Lagaan (2001) A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment Essay Example

Lagaan (2001): A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment Paper The Bollywood film chosen for analysis in this essay is Lagaan, released in 2001. The film, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker stars Amir Khan and Gracy Singh in lead roles. The movie combines popular formulaic elements within the time-tested format of sports movies, making it a unique production to have come out of Bollywood in many years. Not only was the movie make a lot of money at the box-office (both in India and abroad), but it also attracted positive reaction from the critics. This is evident from the fact that it was one of the movies nominated for Best Picture under Foreign Language Movie category in the following year at the Academy Awards. It is hoped that reasons such as these make Lagaan an appropriate choice for discussion in this essay. Before getting the detailed analysis of the film, a brief summary of the story is called for. Lagaan is a fictional story set in nineteenth century India, when the country was still under the rule of British Empire. A group of villagers from a remote village in the arid central India â€Å"take up a British officer’s challenge to play cricket in order to get a reprieve from a crippling tax imposed by the colonial government† (Kasbekar, 2007, p. 366) If the villagers beat their colonial rulers, their taxes are waived off for three subsequent years. In the eventuality they lose they will be compelled to pay thrice the usual taxes Moreover, We will write a custom essay sample on Lagaan (2001): A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lagaan (2001): A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lagaan (2001): A landmark Bollywood film that gracefully combines art and entertainment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer â€Å"The fact that the villagers have never played cricket and do not know the first thing about the game establishes the foundation of the film’s narrative and dramatic structure. The British officer’s sister takes pity on the villagers and secretly teaches them the game so that they have a fighting chance. The cricket match takes up the final hour of this nearly four-hour long film and is marked by moments of comedy, drama, and suspense.† (Ganti, 2004, p.25) Lagaan has proven to be a watershed event in mainstream Indian film industry. This view is supported by the fact that in the years since its release, no other movie had attained such overwhelming popular and critical acclaim. At the time when Lagaan was released, Bollywood was going through a crisis of sorts. Most films released by the film studios of Mumbai (which is where Bollywood is headquartered) were failing badly at the box-office. There were multiple reasons behind this decline, but the foremost among them is the lack of creativity and novelty in the scripts. Even regular movie-goers got fed up with the bland, repetitive and unimaginative story lines of a majority of films at the time. It is in this context that Lagaan should be studied and evaluated, for it then lucidly illustrates the uniqueness of Lagaan (Vasudevan, 2005, p.135). Bollywood is differentiated from the Independent/Art House film industry in India. The former is generally considered as a money making industry with importance given only to â€Å"entertainment†. This is in direct contrast to the Art House film industry, which adopts its ethos based on â€Å"artistic merit†. While Lagaan, without doubt, is a mainstream Bollywood production, it stands out for its artistic merit as well, as will be illustrated below. Firstly, given the lengthy four hour duration of the film, pacing the film becomes a challenging task for the director. Ashutosh Gowariker, the director, does a commendable job in this department as he employs ‘song and dance’ sequences at appropriate junctures to keep the audience engaged to the narrative. The background score given by A.R.Rahman also deserves mention here, as it is one of his masterly works. The task of finding a resonant blend in combining classical Hindustani music with classical West ern is never easy. Rahman overcomes these challenges without a hitch and in the process delivers a unique musical work. Again, such ground-breaking works are not usually associated with Bollywood in general, which further goes to emphasize the enduring significance of Lagaan to the mainstream Indian film industry. Equally competent is the choreographic sequences in the film. Gracy Singh, who plays the role of the jealous village-girl in love with Bhuvan (played by Amir Khan) is particularly graceful in the dance sequences. Being a trained classical dancer, she carries off the role with great ease. The chemistry between the lead pair, especially in moments of romance, is another area where the movie scores (Kasbekar, 2007, p.378). Through a