Rasa theory in Film DDLJ
Name: Drashti Joshi
Batch: M.A. Sem.2 (2022-2024)
Enrollment N/o.: 4069206420220016
Roll N/o.: 05
Subject code & Paper N/o.: 22402 Paper: 109
Paper Name:-Literary Theory & Criticism, and Indian Aesthetics.
E-mail Address: drashtijoshi582@gmail.com
Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.B.U.
Date of submission: 31 March 2023
This Blog is an Assignment of paper no.:109 Literary Theory & Criticism, and Indian Aesthetics.In this assignment I am dealing with the topic of Rasa theory in movies.
Rasa theory in movies
Introduction In Aesthetics, Schechner(2001) has stated that “rasa is a cumulative result of vibhava (stimulus), anubhava(involuntary action) and vyabhichari bhava( voluntary reaction) . For example, just when various condiments and sauces and herbs and other materials are mixed, a taste is experienced. So is it with the different bhavas (emotions), the sthayi bhava (permanent emotions expressed inside ) becomes a rasa".introduction In Aesthetics, Schechner(2001) has stated, that “rasa is a cumulative result of vibhava (stimulus), anubhava(involuntary action) and vyabhichari bhava( voluntary reaction) . For example, just when various condiments and sauces and herbs and other materials are mixed, a taste is experienced. So it is with the different bhavas (emotions), the sthayi bhava (permanent emotions expressed inside ) becomes a rasa”.
India cinema, since its conception, has relied on natyasastra for its skeletal structure in terms of both its theme and structure. Its domestic themes that circle around love and overpowering grief , the stereotypical roles of the chivalric hero and pristine heroines, the larger than life backgrounds, exquisite makeup and costumes and innumerable musical and dance sequences bear testimony to the aesthetic principles of this ancient text. Unlike Euro-American cinema, based on Konstantin Stanislavsky's acting methods, that emphasises on 'becoming' the character, Indian cinema is completely based on conveying the emotion to the spectator and experiencing the 'spectacle'.
Indian cinema is completely based on experiencing each rasa. Every aspect of the performance in cinema must be in synchronisation and performance must display to perfection every rasa. In Indian cinema, the actors, or the Rasic performers portray their emotions even more than the actual characters they are playing thus conveying well the emotion to the audience, which is the main aim of performative art according to the Natyasastra. The role of the eight ragas is quite central to Indian cinema and its structure. It not only works to drive the plot and accentuate the behaviour of the characters; its function is deeply engraved in the basic storyline. The ragas have a dominant role to play in creating the characters in a film. Sringara signifies beauty, love and faithfulness or devotion and is always a strong trait of the lead female character, the pure and innocent heroine.
This is precisely what differentiates between the Euro American cinema and the Indian cinema. Indian cinema relies mainly on the Rasa and the idea of the Spectacle. The performance of the actors is but a medium to channelize the emotion from the movie to the audience. A comparison between some aspects of the movies Slumdog millionaire, Rang De Basanti and Coolie reveals well the difference between the two theories and also the dependence of Indian cinema on the Rasa theory. In Slumdog Millionaire, the British actor portraying the character of Jamal Malik strictly adheres to the method of Stanislavsky and becomes one with the character that the movie demands rather than becoming an embodiment of the rasa. When compared to movies like Coolie, this performance stands out as being completely Anti-Rasic. The actor is a dull eyed, lost, slack jawed, pale, out of place twenty five year old throughout the movie, maintaining the unchanging personality even when he is tortured by the police or is losing his beloved ill-fatedly, never utilising the scope of expressing the emotion that would quite obviously burst out of the actor to reach the audience in traditional desi Indian cinema. Expressing the emotion that would quite obviously burst out of the actor to reach the audience in traditional desi Indian cinema.
Not only on feeling, but Satyajit Ray‟s doctrine rests predominantly on conveying and channelling it in an artistic way to the spectators. Satyajit Ray understood well this imbrication of rasa. His awareness of this very sutra is evident in all his films. He has written “Experience tells us that the subtlest of emotional states affects a person‟s speech and behaviour and such revealing speech and behaviour is at the very heart of cinema‟s eloquence.”
Book: Cinema through Rasa: A Tryst with Masterpieces in the Light of Rasa Siddhanta
Author: Prachand Praveer,
Publisher: D.K. Printworld
Cinema being perhaps the newest art form for depicting various human emotions has the distinct advantage of liberally borrowing from the other, more ancient, art forms like architecture, painting, literature, drama, music, dance and so on, using the resultant mélange for its own benefit. In the words of Mrinal Sen, who, incidentally, does not find any mention in this book that lauds his contemporaries, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, as “... by far the most celebrated and respected directors in India”, cinema is a “bastard culture that freely philanders with and appropriates other cultural art forms”.
Based on the premise that history is always taught with a Western perspective, this thesis-like work by Prachand Praveer aims to reverse this trend by endeavouring to study and understand world cinema through the lens of ancient Indian aesthetic theory, more specifically the Rasa theory as depicted in Bharat Muni’s Natya Shastra and its famous commentary Abhinavabharati. This isn’t absolutely unexplored territory. In his book, The Indian Film Theory, published in 2010, the Calcutta-based Catholic priest and pioneer of film studies, Father Gaston Roberge, had propounded this idea, albeit in the context of Indian films.
While dealing with the aesthetics of Hindi cinema in an initial chapter, Praveer refers to the thumb-rule propagated by V. Shantaram that cinema was 80 per cent business and 20 per cent art. He illustrates this through several other films of that period. He deplores that many new-age directors have sacrificed old values for speed and thrill facilitated by advances in technology.
