their economic status. The film underscores the rise of a transactional society where greed has infiltrated post-colonial India. It employs songs and poems to highlight these harsh truths, particularly in the self-reflective song “Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahan Hain,” where Vijay questions the pride of India in the face of corruption and greed. Within the song, Vijay questions, “Where are those who claim to be proud of India?” when there is so much corruption and greed in every corner of his street. The movie directly points a finger to the audience: “Why do we as a society let wealth control the way we act, even to the extent that humanity no longer exists?”.
Films like Pyaasa aren’t meant for the mass market audience or any other commercial cinema lovers; these movies target only a niche audience who would be shaken and ignited with personal reflection from the movies’ ideas.
Parallel cinema, often low-budget, endeavors to challenge the audience’s perspectives and depict the reality of social issues. The success of these films and their ability to convey a social message isn’t always guaranteed, as there may be a gap between audience expectations and the film’s actual purpose. History has it where movies that are initially flops, actually end up becoming cult favorites. Why? because these movies are missing the Bollywood masala (the item songs, the hero entrances, the typical love story) that the crowd craves. In terms of parallel cinema, only qualitative reviews would lend a better understanding in terms of the success of these movies (Bhatia, Chandra).
In the 70s and 80s, parallel cinema started to get widely adopted into mainstream Hindi cinema. Directors like Yash Chopra attempted to promote realism in their own different styles while embracing conventions of popular cinema. Movies like Deewar which was considered mainstream attempted to adopt the concept of representation of social issues from parallel cinema while incorporating megastars like Amitabh Bacchan. In the movie, Vijay (Amitabh Bacchan) acts as a representation of the marginalized minority. He emphasizes the “displaced enactment of the hopes and disaffection of modern India’’ that Madhava Prasad notes in his article “The Aesthetic of Mobilization” (152).
In a time where much of India was suffering, it seemed clear that the focus is on a hero that rose from the ashes was a way for people to feel as if it was they themselves that were protesting against social injustices. It evoked a sense of personal pride. Though Deewar depicts social issues, the issues were presented unrealistically and were used as a device to boost the plot and the hero’s image. The films focus was the hero rather than the social issue. The use of melodrama as a mainstream film is mobilized by making the family the State of discourse regarding the nationalist and anti-nationalist conflict and rhetoric. Deewar is one of the few examples that portray the adoption of parallel cinema characteristics into mainstream Bollywood. The movie doesn’t hold the audience accountable; rather, it tells the audience that if they don’t abide by societal rules like Ravi (Shashi Kapoor), they face the risk of dying a gruesome death like Vijay. The difference between Pyaasa and Deewar shows that the way social issues are presented can affect the audience’s interpretation; both movies have different aims.
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In the 2000s, the presentation of social issues evolved further. Films are now aiming to use real stories to create a plot within cinema that is realistic and relatable. Mainstream actors and producers started making movies like Gully Boy, which promotes realism and societal issues that still embrace the conventions of popular cinema. Compared to the 70s, these movies are out to inspire the audience to push through societal struggles to pursue personal passions. In Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt (both major Bollywood stars), Akhtar presents the story of a rapper from Dharavi (one of Asia’s largest slums) who uses music to collapse economic, social, and cultural barriers.
The film includes songs like Doori that has lyrics that criticize the audience for creating an unjust society. Let’s Take a look at the lyrics:
Koi Mujhko Yeh Bataaye
May someone please tell me
Kyun Yeh Doori Aur Majboori
Why are there so many distances/differences and compulsions?
Iss Duniya Ki Kya Story
What is the story of this world?
Kiske Haath Mein Iski Doori
Who’s the one who pulls the strings?Right Mein Building Aasmanon Ko Chhu Ri
On the right, I see a building touching the skies
Left Mein Bacchi Bhookhi Sadkon Pe So Ri
On the left, I see a hungry child sleeping on the streets
Kaisi Yeh Majboori Paisa Rehna Hai Zaroori
What kind of compulsion is this, having money has become so important
Nahi To Kaise Hogi Poori Teri Seena Zori
Otherwise how will You get Your bragging rights?
However, the songs are the only parts of the movie that truly hold the audience accountable. The main point of the movie is not about these social issues. Gully Boy uses the notion that the lower class has a restricted potential as a device to show the main character’s journey of self-development to reach personal goals. Though this mainstream movie adopts realism in the setting, it ignites the audience’s self-drive to push through barriers to achieve personal aspirations rather than igniting a reflection of one’s position in society as seen in parallel cinema.