well thought-out interlay of drama, romance and song-and-dance, Gowariker balances the various imperatives of Bollywood entertainers. It is apt to bring to light at this point that Bollywood and Cricket have been two major sources of entertainment for the Indian public. In many ways, Cricket precedes Bollywood in finding a place in the collective Indian public consciousness, for the sport in India is as old as the British Raj. Bollywood, on the other hand, would have to wait for the advent of film and sound technology to grow into a large commercial enterprise that it is today. Lagaan benefits no end by bringing Cricket to the realm of Bollywood and thereby creating a risk-free approach to commercial success (Ganti, 2004, p.232). The employment of the game of Cricket as a metaphor for larger and real struggles in life is a brilliant conception on part of the director. Not surprisingly then, the Cricket match agreed to by the villagers and their British administrators comprises the central sequence in the film, the detailed discussion of which is as follows (Tripathi, 2002, p.38). The cricket match between the natives and the colonial powers takes up the last one hour of the lengthy movie. During the course of the match the built up suspense and anxiety resolves itself. In other words, the cricket match, with so much at stake for both sides serves as a perfect backdrop in which to unravel the climax. While the cricket match can be construed at one level as the struggle between the underdog and the master, at another level it is an allegory for the real-life struggle by subjects of empire against their colonial rulers. At an even greater level of abstraction, the cricket match is an allegory to the universal tussle between forces of good and evil, with the village team evidently being on the side of the good. There are discernible nationalistic undertones in the movie, as Jyothika Virdi points out in her scholarly work The Cinematic Imagination: Indian Popular Films as Social History: â€Å"Lagaan celebrates the struggle against the empire: the trans-national forces of another moment, that noble moment to which the nation owes its origin and to which Hindi cinema has only made muted references before. The anti-colonial struggle might become the latest imprint to imagine the nation—more than a hundred years after the nationalist movement began in earnest and fifty years after the nation’s independence. The dramatic appeal of the now-historic anti-imperial victory might make it yet another enduring strategy to glorify the nation racked with internal polarizations, confused about contending with intensifying globalization forces, and willing to repress and displace the trauma of two nations with the self-aggrandizement of becoming a regional superpower.† (Virdi, 2003, p.78) The aforementioned observations by Jyothika Virdi are valid assessments of Lagaan. Moreover, it places the key ingredients of the film in the context of Bollywood role as an arbiter of Indian culture, values and notions of national identity. While some Bollywood movies take into consideration such elements as the nation’s tenuousness, its artifice, etc, and try to gloss over fault lines, a majority of the films â€Å"locate these fractures within the nation by projecting a national edifice and the rumblings against it. The nation not only subsumes personal identities but also collectives identified by class, gender, sexuality, community, and caste, although social movements centred around these threaten the hierarchies (feudal, capitalist, and patriarchal) maintained by the nation state. Hindi films explore the tensions these collectives generate, even openly articulate their conflicts within the nation; they offer a glimmer of change—and then contain it† (Gant i, 2004, p.232). It is quite fitting to conclude this essay by stating that Lagaan performs all these functions and more. References: Bale, John, and Mike Cronin, eds. Sport and Postcolonialism /. New York: Berg, 2003. Cook, David A. A History of Narrative Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. Ganti, Tejaswini. Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004. Kasbekar, Asha (2007) ‘An Introduction to Indian cinema.’ In: Nelmes, Jill (ed) An Introduction to Film Studies, London: Routledge, pp. 365–390. Tripathi, Salil. â€Å"Better Than Bollywood: It’s a Hot Summer for India’s Film Industry, but Salil Tripathi Prefers a Film-Maker Who Favours Reality over Schmaltz.† New Statesman 3 June 2002: 38+. Vasudevan, Ravi P.: The Politics of Cultural Address in a ‘Transitional’ Cinema: A Case Study of Indian Popular Cinema. In: Gledhill, Christine/ Williams, Linda: Reinventing Film Studies. London: Arnold, P. 130–164 Vick, Tom (2007) Asian Cinema: A Field Guide, Collins, pp. 87 – 112 Virdi, Jyotika. The Cinematic Imagination: Indian Popular Films as Social History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003.

