Here is the lecture content:

"If you will recall, our first reading for this semester was from
Tejaswini ganti and that was a book she wrote in I want to say 2013 about
Bollywood cinema as a whole, how Bollywood works. I want to say the
title of that book was Bollywood and globalization, but please do not quote
me on that. Look at the syllabus. I'm really bad with titles. But this article I
remember, I remember the title. It's fair and lovely. It was written in 2018.
And there's a story about why this is called fair and lovely. And of course
I'll tell you because you know I will, but this article is really, really dear to
me. I really enjoy reading it and it really makes an impact in terms of what
we are trying to say here, what we are trying to do here and. And let's
really get into it. So I'm going to start this this article is about background
dancers, so. You have seen a lot of films at this point, which also means
that you have seen a lot of songs and you have actually seen more songs
than films, probably because we have I use a lot of songs in examples in
our lectures. So the idea of a background dancer is, you know, the hero or
the protagonist, the the heroine, the other protagonists, they're dancing a
lot. We actually dedicated a week to this in the early part of the term. And
as they're dancing, there's a lot of people dancing around them, right? So
in big, in big songs, there could be hundreds of dancers, but in in shorter
frame songs, we have anywhere from like, you know, four or five dancers,
sometimes even two. To like 30-40 people dancing behind behind the
main person who is doing the dance behind the protagonist and most of
the time replicating the moves of the protagonist, sometimes doing their
own thing such that the protagonist shines even more in his or her her
dance moves. So the article tells us that there has been a change in the
Bollywood film industry in terms of who these background dancers are,
and that that speaks to other things, and we'll get to those other things.
But in terms of of Gandhi's methods, I, I, I, I, I want to underline this one
more time. Gunti actually goes to the film sets in Bollywood sometimes as
an assistant director and actually studies what is happening on the set,
right? So she is on the set, talking to people, gathering information and
making observations. So she's really there. She's an anthropologist and
that's how anthropologists, cultural anthropologists. To do their work. So
we have an encounter has been writing about Bollywood for about two
decades now, so she has a lot of a lot of information to share with us. So
let's get into it. I want you to watch this, this song from a film you have
seen, Kabhi Kushi, Kabhi gum. We're just watching a very short moment
from the song like less than a minute and and then we'll we'll go on. So
we're inserting a song, OK. Um and. What I want to do now is I want you
to watch another song and this is from a different film which you have also
seen hamaki haikan and this song is a. Is is like, again, very popular, lots of
background dancers. Go ahead and watch it and we'll come back and talk
about these
Film Clip (“Shava Shava...” and “Joote Do, Paise Lo”)
[Clip 1, Shava Shava]
One, two... One, two, three, four! Say hey, hey... Your beauty is lovely...
[Clip 2, Joote Do, Paise Lo]
Hey, hey! Sister-in-laws of the groom, the ones with the green scarf Give
the shoes back and take the money
Lecture Video Continued
[Dr. Ila Nagar] So the song from K3G which is. Which is more recent than
Hamachi Chekon has white women dancing behind Amitabh Bachchan,
tall, thin white women. The song from Hamaki Henkan has a very different
type of background dancing dancer. Background dancer set right a set of
people. The observation that Gunti makes is. As India became more
globalized and as Bollywood film became more internationalized, who
were the background dancers and were their identities were changed?
And I think these two songs looked at next to each other really show that
change. Again, the women dancing around Amitabh Bachchan in Kabhi
Khushi Kabhi Gam are very different from the men and women dancing
around Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit in in Hamade Haikan. So that is
just an observation thing. Uh. Gumti says that this is related to
globalization, to how Bollywood film after 1991, when economic
liberalization in India happened. So before 1991, it was very, very difficult,
nearly impossible for foreign capital to flow into India. 1991 heads India is
kind of economically in a in a very complex place that basically India does
not have money. And in 1991 India says let's open our markets, let's let
foreign capital flow. And that was a big and defining moment in in the
economic history of the country. And that led to a lot of different changes.
I'm sure you can take a class on what 1991 economic liberalization did to
India, but for our purposes, film became really globalized in that foreign
capital could flow into Bollywood film. If you will recall, Ganti actually
makes this observation with Karan Johar in the first article that we read in
the reading for week one, where foreign like MGM and Paramount and
Sony are trying to invest money in India and in Indian film. And Karan Johar
says, oh, but we work like a fraternity. We have a different system. So
you're welcome. But you know, we're different. So making the point being.
There is more money flowing in. Different types of things are happening.
One of the examples of globalization of Bollywood film that that Ganti
gives is Snoop Dog in in in a 2008 eight film video. So of course I have to
make you suffer this. Look at it for a minute. I think yeah, maybe maybe a
minute and 1/2 and then we'll get back.
Film Clip (“Singh is King”)
RDB, DPGC, Akshay and Snoop D-O-double-G Oh yeah, Singh is King.
This is the thing. Do you know what I mean? Follow me. Listen to me for a
second, check it. Singh is the king. Check the records. Friendship is their
life, their glory is different. Laughing is their identity. That's why the world
says. Friendship is their life, their glory is different. Laughing is their
identity. Everyone says this together. Singh is king... now everyone know
that! Singh is king... they are the kings of the world! Singh is king... now
everyone know that! Singh is king... they are the kings of the world!
