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Project Report and Comprehensive Viva (Subject Code: 352) Semester VI On SELF-DISCOVERY: AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN IMTIAZ ALI’S MOVIES For Partial fulfillment of the requirement of Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication (Batch: 2018-2021)
Submitted by: ASTHA SHARMA 01229802418
Submitted to: Dr. Bidyarani Asem Internal Supervisor
Vivekananda School of Journalism and Mass Communication Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies Accredited Grade “A” by NAAC, Recognized under Section 2(f) of UGC, Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Recognized by Bar Council of India Approved BY AICTE, ISO 9001:2015 AU Block, Outer Ring Road, Pitampura, Delhi – 110034
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UNDERTAKING BY STUDENT I, ASTHA SHARMA, Enrollment No. 01229802418 student of Semester VI, Batch: 2018-21 submit the Project Report on the topic, SELF-
DISCOVERY: AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN IMTIAZ ALI’S MOVIES for BA(JMC) Paper code – 352, Semester VI is completed by me and it is an authentic work done by me.
Name: ASTHA SHARMA Signature of the Student
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CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION Certified that the ‘Project Report’ on the topic, SELF-DISCOVERY: AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN IMTIAZ ALI’S MOVIES submitted by Ms. ASTHA SHARMA, Enrollment No. 01229802418 for Subject Code: 352, Semester VI in partial fulfillment of Bachelors of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication’ has been completed under my supervision.
DR BIDYARANI ASEM
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is my esteemed pleasure to present this project and I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude and thank to each and every one who helped me during the period of my research. I would like to thank my family and friends who provided me with vital pieces of information that stirred this research to a whole new direction and helped me gather, establish facts and conclusions which were crucial in steering our direction towards the point that we wanted it to. I would also like to extend my Internal supervisor Dr. Bidyarani Asem, who gave me the heads to go for such a vast and complicated research topic which required huge amounts of prep work and a large understanding of the Billion Dollar industry which has its roots as far as the early 20th century. She helped me and guided me at every step I took. I fully acknowledge the able guidance of Dr. Bidyarani Asem, and the college authorities.
ASTHA SHARMA
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CONTENTS
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Preface Abstract Introduction What is self-discovery Literature Review Objective Methodology Findings and Analysis Conclusion References Appendices
Page 6 Page 7 Page 8-10 Page 11 Page 12-13 Page 14 Page 15-17 Page 18-25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28-31
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PREFACE
This research paper is intended to show how, SELF-DISCOVERY plays an important role in movies of Imtiaz Ali and explore his unique work. This research was conducted to find out if everyone also believes that movies of Imtiaz Ali are different from Old Cliché Romantic movies and Self-Discovery is an important part of his stories or not. This research paper was created as the partial completion of the final project. It is arranged for the information about Imtiaz Ali and his outstanding work.
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ABSTRACT
Indian cinema and clichés have shared a very strong bond since a long time, be it romantic genre or drama genre. Bollywood movies are full of things that wouldn’t happen in the real-life scenario, same old cliché story plot with flawless stereotypical characters and predictable plots and their perfect lives. Enter a new generation of film makers, trying to build bridges between the parallel and mainstream, Imtiaz Ali. He is a contemporary Bollywood Director; his genre is romance but the way he portrays is very different from Bollywood clichés. There are no affluent families, huge sets, and extended song and dance sequences in foreign locales irrespective of the setting, high decibel melodrama and a predictable storyline. Ali’s portrayal has not so perfect protagonists going through their internal conflicts and living a basic middle-class life. The actors have subtle acting styles, a mix of Indian and foreign locales as setting, average music but strongly connected to story’s theme and a very unpredictable storytelling style with heavy use of symbols and motifs. This last point is what majorly sets him apart from majority Bollywood directors, as he forces his audience to experiment, think and gauge a situation in their mind rather than spoon-feeding them. He weaves a beautiful tale of love and passion. His films often begin with a bike or a train journey and end on a journey towards self-discovery.