Today there is a vast difference between the old and new parallel cinema. While mainstream Bollywood starts adapting and changing styles to match parallel cinema, parallel cinema continues to have its productions, however, it starts incorporating a new type of realism that Paunksnis calls neurotic realism. This type of realism appeals to the demand of the urban, multiplex-going middle classes, and diaspora groups; in a sense, these films are in fact adopting the appeal to the mass audience aspect like mainstream cinema. Ghaywan’s Masaan, which falls under this new definition for parallel cinema, is based on the lives of the common citizens in a small Indian city.
This movie serves as a mere depiction to the audience rather than only holding them accountable. These types of films focus on the ‘real’ India, its social and sometimes political problems. These films often focus on small towns that are no longer filled with nostalgia, rural slums, brutality, and drama. Often these films portray the middle class in crisis or, when the focus is on lives other than the urban middle class, what is essentially depicted is a deprivation of access to the pleasures and pains of neoliberal living as Paunksnis describes in his essay “Towards Neurotic Realism: Otherness, Subjectivity and New Hindi Cinema”.
Masaan illustrates this crisis by narrating the lives of two individuals and their journey through grief and redemption. The movie reiterates these individuals’ deprivation of the pleasure of love. Ghaywan does this by portraying social issues such as gender inequality and caste as barriers to the access of pleasure for the “neoliberal living”. In this new type of parallel cinema, these issues are only acknowledged to the extent that they affect the characters. They are presented as a display to show the harsh reality of life in areas of India, it doesn’t provoke the audience to change, instead, it leaves them with in-depth thoughts about life (Paunksnis). Exploring movies like Gully Boy and Masaan, it’s clear that genres of both parallel and commercial cinema are starting to adopt aspects from each other to produce movies that sustain the entertainment while getting the message across.
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Apart from films like Gully Boy and Masaan, there are also movies like Article 15 and Pink that are examples of films that can be considered mainstream because of their stars but the direction and the way the issue is presented would be considered as parallel cinema. The directors of these films made it clear that it’s important that films like this should reach the masses, and if a mainstream actor did not do it, that purpose would not have been solved. Article 15, which is based on the Badaun gang rapes in 2014, really brings that direct societal impact on the audience. The case revolves around two teen girls of the Dalit caste that asked for a 2 rupee raise and were raped and brutally murdered only so that the people in their caste are reminded of their place in society.
Sinha uses the true story to tell the audience about the brutality of the caste system by portraying the story from the point of view of a privileged foreign, Brahmin, which is the highest caste in the caste system, man. The director shows the perspective of what most of the audience may relate to in terms of privilege. The brutality of the caste system may not be well-practiced in metropolitan areas where most of the Bollywood audience may reside. The setting of Article 15 is a rural village that is likely to be an unfamiliar way of life for most of the audience. Sinha displays the clear-cut differences and ridiculous treatments of the Dalit caste (lowest of the caste system) through scenes of Dalits cleaning trash and a wide-angle shot of the girls’ disposable bodies swinging from trees.
The film assumes a raw power that is missing from mainstream cinema’s more guarded depictions of caste. The film uses Ayan’s (Ayushmann Khurana) character in order to depict the clear and unjust differences in privilege that are solely based on the caste system. Ayan’s character is both praised and critiqued in the film as an upper-class savior. The film begins off by critiquing his privilege and then transitions into showing him as an upper-class savior. As the movie progresses, Ayan becomes more aware of the caste system and police corruption as he allows himself to experience the slightest of what the oppressed go through. He starts to recognize that while he sits in his car, sheer violence always sits right outside his window, he is surrounded by it but is not subjected to it because he is Brahmin. Through his interactions, he learns of his privilege and allows his emotions and morals to help bring justice to the two girls. We start seeing him use his known caste power to bring justice and hope to change the mindset of those in the town about how caste shouldn’t be a determining factor on how one should live their life.
Ayan’s gel-laden hair and increased clothes mark him out as a classic Hindi movie hero, similar to what was seen with Deewar, his character’s hero-like qualities breaking through the social injustice, but the heroism, in this case, is used to explore the issue in depth. Unlike Deewar, however, it’s the critique of the caste system that ultimately stands out rather than the hero’s actions. The film makes sure to pinpoint parts of the caste system that may not be common knowledge. The audience is aware that the caste system exists and may practice some aspects of it such as only marrying within their caste; however, since it doesn’t affect them directly to a large extent, they ignore the atrocity it can bring or are uneducated about how brutal it is in some areas. The film holds up a mirror to society. and by bringing this awareness, the film promotes the equality of lifestyle, and progressivity of underdeveloped regions that still practice it.