Indie Attitude

Indie Attitude While I’m on a Joel Friedlander high (last week’s issue), I had to sink my teeth into a piece he had on his blog recently. thebookdesigner.com/2014/05/the-secret-sauce-for-indie-publishers-attitude/ The blog post was titled The Secret Sauce for Indie Publishers: Attitude. Nina Amir was the author of that post, and she advised that an Indie attitude needed to consist of: 1) Willingness 2) Optimism 3) Objectivity 4) Tenacity I loved reading the comments afterwards, some from readers who obviously were not interested in an attitude adjustment, preferring to remain in their I-can’t-do-this or you-have-to-know-somebody mindset. Actually, the Indie attitude is just a healthy attitude toward life. You don’t have to be a writer, and your attitude doesn’t have to be about writing. And if you want to take attitude and   boil it down to one word, you can stop with the first in Nina Amir’s list: WILLINGNESS. If you are willing to do whatever it takes to change, try new things, learn new ways, attempt trial and error, and write until you figure out how to play this game and make a living at it, it just might happen. I had a long conversation with my editor the other day about more books, a new series, and how I view my writing career. In the exchange, I let her know that whether I’m published or not, I’ll write my stories. And if I cannot find a publisher, I’ll self-publish. It’s just what I do, and I’ll adapt to whatever I need to in order to keep doing what I’m doing. She was impressed at my â€Å"attitude† toward the future.  Frankly, I see my future no other way. Why not be willing to adapt . . . when it makes me better or more successful? Why not learn new ways . . . if old ones have quit working? Why not step outside my comfort zone . . . if staying inside it confines me to a routine that isn’t moving me forward? It’s all attitude. You’ve met those people in your life, the ones with a great outlook and a willingness to improve. They are exciting to be around. So why can’t that be you?

Paper 3 Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

3 - Research Paper Example Ethnic origin provides an individual with a sense of identity from other people. It reinforces the idea that a certain individual is what he or she is because of his or her belongingness to this certain group, where the culture of that group is passed on to that individual by means of language. It is quite comparable to an intangible home of the individual where different members of a huge family interact in seemingly similar ways and valuing similar cultural norms. Ethnicity is closely linked to the concept of a nationality, where, in Political Science, refers to the perception of belongingness to a group or a collective of people exhibiting uniqueness or a sense of distinction from other groups of people. Ethnicity is Janus-faced as it presents two paradoxical roles in the society. The concept of Ethnicity unites the people of the same ethnic origin and consolidates a homogenous collective group of that same ethnic origin. We can see this in the classic example of the Chinese. In s eemingly most major cities in the world, there is always a sector in that city deemed a Chinatown, where most, if not all, people, citizen or migrants, that are ethnically and conservative Chinese establish their homes and their businesses.