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INTRODUCTION
Imtiaz Ali is an unconventional contemporary film director, producer and writer who likes to convey his stories in an artistic manner. His movies are exceptionally real and characters are flawed, full of imperfections which make his movies even more realistic and relatable. He fathoms the conscious and unconscious of the audience and that’s how he has carved a niche for himself- cult director of romance genre. His movies are more inclined towards the philosophical aspect, in which many of his characters go through some kind of ‘self-discovery’ journey where two damaged souls attempting to heal each other through a journey. Imtiaz Ali was born in Darbhanga and spent some of his early years in Patna. He belongs to the Muslim family of Darbhanga in Bihar. He comes from a farming background; his father was a contractor who did irrigation job. His uncle through his mother is Pakistani TV actor. He did his early education in St. Michael’s high school, Patna and later in D.B.M.S. English School, Jamshedpur and later attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, where he took part in the college theatre and was also in Ibtida, the dramatics society of the college. Thereafter he moved to Mumbai and did diploma course from Xavier Institute of Communication. He’s now married to Preety Ali and also has a daughter named Ida Ali who is also a director. Imtiaz began his career directing TV programmes including Kurukshetra for Zee TV and Imtihaan for Doordarshan. He started his career with writing and television shows before making his directional debut Socha Na Tha with Abhay Deol-Ayesha Takia which was released in 2005, a simple romance escorted by multiple plot twist. He quoted later that it took 3 years to make that film. Socha Na Tha revolves around two strangers embarking on an impromptu journey and opening themselves to discovery. Jab We Met and Rockstar brought him into the spotlight. Jab We Met bequeathed him his special place in the Bollywood, apart from the huge success at the box office, this movie became turning point of his career in the commercial film industry, and quite surprisingly the entire script of Jab We Met was finished in two and a half day. Imtiaz Ali in an interview quoted “It was written in a very short period of time but then, it had been on my mind for long. So, when I wrote it was very quick; it just took about two days to finish. It is awesome; it is a blessing that the film is still being talked about. I have very good memories but I also have
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memories of being stressed because it was the least amount of pre-production time I got for any film. I just had 21 days before we could start shooting.” It’s no secret that Imtiaz Ali has given the millennial generation some of the best romantic dramas. Through the movie Rockstar he was able to portray the struggle of a musician. Rockstar was a film with wounded hero and Imtiaz Ali flavored interjections every now and then and this movie is also considered as one of the best musical albums by any movie Bollywood has produced so far. It is a film that sweeps your heart with its profound pure humanity and heartfelt honesty and it captures the vulnerabilities and complexities of the characters perfectly. It is film about a man struggling to find himself, spiritually and artistically, another best work of the director is the movie Tamasha, most chaotic and most criticized movie of his. The rawness, helplessness of the characters was depicted so well. The writing and direction is indulgence. The movie dwells on finding the inner self. In contemporary Bollywood, love stories have undergone a far-reaching, fundamental transformation: from fighting the cruel world and family till the 1990s, lovers have been battling their own inner demons circa 2000. Have I fallen in love or is it just friendship? To commit or not to commit? Tamasha goes a step ahead, leaving behind these seminal questions to dwell on something even more significant: finding your true, inner self that has been lost to a robotic work life, to discover and embrace the clown lurking behind the automaton in you. In that sense, Tamasha could well be the next part in the Ranbir Kapoor-in-evolution series of Hindi cinema that boasts of films like Wake-Up Sid, Rockstar and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. There is definitely a good thought that Imtiaz Ali invests in Tamasha and some moments do come alive and reach out strongly. After all, a lot of us have been burning ourselves out; are caught in a rut, that too out of choice. Even the entire facade Imtiaz employs – of theatre, role-playing and storytelling – while referencing his own raconteur-filmmaker self, places Ranbir in a nice art and aesthetics context as against the mechanical mode. Rather than working on clichés he took bold topics like Stockholm syndrome to sexual abuse. Imtiaz gives us a portrait of two damaged souls who, through a journey across north India, help to heal each other in the movie ‘highway’. The idea of a victim falling in love with her kidnapper isn’t new – the Stockholm Syndrome in which the hostage forms an emotional bond with the abuser has often been cinematic fodder, especially in Hollywood. Imtiaz skillfully creates moments that are at once, tender, funny and fragile. Imtiaz Ali’s romancing the road is of a piece with his favorite plot device. This director is happiest and most-happy making when his characters are on the move, the breeze rustling their hair.
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Imtiaz Ali in Love Aaj Kal 2009, managed to weave a tale about modern relationships, in all its frivolous glory, with just the right amount of frivolity and seriousness required to tell it. Critics say that this movie was way ahead its time and one of the finest works of the director. He is credited to be one of the most popular Hindi film makers who can touch the raw and throbbing nerve of the younger generation. He immaculately captures the pulse of new age romance. His romances aren’t conventional, you won’t get to see a clichéd boy meets girl fall in love story, rather the narrative is infused with portrayal of the character’s struggles and desires.
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WHAT IS SELF-DISCOVERY?