To make his point, the author devotes separate chapters to the more prominent Rasas that manifest themselves predominantly in the performing arts — Bhayanaka Rasa, Vibhatsa Rasa, Adbhuta Rasa, Vira Rasa, Karuna Rasa, Raudra Rasa, Hasya Rasa and Sringara Rasa. The structure followed in these individual chapters is more or less similar. Each chapter begins with the detailed definition of the respective Rasa and its manifold manifestations through the lens of ancient Indian aesthetics, which are then juxtaposed with philosophical interpretations of those human emotions from the perspectives of great global thinkers through history. These particular Rasas embedded in films are then identified through examples of acknowledged great works in world cinema.
APPLICATION OF RASA THEORY IN THE MOVIE DILWALE
DULHANIA LE JAYENGE
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge also known as DDLJ, is an Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Aditya Chopra in his directorial debut and produced by his father Yash Chopra. Released on 20 October 1995, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. DDLJ broke all the box office records, as well as the record for the longest theatre run. DDLJ is a phenomenal movie which abides by a simple storyline that follows Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends. Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son. Even though the storyline seems very simple, it still has a dominant impact over the minds of the Indian folks even after 26 years of its release. People appreciate the great star cast and the catchy dialogues of the script but beyond the performance and dialogues, it is the extraordinary blend of the various rasas of the Natya Shastra that drives the characters, dialogues and the complete flow of the script.
There are nine kinds of rasa basically known as Navrasa are as follows:
1. Shringara (meaning “romance” or “passion”)
2. Hasya (meaning “comedy” or “laughter”)
3. Karuna (meaning “sorrow”)
4. Raudra (meaning “fury”)
5. Veera (meaning “heroism”)
6. Bhayanaka (meaning “horror”)
7. Bibhatsa (meaning “disgust”)
8. Adbutha (meaning “amazement”)
9. Shanta (meaning “peace” or “tranquillity”)
Let us now talk about how these rasas are used in the movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. DDLJ unlocks with a scene set in London. Everything is grey: the buildings, the sky, and the roads. And in this, we see a man in subdued Indian clothing, but a deep red coat, feeding pigeons from a pouch in his hands. A voiceover plays in a sombre tone. And as the voiceover continues, the tempo changes, and the audience is transported to Baldev’s memories of vibrant Punjab, where the fields are yellow, and the people are colourfully clad. As the scene ends, the viewers and Baldev return to England, where he has done feeding the pigeons for the day. The tone of the start and end of the scene is melancholic which clearly portrays karuna rasa. The rasa is also portrayed when Kajol (Simran) is shown in the train when she is coming to India.
The theory of Rasa clearly states that the visual sight, including colour, gesture, dance, and song all contribute to creating the intended Rasa within the spectators. The visual aspects of DDLJ clearly supersede the spoken effects. When speaking of DDLJ, viewers most often mention the yellow fields in Punjab, and it is obvious that this is an iconic message, reinforced
by several scenes in the film, as well as the film’s poster. Clearly, the yellow fields evoke an emotional response within the viewers, enough that every viewer who has ever spoken to about the film mentions them in their descriptions of the film. In the Natyashastra, the colour yellow is associated with the Adbhuta Rasa which is connected with the emotional state of amazement and wonder.
In DDLJ’s iconic reunion scene, Simran is in a dream state, when she runs outside into the fields and comes upon Raj in a yellow mustard field. The yellow mustard fields are a repeated visual image in the film, with Baldev seeing them in his memories, from the train as he arrives with his family from the UK, in Simran and Raj’s reunion scene, and in subsequent scenes between Raj and Baldev feeding the pigeons, indicating that they are motifs.Yellow is also the colour of the outfit in the scene where Simran walks away from Raj toward the train. Raj says to himself, “Raj, if this girl loves you, she will turn around.” As he mouths to himself, “turn,” The audience sees Simran walking away in a pale-yellow haze. When she turns around, the audience is amazed. Also, at the end when Simran finally goes with Raj in the train, the colour of her dress is yellow. Overall, the colour yellow is ubiquitous in DDLJ.
There are many scenes which convey joy and laughter which means hasya rasa. The character of Raj himself is shown as a naughty, fun loving character in the first part of the movie who can never get serious in his life. The things he does like playing a prank of flower with Simran or taking the bottles of beer from the store or saying to his friend all the best during the graduation ceremony all convey Hasya rasa. Thus, Rasa is produced in many ways by this film, where the audience cries with Raj and Simran, but recognizes Baldev’s dharmic attitude. The effective use of colour,gesture, and music is a great example of the different Bhavas that have led to Rasa.
There are many scenes which convey joy and laughter which means hasya rasa. The character of Raj himself is shown as a naughty, fun loving character in the first part of the movie who can never get serious in his life. The things he does like playing a prank of flower with Simran or taking the bottles of beer from the store or saying to his friend all the best during the graduation ceremony all convey Hasya rasa.
Thus, Rasa is produced in many ways by this film, where the audience cries with Raj and Simran, but recognizes Baldev’s dharmic attitude. The effective use of colour, gesture, and music is a great example of the different Bhavas that have led to Rasa.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded by saying that Indian cinema is completely based on Performance aesthetics. The depiction of rasa and channelling it to the audience is the quintessential aspect of Indian theatre and cinema. Rasa theory is the very essence of what makes Bollywood unique and eternal and it constitutes the very structure and backbone of Indian cinema.
Thank you so much for reading this blog and assignment…
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