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Studies of
Bollywood influence on Western films: |
Baz Luhrmann is the Australian director for Moulin Rouge!, based on a famous dance place in Montmartre, France. He said:
"Catherine Martin (his wife as well as the production designer of the film) and I went to India to work on "Midsummer Night's Dream." We went out one night and there was a big poster up for a Bollywood movie. I said, "Let's go see that." We did - 2,000 audience members, high comedy, high tragedy, brother kills brother, [they] break out in some musical numbers, all jumbled up together in 4 hours of Hindi. We thought that was amazing. So our question was, "Could we create a cinematic form like that? Could a musical work?" A musical must be able to work in western culture again, and could it be comic-tragic? So then began this commitment of moving toward "Moulin Rouge." I decided I'd do "Romeo + Juliet" and then a musical film."
To clarify, Baz created a film trilogy of the following movies: Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge!, all with similar editing and artistic technique. Who knew Shakespeare, Bollywood and Moulin Rouge could have anything in common? It's quite clear that coming up with unique films that Baz comes up with requires inspiration from a variety of sources.
China Gate
China Gate is a 1998 Bollywood movie from which the song "Chamma Chamma" is used in the "Hindi Sad Diamonds" song in Moulin Rouge!. Here is the original song from the Bollywood movie, in which a woman describes "chamma chamma" as the pretty noise that her anklets make.
Here's the same song, re-worked in Moulin Rouge! for the play within the movie. Also using lyrics from the song "Diamond's Are A Girl's Best Friend" made famous by Marilyn Monroe, this working is slightly more ominous and suspenseful than its upbeat original.
The
Little Clay Cart
The movie may
also have been inspired by an ancient Sanskrit play called The
Little Clay Cart. Also known as Mṛcchakatika, it was
written in the 2nd century BC by Śhudraka. The play consists of
romance, court intrigue and comedy - with various twists and turns.
Much like Baz Luhrmann's film, the story is about a young man named
Charadatta who falls in love with a rich courtesan
(nagarvadhu) named Vasantasena. This love affair is
complicated by a royal courtier who is also interested in her. Much
like Shakespeare's comedy plays, the plot is filled with mistaken
identities and the issue of class - all while maintaining a fairly
comedic tone.
The main plot
in Moulin Rouge, as well as the play within the film
"Spectacular Spectacular", are reminiscent of The Little Clay
Cart.
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Ending note |
The kitschy, escapist appeal of movies such as these bring idealism and fantasy into everyday lives. I encourage you to find influences of any kind in the movies/TV you watch and the books you read.
- lucyinthesky
Post Comments
lucyinthesky said – Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:03:14 -0000 ( Flag Edit Link )
Thank you! :)