Ferraris, Buggatis and Maseratis, Snoop D-O-double-G the life of the
party. Lay back, stay back, I'm in the Maybach, This ain't James Brown, but
it's the big payback. Watch me zoom by, make it boom by, What up to all
the ladies hanging out in Mumbai. Cheese make dollars, east west masala,
Singh is the king, so you all have to follow Wat up, wat up, wat up, I'm
trying to stack my bottle, wat up, wat up... Singh is king... now everyone
know that! Singh is king... they are the kings of the world!
Lecture Video Continued
[Dr. Ila Nagar] We see in this video that Snoop Dogg is basically dancing
next to next to Akshay Kumar and he's doing his thing. He's Snoop Dogg
after all. So as he's doing his thing, you know Akshay Kumar is dancing
along and you know the frame is changing from a village setting to a
Snoop Dogg setting. And, and and that is that. But Snoop Dogg's presence
in a Bollywood film with Akshay Kumar, who was also the hero of
Suryavanshi, if you will recall, is a is a thing, right? It speaks to how
Hollywood is. Is there also there is an exchange Hindi films are showing in
in in Western cities like that. We have read all of that. We know all of that.
So in this, in this moment we have we have said a few things so far in this
lecture. We have said that there's something going on with the
background dancers. We have said they just, they just when you guys
basically telling us something going on about Bollywood dancer dancers,
background dancers, the economy is liberalizing and there's a globalization
of polywood. An example of that globalization of Bollywood is Snoop
Dogg in in Akshay Kumar film, lots of other examples. Now that's just one I
pulled because it's especially fun one. I want you to see some images now,
and these are a little bit weird, but weird, maybe even triggering, maybe a
little bit disturbing. So be mindful of that and. And we'll we'll come back
and connect these two to our reading. So this is, this is an image of what is
called a fairness cream and these have existed in India for as long as I
remember, especially this brand, this brand is called fair and lovely and this
is the brand that kind of. That that's kind of the parent brand of this
tradition of Fair and lovely things. Although I must say that there are like
home remedies to look fairer, fairer, skinned type thing. Oh, so this is this
person is a model. She's just doing a fair and lovely I I want to say this is a
local Indian brand, but it hadn't been, it might have been sold out to to
Unilever or something. I am not 100% sure anymore. This image, however,
is Deepika Padukone, who is also our heroine for today's film, and she is
advertising what they're calling a fair miracle. And this is by Garnier, which
is obviously an international brand. You. By Garnier and Giant Eagle here.
And then it's not just women who are advertising this. Shahrukh Khan is
advertising it and it says fair and handsome for men who want zyada,
ziada means more. And this is <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PERSON> advertising a fairness cream
brand for men. So, uh, fairness of skin is. Umm. Again I'm sorry this, this
could this could be triggering in in a variety of ways for for a variety of
people. So be mindful of that. But but but fair skinned people are given
more more value in a variety of ways in Indian society. So within the
context of the arranged marriage system, women who are fair skinned or
are far more appealing to people than men who are forest. Than than
women who are not fair skinned and men who are fair skinned are far
more appealing than men who are not fair skinned, et cetera. So it's it's a
it's a very specific kind of systemic discrimination that works within India
where you know, where skin tone of a human being is related to their their
value, their worth. So that in and of itself is, is, is, is a piece for us to know.
That kind of explains. Um, that kind of explains the title of this piece. It also
explains why in some ways the women dancing around Amitabh
Bachchan or white women, and the women and men dancing around
Sharon, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dikshit than Hamat Ki Haikan song that
we watched earlier in this video are are people from India normal looking?