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Pink follows a similar approach as Article 15. Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu constantly reiterate the message that when a woman says no, she means no. It underlines a woman’s freedom to her own sexuality and questions gender impartiality. Amitabh Bachchan’s role as the defendant brings back the “hero” concept, however similar to Article 15, his role of “defending” these girls is not emphasized as heroic. In fact his performance and role focus and force the audience to face uncomfortable truths and do so with courage and conviction. His character raises many questions about the status of women in our current society. Why should a woman be considered a slut if she wears a short skirt? Why is she considered an easy target if she drinks or attends a party with a boy? Why can’t her choices be respected? Why is the government corrupted in the manner that people of power can get away with heinous crimes?
Based on the Times of India, the film was specially screened for the Rajasthan Police so as to train them to be sensitive and sensible about women’s rights and dignity. The realism in which the movie is portrayed demands change in the current society, the screening of this movie definitely confirms the worth of impact the movie instills. Both Article 15 and Pink use incidents from the real world to formulate a story to inform the faults of the audience’s society. This drastically differs from Deewar in a mainstream sense as these movies were realistically made to educate more than to entertain the mass audience in mainstream cinema. This new representation holds an extremely beneficial value for the audience.
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Although parallel cinema has the power to drive change in society, throwing light on the harsh reality of society has been the main aim of this genre. However, as mentioned above, the charm of drama, item numbers, and fight cannot be pulled out from Indian audiences and thus it gave birth to a new form of cinema which included social issues with Bollywood masala. These movies are the ultimate combination of commercial cinema and parallel cinema. Movies like 3 Idiots and Vicky Donor deal with some of the controversial and taboo social issues, but they also include the entertainment factor that audiences demand. Vicky Donor revolves around a boy who is a sperm donor by profession and is caught in a catch when he needs to reveal the truth to marry his love. The film touches upon infertility and sperm donation while incorporating vast humor and romance to display the topic in a lighter manner for the audience to enjoy. At the same time, these films still hold the audience accountable, however now in a lighter way for they to look at taboo issues in a more accepting manner. This combination of parallel and mainstream cinema turned out to be Bollywood’s generation that is loved by the mass audience. According to Keshav Patel’s article “A Study on Social Issues Highlighted in Contemporary Hindi Cinema: A researcher found that trends in Hindi cinema are changing rapidly. Viewers now are more interested in fresh and good content rather than commercial formula films.
Movies and media have a huge social responsibility because whatever is seen on the big screen is able to be adopted by the audience in the real world. The progression of parallel movies from the 60s like Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen has been forced to change with the audience’s changing mindset. According to Shoma A Chatterji, author of a book on Roy, “He belonged to a time and a space that honed his idealistic sensibility in the sense that all his films bear a social agenda without holding a flag aloft for ‘causes’ or without raising slogans.”
This is no longer the case with the audience and time period. Though Roy’s style wouldn’t commercially sustain in today’s world, his style has been adopted to better the mainstream impact on society. The audience has become the sole reason for how movies chose to adapt their storytelling. With the constant evolution of representing taboo topics within the Indian community, films have now moved on to discussing the topic of mental health. These films are made to reflect on yourself and see where you as a person, can help yourself and how you can contribute to making the current society more accepting and aware. The way movies address the audience continues to evolve from societal reflection to personal reflection and self-drive to collective thinking and integration.
A wide genre of movies are released within a year, but there’s a trend starting to be seen with the Bollywood masala social criticism on the top of the list of most successful films. With more movies adapting to provide awareness for societal change, the new generation of viewers will turn to be a better version of the past.
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Works Cited
Chandra, Geetanjali, and Sudha Bhatia. “Social Impact of Indian Cinema — An Odyssey from Reel to Real.”
Global Media Journal (Arabian Edition) , June, no. 2019. Paunksnis, Šarūnas. “Towards Neurotic Realism: Otherness, Subjectivity and New Hindi Cinema.” South Asian Popular Culture, vol. 15, no. 1, 2017, pp. 73–85., doi:10.1080/14746689.2017.1344480.
Patel, Keshav, A Study on Social Issues Highlighted in Contemporary Hindi Cinema (July 26, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3660900