Invisible Transnationalism: Iranian New Wave and its Influences on the New Marathi Film

ABSTRACT

The article presents a critical mapping of invisible or subterranean transnationalism in the context of two geo-spatially distant cinemas. Interrogating the specific textual instances of the new Marathi film, I demonstrate that its narrative aesthetics has been significantly influenced by the New Iranian Cinema. The New Marathi film, which has emerged after Shwaas (2004), carries an unmistakable reworking of several Iranian films. Apart from certain productions that have children as their protagonists, several films like Valu (2009), Jhing Chik Jhing (2010), etc. derive their fundamental narrative premise from the minimalist plots of Iranian films like The Wind Will Carry Us, Children of Heaven, and The White Balloon. This, however, is circumscribed by the circulation of Iranian films through pirated DVDs, pirate networks, and peer-to-peer sharing. The article forwards two notions for invisible transnationalism: a) the valorization of Iranian films by Marathi filmmakers as an ideological remapping for narrative expressivity, and b) how this shapes the historical juncture defining the new-ness of the Marathi film.

KEYWORDS:

• Invisible transnationalism
• film piracy
• New Marathi film
• local expressivity
• torrents
• New Iranian cinema

Acknowledgements

The observations of reviewers helped to specifiy arguments in this article, their suggestions are deeply appreciated. I thank the research group led by Prof. Madhava Prasad at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, where some of the ideas presented here took shape.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The film references the national Emergency declared in 1975 which lasted till 1977. Shala is based on a 2004 novel by the same name authored by Milind Bokil.

2. Mainstream Hindi cinema is often singled out for remaking Hollywood films, by copying either the plots or characters from western cinemas. An early colonialist assertion is observed in this statement by A M Green ‘[Indian films] copy the most blatant faults of western films, and have recourse wholesale to direct plagiarism, both for incidents and even for whole plots’. Green (1929). The Indian Cinematograph Industry. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 78(4017), 3–19. Hindi films are thus considered as illustrations of a plagiarism of sorts. However, we can differentiate between an outright imitation of western cinema and an internal reworking or remaking of popular tropes. See Nandy (1981). The Popular Hindi Film: Ideology and First Principles. India International Centre Quarterly, 8(1), 89–96..

3. Marathi cinema, as a regional film industry in western India, has been historically situated in a social competion with Hindi cinema, considered as representing a national film practice, and the prevalence of numerous performance practices. See Ingle (2017b). Marathi cinema: Notes towards a liminal history. Asian Cinema, 28(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.1386/ac.28.2.199_1.

4. There are countless examples of individuals or organisations collecting DVDs of films in India. This I believe is also a demonstration of a person’s cinephilia.

5. The period that this discussion refers to is just before the explosion of streaming services like Netflix, Roku, or Hulu, i.e. between 2000 – 2009. To recall from personal experience, accessing Iranian cinema was initially facilitated by pirated DVDs that were reproduced from the film festival circuit; later, after 2002–2003, Iranian cinema became more available due to torrent websites and online file sharing forums.

6. In India there has been a policy intervention to block torrent websites in compliance with court orders. However, recently the government has clarified that visiting a torrent hosting website or viewing content streamed through similar websites in not illegal. See Anwer (2016, 21 August). Are you a criminal now? Users may get 3 years in jail for viewing torrent site, blocked URL in India. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/are-you-a-criminal-now-users-may-get-3-yr-in-jail-for-viewing-torrent-site-blocked-url-in-india-336353-2016-08-21.

7. Several Marathi filmmakers have acknowledged and referred to Iranian filmmakers as representing the best in world cinema. For an indicative account see Indikar (2020). Marathi Filmmaker Akshay Indikar chats world cinema, documentation, learning and filmmaking [Interview]. RAD Times Media. https://www.rasaaurdrama.com/post-arp9i/solapur-filmmaker-akshay-indiakar-chats-documenting-inspiration-and-film-sthalapuran and Thaver (2014). Two Worlds – Marathi & Iranian Cinema. Fight Club. https://moifightclub.com/2014/10/31/two-worlds-marathi-iranian-cinema/.

8. Jing Chik Jing uses the prize money as a figurative element. Winning the prize money is something that drives the narrative of Shyam, and its misinterpreted amount leads to the melodrama at the end of the film.

9. The regional filmmaking space in India has seen a rapid transformation after about 2000s. A number of studies have identified this change to the emergence of a multiplex culture as a symbol of new consumerism. See Rajadhyaksha (2003). The ‘Bollywoodization’ of the Indian cinema: cultural nationalism in a global arena. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 4(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464937032000060195 and Sharma (2003). India’s experience with the multiplex. Seminar, New Delhi, May, 42–46.

10. Regional cinema from India has become more visible at important international film festivals in the last decade. See Nagarajan (2019). Malayalam cinema’s big moment at the international film festivals. The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/malayalam-cinema-the-new-globetrotter/article29232130.ece.

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Hrishikesh Ingle

Hrishikesh Ingle teaches in the Department of Film Studies at The English and Foreign Languages University (EFL-U), Hyderabad, India. He has published on Bollywood cinema, early Marathi cinema and the new Marathi cinema. He has been a guest editor of Wide Screen and co-guest editor of Studies in South Asian Film and Media. Hrishikesh has also directed two short documentary films on the condition of single-screen theatres in India.