Normal people from India? Ah, so this fascination with fair skin, while it is
not new, it has existed. Advertising amplifies things and advertising is
capable of really amplifying things. So I actually, I mean I grew up in India, I
absolutely remember these. Fair and lovely advertisements on TV and
magazines where you would like we you know we saw the the skin tone
and and it's just it's just terrible and it's terrifying in a lot of ways for for
people for self esteem for a variety of reasons for mental health. But but
it's it's it's a reality of Indian society. So so. When we are talking about
what happened to Bob to background dancers, they used to be from a
union. The people in the Union would get 400 some rupees to do 8 hour
shift in a Bollywood dance video and then they would go home. They
would have their own thing, they would leave. Come 1991, economic
liberalization films are being made in very different ways. People are
people are interacting in cinema very differently. We have actually
addressed this in our lectures before, where we have seen that post 1995,
what family does in film changed, what film does itself change. Sets are
bigger, stars are bigger or production values are different. So, so are
dancers. And those people who just made a living out of dancing in
Bollywood film A became were sidelined for students, for young people
who were from upper middle class families who could come and dance in a
Bollywood video for far more money, five times more money, and just do it
for fun so they would come like Gunti gives us the example of people
coming. In their own cars chauffeur different cars, which is not as. Upper
class as it sounds here it's it's, but anyway. People would come with their
own, you know, everything, and they would just be getting doing doing
this for pocket money as opposed to people who are feeding their families
with this, with this type of income. And as Gunter's talking to those
dancers that used to be on the film said that could do this work to feed
their families and support themselves. They are noticing that the way they
look is what has changed their fortunes and how much money they have
has changed their fortunes. So this is this is an example ganti gives of. Of a
film. This film is called Delto Pagal Hai. You know, I have told you guys
how I was like a fan of going to the first show of the film. And this one I
was like crazy about because it had Shahrukh Khan and I really had to go
to it and whatever. It's a terrible film, but it's it's, it's a Bollywood film. It's a
terrible Bollywood film, but it's also very fun, you know? Anyway, so this
film kind of started the change of the dancer in the Bollywood. And while
this is kind of a grainy image, the point is this person, this person, this guy
right here, he is the son of two Bollywood actors, not like big name
Bollywood actors, but big enough name Bollywood actors and he's himself
a major hero at this point in time. His name is Shahid Kapoor, but he's a
background dancer here. Not because he has to be, not because he's
supporting his family. He's probably getting some experience here, or he is
just doing it. For fun. So this film, the choreographer of this film was
shamak Dawar and the film was Dil to Pagal Hai, meaning the heart is
crazy. And this is the film that kind of as far as ganti is concerned, changed
the way background dancers were interacting with Bollywood film. They
became far more far more white, far more, far more swap, far more, far
more. Other class of than what was happening in film previously and those
people obviously lost their jobs. So Ganti calls this the gentrification of
Bollywood film. The way that gentrification works is there's an existing
system and we try to remove that system. We try to beautify it, we try to
replace it with something different, usually something more expensive,
usually something that people around that area cannot afford. So that is
exactly what comes or what becomes of the background Bollywood dance.
And uh, and whiteness? Fairness of skin is really tight to that. Uh, it also,
this is a very interesting point ganti makes. So I'm going to make it even
though we're not connecting it right now, these two phones. So you've
seen Hamade haikan 1994. It was made by Sooraj Barjatya. The producer
was Suraj Barjatya. And this film Nadiya Ke Paar was also made by Sooraj
Barjatya. Same family, maybe if not him and uncle or father or something
like that, they were also so Hamad Kaikan. Was almost an exact frame by
frame, replica or copy if you could say of this film Nadiya Ke par meaning
across the river. So the 1982 film Nadiya Ke Paar was a really popular film.
It made a lot of money. Hammock, hang on, you know, was an extremely
popular film, also made a lot of money. I actually watched Nadiya Ke Par
the 1982 film like not too long ago, and I was really, really impressed by it
if we did not have time. Strains I would have assigned the film. The
interesting part about the two phones really like it really makes gunti's
point is the first phone shot in a village, local people, local language, more
progressive, really more progressive than the second film, which had like
far more money, far bigger production values, giant stars. They basically
got everyone big that they could get, and it made it far more conservative,
far more patriarchical. Far more. Far more terrible, if I could say that. So this
was, this was a like a very sweet kind of setting, very innocent and really
progressive. And this one was like so much money and nothing good
happening. So like really gentrification of Bollywood, these, these two
juxtaposed next to each other, could really speak to the gentrification of
Bollywood, which is which is the point ganti tries to make for us. The last
thing I wanted to um wanted to show to you guys is I don't know if this
image is clear, but this is called a golden Pex and it's again, this is this is
triggering, it's an offensive thing that I'm showing you. Offensive thing, not
in terms of I'm offending you, but in terms of what this what this is. This is
a phenomena that is not particularly old in in North India, but this is really
tied to internationalization, globalization as well as fair skin fascination. So
these are this is an advertisement for a company where you can hire
hostesses for a wedding party. Are from Russia. So there are basically
white women who would stand at at the gate of a very big party or very
expensive party and just agree to people. The point of having these
women there is that they are white women and that they're greeting
people and that they are, first of all that the family can afford that, but
secondly that these these women are being hired just for being white. So,
so going back to going back to Cynthia's point, there is a there is a larger
sense of or one could say what she is saying, what Gunti is saying in a
bigger, more generalized way. The fascination with white skin, with fair
skinned people has grown from. You know a home remedy where, ohh,
you've applied this thing to your face and you get fairer skin, clearer skin to
this marketing campaign of Shahrukh Khan advertising fair skin and
Deepika Padukone advertising creams for fairer skin. And those types of
things interact with Bollywood in the sense that they are. That they are
speaking to how some people are being displaced and other people are
coming in their place. The displacement is happening by people. Usually
the way displacement happens is wealthier people will displace poorer
people. And that's exactly what is happening in this instance as well.
Wealthier of students, college people, women who have men who have
power to kind of travel internationally or are going into Bollywood and
replacing the people who have been doing this for for decades. In the next
lecture, we will try to we'll try to connect this more closely with with
language and Chennai Express and and of course this reading."

Using only the lecture content, answer the following questions in a 200 word response
1. What would ideal representation of characters from other regions\\\/linguistic (and cultural) backgrounds look like?

2. How role does fairness of skin tone play in the life and livelihood of Bollywood background dancers?