The urban male protagonist in Indian film noir: A reading of Bees Saal Baad, Woh Kaun Thi? and Kuheli
The paper seeks to analyse the characterisation of the “hero” or the male protagonist in three Indian film noirs: Bees Saal Baad (Biren Naug, 1962), Woh Kaun Thi? (Raj Khosla, 1964), and Kuheli (Tarun Majumdar, 1971). The Indian film noir of the 1960s and 1970s is distinct from the classical Hollywo...
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| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ges, |
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| Auteurs principaux: | , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Français |
| Udgivet: |
Genre en séries
2024
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| Fag: | |
| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | The paper seeks to analyse the characterisation of the “hero” or the male protagonist in three Indian film noirs: Bees Saal Baad (Biren Naug, 1962), Woh Kaun Thi? (Raj Khosla, 1964), and Kuheli (Tarun Majumdar, 1971). The Indian film noir of the 1960s and 1970s is distinct from the classical Hollywood film noir in the sense it emphasises on a happy resolution of the events that culminate in the climax, and an emphasis on the balance between traditional Indian values of austerity and Western glamour. In its quest to establish an optimistic message to attract the masses, Indian film noir glorified the male protagonist, transforming him from a character with multiple shades of grey to the “Adarsh” (ideal) male patriarch who would restore peace and harmony within the Indian family, and save the core of Indian patriarchy from the Westernised, decadent femme fatale—a figure that the upper-class Brahmanical patriarchy had been suspicious after the two World Wars ushered in a new era of sexual and socio-economic liberation. Situated between this ever-present tussle of modernity and tradition, the heroes—Shankar Roy from Kuheli, Kumar Vijay Singh from Bees Saal Baad, and Dr Anand from Woh Kaun Thi?, return to their ancestral homes with a mission, thus acting as the fuel the subtext of being the harbingers of Enlightenment to the “ignorant” community shrouded in delusions and superstitions, and experience anxiety regarding their fragile masculinity upon encountering phenomena that are beyond the limits of rationality. Ultimately, they do solve the mystery that plagues them and the communities, thereby reinforcing the trope of the benevolent cultural reformer who rescues the savage and ignorant natives from the Kurzian “heart of darkness.” |
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