Research log Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research log - Essay Example However, as I went on to review the research, I was able to establish the highlights and the major aspects of the issue which were meant to make me understand the events as they unfolded. I was able to learn the extent of the animosity felt by terrorist groups against the US and how these feelings stemmed mostly from the US foreign policies in the Middle East and in developing nations. I was also able to learn how these US foreign policies have been viewed by many Middle Eastern nations as purely economically based and more to the point – oil-based. In the first few days of the research process, I was able to enhance my organizational research skills. Before the research, I did not have an organized way of carrying out research or in carrying out any of my academic tasks. I actually often ended up repeating myself or doing things twice because I did not have good organizational skills. However, as I was going through the process of research, I was forced to come up with a logi cal and orderly system in gathering data and in sorting out the data that I was able to gather. In so doing, I knew where to get the information I needed and which part of the research they would be placed. I was also able to establish the information I still needed to research and what type of information I needed. I believe that the part of the research which was well organized and well done for me was the third chapter because the materials and information were well organized and logically flowed from one idea to the next. I believe that that part of the research process was able to highlight my strengths as a researcher and as a student. However, there were also some challenging and difficult parts of the research process for me. It was very challenging for me to gain an objective and well-rounded information about the topic. There are different sources of information about the topic and I tried my best to sift through these in order to come up with the best and the most objecti ve sources of data. When I was about to finish the research and data gathering process, I was more or less ready to plan and to write the initial chapters of the paper. In order for me to make a good start however on the paper, I was planning to read the â€Å"Unholy wars: Afghanistan, America and international terrorism† by Cooley and â€Å"Fighting suicide bombing: a worldwide campaign for life† by Cherny. In order to successfully write the first chapter, I was called on to spend much time in researching about the 9/11 attacks itself. The areas of my research for this week included the assessment of the different events leading up to the 9/11 attacks and the immediate aftermath thereof. I found out that there were possible signs which indicated a possible attack on US soil, however no definitive threat was seen and was considered an immediate threat to the US and its inhabitants and territories. In order to ensure a good understanding of the subject matter, I highlig hted the importance of gaining balanced and objective research materials. I used both library searches through books and journals in order to facilitate data gathering. I also used the internet to search for possible recommended materials relevant to my research. Before I started with the research proc

Elephantiasis Disorder Essay Example for Free

Elephantiasis Disorder Essay Elephantiasis is usually caused by obstructions in the lymphatic system. It causes a swelling in the skin and tissues, generally in the lower trunk and the legs. It is most likely seen in the legs and genitals, causing baggy, thick and ulcerated skin, accompanied by fever and chills. Limbs can swell so much that they will resemble an elephants front leg in size, texture and even color. Elephantiasis has two main forms. Lymphatic filariasis is the most common form, caused by a parasitic disease just from a bite from a little infected mosquito. This form of Elephantiasis is caused by a parasite, most commonly called roundworms. The parasite blocks the lymphatic vessels, inhibiting their ability to drain the affected area. This disease can be very painful and will most likely impact the individual’s ability to lead a normal life. A severe case can block blood vessels, which will limit the blood flow to the skin causing inflammation and possible gangrenous. Elephantiasis is recognized as the second leading cause of disability worldwide because of its physical and psychological impact to the affected individual. An economic burden is also a huge issue, although treatments are available, those who are affected are usually from the poor community so they cannot afford the drugs to help cure them. The physical impact is very obvious to the infected because of the edema. It makes it very difficult for them to move around to do their daily activities. Most will have thickening skin and a very strong body odor. Because of these symptoms they usually are unemployed making life a struggle for money. Elephantiasis is known to be a disease of poverty because it is endemic to poor tropical countries. It is a public health and socio-economic problem worldwide. It affects 120 million people in over 80 countries. The disease is prevalent in urban and rural areas affecting people of all ages and sexes.

The Effects of Wishes :: essays research papers

Throughout history people have been mislead to believe that happiness can only be found through achieving what you think you want. For example, it is rare to read a fairy tale that doesn’t involve a hero obtaining his goals and living happily ever after with the one he loves. Few authors have dared to write about the reality of life in fear that the response from audiences who are used to happy endings would be negative. Charles Dickens and James Hilton are two authors that took that chance and each produced a novel that did not necessarily have a happy ending. Charles Dickens illustrates in his book, Great Expectations, and James Hilton presents in his novel, Lost Horizon, that life is full of surprises, and happiness is not always found in the things we think we want.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hero in each of these novels is on a quest for happiness. Pip, from Great Expectations, believes that if he were to become a gentleman he would be content with his life. On the contrary, Conway in Lost Horizon is searching for peace of mind and where he can think without disturbance. Each character’s quest brings them to the realization that there are consequences for every action, and obtaining your goals is difficult when enduring the obstacles of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main objective of Pip and Conway’s quests is to obtain a talisman. Dicken’s Pip is looking for materialistic items such as money, while Hilton’s Conway is looking for knowledge that can last you a lifetime. Though both characters end up achieving their own talisman, it proved to not be the only key for happiness as expected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the quest for the each talisman, a mentor guided each of the heroes. In Great Expectations, his benefactor, Magwitch, guides Pip during his quest by providing him with money when needed. The High Lama enlightened Conway with knowledge and gave him guidance, in Lost Horizon, therefore filling the position of a mentor towards him. Both mentors fulfilled the main characters with their talismans, but it was up to the heroes to determine what was best for their life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The settings in the novels were different and therefore affected the main characters in various ways. The setting for Great Expectations was nineteenth century England where money was a major part of society. Pip felt obligated to obtain money in order to marry and live an exceptional life.

