Communication, development and Hindi Cinema: Reading of Naya Daur

ABSTRACT The foundation of the post-colonial development model was based on the concept of modernization of the socio-economic and political growth of third world countries. This development model also led to advanced communication technology in media such as print, radio, television, and cinema; also known as development communication. Cinema acts as a catalyst for the promotion of the concept of nation-building in third world countries. Since the development model ignored the voices of marginalized sections of the underdeveloped nations, cinema helped to portray the unheard voices. In the Indian context, the Hindi film Naya Daur (1957) as a voice of resistance posited a strong critic of the top-down approach of the development model. A critical reading of Naya Daur (1957) attempts to examine the narratives of development and the portrayal of development through industrialization and westernization as a part of nation-building. Since the film raises the question of development politics in the post-colonial Nehruvian era, the paper tries to examine the junctures of resistance against the development process and the nationalist narratives construed in the film. It attempts to analyze the characterization of resistance and struggles of the local villagers against mechanization. Thereby, it attempts to encapsulate the contesting ideas of development and nation-building and the role of cinema in development communication.