Contextualizing independent films: review of the book Indian Indies by AI Devasundaram

Abstract

Indian cinema, since its very beginning, has experimented with many forms, each dominating a specific timeframe in history. While mythological films dominated the early years of Indian cinema, historical films based on the Sultanate era and family dramas that promoted Indian culture, values, and tradition were equally popular. Post-independence, as Jawaharlal Nehru took oath as the first Prime Minister of India, socialist films dominated the cinematic landscape (Bakshi, 1998; Roy, 2017; Sardar, 1998). Although romance and family dramas were an integral part of Indian film culture during this period, they also addressed social issues and mixed entertainment with a cause. The uncertainty and anticipation that marked this transitory phase of the newly independent nation were therefore ingrained in the romance and family dramas of this phase (Virdi, 2003). On the other hand, the 1970s and 1980s saw a series of gangster and action films that were representative of the prevailing social tensions of the decades like the India–Pakistan war, the Indian Emergency and the anti-Sikh riots (Dhar, 2000; Kazmi, 1998). Romance and family dramas that started dominating the scene in the later part of the 1980s carried the vestiges of the old socio-political structure and highlighted re-adjustments with the changes ushered in by globalization in the 1990s (Virdi, 2003; Dowerah, 2019). Between 1970 and 1980, many filmmakers tried new and innovative filmmaking techniques in response to commercial Bollywood cinema to give wings to the Indian New Wave movement. Led by an enthusiastic bunch of Indian filmmakers, these films resisted mainstream Bollywood formula and embarked on exploring the raw realities of Indian society through the medium of cinema (Majumdar, 2021). In the book Indian Indies: A Guide to New Independent Indian Cinema, Ashvin Immanuel Devasundaram traces Indian cinemas’ journey. Organized into six chapters, Devasundaram (2022) asserts that there is a revival of socially driven storylines in many films after 2010. This change has ushered in what he calls the new wave of independent Indian cinema or the new Indian indies (Devasundaram, 2022). The complications in defining the new Indian indies, the challenges they face in the Bollywood-dominated multiplex culture, and the