Gestalt Learning Theory Essay

Doing my research on learning and instruction in complex simulation-based learning environments, I experienced a large difference in how learners reacted to my learning material (Kluge, in press, 2004). Complex technical simulations involve the placement of the learner into a realistic computer simulated situation or technical scenario which puts control back into the learner’s hands. The contextual content of simulations allows the learner to â€Å"learn by doing. † Although my primary purpose was in improving research methods and testing procedures for evaluating learning results of simulation-based learning, the different reaction of our participants were so obvious that we took a closer look. I had two different groups participating in my learning experiments: students from an engineering department at the University, mostly in their 3rd semester, and apprentices from vocational training programs in mechanics and electronics of several companies near the University area in their 3rd year of vocational training. Most of the students worked very intensively and concentrated on solving these complex simulation tasks whereas apprentices became easily frustrated and bored. Although my first research purpose was not in investigating the differences between these groups, colleagues and practitioners showed their interest and encouraged me to look especially at that difference. Practitioners especially hoped to find explanations why apprentices sometimes are less enthusiastic about simulation learning although it is said to be motivating for their perception. Therefore, in this dissertation I address the difference in the effectiveness of using simulation intervention program based on a Gestalt learning theory. Moreover, to find out if the program improves either or both the quality and speed of the learning process of students enrolled in a highly technical training program. This dissertation focuses on using simulation based learning environments in vocational training program. In this chapter, the experimental methodology and instruments are described, results presented and finally discussed. As mentioned above, my primary purpose when I started to investigate learning and simulation based on Gestalt learning theory was focused on improving the research methodology and test material (see Kluge, in press, 2004) for experimenting with simulation-based learning environments. But observing the subjects’ reactions to the learning and testing material the question arose whether there might be a difference in the quality of and speed of the learning process of students involved in my study. Research Design: A 3-factor 2 ? 2 ? 2 factorial control-group-design was performed (factor 1: â€Å"Simulation complexity†: ColorSim 5 vs ColorSim 7; factor 2: â€Å"support method†: GES vs. DI-GES; factor 3: target group, see Table 2). Two hundred and fifteen mostly male students (16% female) in eight groups (separated into four experimental and four control groups) participated in the main study. The control group served as a treatment check for the learning phase and to demonstrate whether subjects acquired any knowledge within the learning-phase. While the experimental groups filled in the knowledge test at the end of the experiment (after the learning and the transfer tasks), the control groups filled in the knowledge test directly after the learning phase. I did not want to give the knowledge test to the experimental group after the learning phase because of its sensitivity to testing-effects. I assumed that learners who did not acquire the relevant knowledge in the learning phase could acquire useful knowledge by taking the knowledge test, which could have led to a better transfer performance which is not due to the learning method but caused by learning from taking the knowledge test. The procedure subjects had to follow included a learning phase in which they explored the structure of the simulation aiming at knowledge acquisition. After the learning phase, subjects first had to fill in the four-item questionnaire on self-efficacy before they performed 18 transfer tasks. The transfer tasks were separated into two blocks (consisting of nine control tasks each) by a 30-minute break. In four experimental groups (EG), 117 students and apprentices performed the learning phase (28 female participants), the 18 control tasks and the knowledge test. As said before, the knowledge test was applied at the end because of its sensitivity to additional learning effects caused by filling in the knowledge test. In four control groups (CG), 98 students and apprentices performed the knowledge test directly after the learning phase, without working on the transfer task (four female participants). The EGs took about 2-2. 5 hours and the CG about 1. 5 hours to finish the experiment. Both groups (EGs and CGs) were asked to take notes during the learning phase. Subjects were randomly assigned to the EGs and CGs, nonetheless ensuring that the same number of students and apprentices were in each group. The Simulation-Based Learning Environment The computer-based simulation ColorSim, which we had developed for our experimental research previously, was used in two different variants. The simulation is based on the work by Funke (1993) and simulates a small chemical plant to produce colors for later subsequent processing and treatment such as dyeing fabrics. The task is to produce a given amount of colors in a predefined number of steps (nine steps). To avoid the uncontrolled influence of prior knowledge, the structure of the plant simulation cannot be derived from prior knowledge of a certain domain, but has to be learned by all subjects. ColorSim contains three endogenous variables (termed green, black, and yellow) and three exogenous variables (termed x, y, and z ). Figure 1 illustrates the ColorSim screen. Subjects control the simulation step by step (in contrast to a real time running continuous control). The predefined goal states of each color have to be reached by step nine. Subjects enter values for x, y, and z within the range of 0-100. There is no time limit for the transfer tasks. During the transfer tasks, the subjects have to reach defined system states for green (e. g. , 500), black (e. g. , 990), and yellow (e. g. , 125) and/or try to keep the variable values as close as possible to the values defined as goal states. Subjects are instructed to reach the defined system states at the end of a multi-step process of nine steps. The task for the subjects was first to explore or learn about the simulated system (to find out the causal links between the system variables), and then to control the endogenous variables by means of the exogenous variables with respect to a set of given goal states. With respect to the empirical evidence of Funke (2001) and Strau? (1995), the theoretical concept for the variation in complexity is based on Woods’ (1986) theoretical arguments that complexity depends on an increasing number of relations between a stable number of (in this case six) variables (three input, three output: for details of the construction rational and empirical evidence see Kluge, 2004, and Kluge, in press, see Table 1). To meet reliability requirements, subjects had to complete several trials in the transfer task. For each of the 18 control tasks a predefined correct solution exists, to which the subjects’ solutions could be compared. In addition, knowledge acquisition and knowledge application phases were separated. The procedure for the development of a valid and reliable knowledge test is described in the next section. Different methods have been developed to provide learners with support to effectively learn from using simulations. De Jong and van Joolingen (1998) categorize these into five groups: 1. Direct access to domain knowledge, which means that learners should know something about the field or subject beforehand, if discovery learning is to be fruitful. 2. Support for hypothesis generation, which means learners are offered elements of hypotheses that they have to assemble themselves. 3. Support for the design of experiments, e. g. , by providing hints like â€Å"It is wise to vary only one variable at a time† 4. Support for making predictions, e. g. , by giving learners a graphic tool in which they can draw a curve that gives predictions at three levels of precision: as numerical data, as a drawn graph, and as an area in which the graph would be located. 5. Support for regulative learning processes: e. g. , by introducing model progression, which means that the model is introduced gradually, and by providing planning support, which means freeing learners from the necessity of making decisions and thus helping them to manage the learning process. In addition, regulative processes can be supported by leading the learner through different stages, like â€Å"Before doing the experiment . . . ,† â€Å"Now do the experiment,† â€Å"After doing the experiment. . . .† Altogether, empirical findings and theoretical assumptions have so far led to the conclusion that experiential learning needs additional support to enhance knowledge acquisition and transfer. Target Population and Participant Selection: In the introductory part, I mentioned that there were two sub groups in the sample which I see as different target groups for using simulation-based learning environments. Subjects were for the most part recruited from the technical departments of a Technical University (Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronics, Information Technology as well as apprentices from the vocational training programs in mechanics