Self-discovery is simply known as discovering and understanding yourself. It is almost every aspect of personal development. A related term is finding oneself. A "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues or priorities, rather than following the opinions of family, friends, neighborhood or peer pressure. Not fully understanding yourself is like walking down a path deep into the woods as the sun is setting and the fog sets it. As you struggle to stay on the trail you think will lead you home, the trees and mountains all around you slip from sight, and you barely notice anything further away than five feet from your footsteps. It is a life long journey of exploration through our inner self, trying to discover who we are, our true potential, and our purpose in life. Self-discovery is all about finding ourselves amidst chaos.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Self-discovery is not new to the society as we know. A journey of self-discover refers to travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally about spiritual issues or priorities rather than following the opinions of family, friends, neighborhood or peer pressure. A journey of self-discovery is a popular theme in literature and is used to drive plot of play, film or knowledge. Films possess manic quality of being able to transport you into the realms of own self well beyond the identities and facades we keep in our quotidian existence. And it is this journey to self-discovery that makes cinema such a profound and thought evoking experience. Cinema is really powerful and effective medium and Bollywood has a lot of impact of the people. Films have subtle yet strong influence, movies shapes our thinking and Bollywood is often linked to portraying stereotypical notions of having perfect and sorted life. Whereas the reality is completely different from the movies. Ship of Theseus (2013) a film by Anand Gandhi with a staggering philosophical exploration of human existence and the purpose behind the creation of mankind is perfect example of self-discovery aspect in films. It asks you to look beyond your walls of belief, perceptions on life and reality. Geek author Theo Angelopoulos’s masterpiece ‘Eternity and a Day’ is most poetic, heart rendering journey to selfdiscovery ever captured in cinema. Angelopoulos masterfully showcases the certainty and uncertainty of what is ahead of the lives of the writer. Siddhartha is another classic example, based on a novel of the same name by the German novelist Herman Hesse, directed by the American film maker Conrad Rooks, with a predominantly Indian cast, led by Shashi Kapoor and Simi Garewal, traces the voyage in search of lie’s meaning by an affluent young man called Siddhartha, a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. The film talks showcases journey of a young boy to mind a meaningful life, the search takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasure, material wealth then self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony with himself that he had been seeking.
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The beauty of Indian cinema lies in its ability to surprise you time and again. Indian cinema has produced strong auteurs like Guru Dutt, Dadasaheb Phalke, Satyajit Ray, Govind Nihalani, Girish Kasarvalli, Mani Ratnam and several others who have created masterpieces on many sensitive and rugged topics that our society needed. In contemporary era ‘Nayak’ one of the best cult classics given by Satyajit Ray is still considered relevant even after 50 years. The film is black and white but the narrative is not. The film opens a window to consciousness of a popular actor who gaurs his public image assiduously. The train journey was eye opener for both the audience and the actor, makes the actor ponder about all he has accomplished before, ends up introspecting his mistakes, insecurities, realizes that behind all his arrogant façade lies a deeply troubled man as his life story is gradually revealed through flashbacks and dreams. ‘Wake up Sid’ a film by Ayan Mukerji released in 2009 is another great example from the modern-day cinema, wherein Siddharth Mehra, a spoilt un ambitious brat is compelled to reevaluate his choices, learns the purpose and meaning of his life from Aisha, an aspiring writer from Kolkata. Another example from modern day cinema is the movie ‘Iqbal’ directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, which try to explicate that there is no bigger defeat in life than succumbing to our own in capabilities and there is no bigger victory than overcoming them. The movie ‘Lakshya’ directed by Farhan Akhtar also showcases that being aimless in life and careless about career is what everyone goes through once in their life, however the magic lies in waking up at the right time, then real deal is to surprise yourself with your own capabilities and to do something meaningful in life. Imtiaz Ali contemporary film director trying to build bridges between parallel and the mainstream cinema, His movies are more inclined towards the philosophical aspect, in which many of his characters go through some kind of ‘self-discovery’ journey where two damaged souls attempting to heal each other through a journey. ‘Tamasha, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Socha na tha’, ‘Jab we met’ are perfect examples. The actresses Anushka Sharma in an interview said “Imtiaz in his stories, always make people discover love through self-discovery, in the true sense of it, this is love”
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OBJECTIVE
1. To explore the unique work of storyteller and director Imtiaz Ali. 2. To explore psychological aspects, hidden messages and meanings in his movies.
3. To explore Imtiaz Ali's writings, directions, productions and overall setting of stories and their themes. 4. To explore his profound love perspective portrayed in his movies.
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METHODOLOGY
The researcher has employed the technique Survey Method. Survey Research method is defined as the process of conducting research using surveys that researchers send to respondents. The data collected from survey is then statistically analyzed to draw meaningful research conclusions. Researchers can conduct research in multiple ways, but surveys are proven to be one of the most effective and trustworthy research methods. An online survey is a method for extracting information about a significant matter from an individual or a group of individuals. It consists of structured survey questions that motivate the participants to respond. The essence of survey method can be explained as “questioning individuals on a topic or topics and then describing their responses”. In business studies survey method of primary data collection is used in order to test concepts, reflect attitude of people, establish the level of customer satisfaction, and conduct segmentation research. Survey method can be used in both, quantitative, as well as qualitative studies. Content analysis method has also been applied for the study. According to Kerlinger, (1986), content analysis is the method of studying and analyzing communication in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables. Content analysis is a powerful tool for quantifying media portrayals and tracking changes over time, one weakness of this method is that the results tend to be co relational and are often open to multiple interpretations. The present study is a content analysis of two films- ‘Tamasha’ and ‘Rockstar’. METHOD. Content analysis along with questionnaire is the main method used. Researcher has set certain parameters to find the answers. Analyzed both the movies according to the following parameters:
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Plot – what was the movie all about? Was it believable? Thought provoking? How was the climax revealed? How the setting affected the story? Plot is the structure of events that make up a story, it’s the narrative sequence of the events that determine the outcome of the characters. It’s very crucial part of the movie and has mainly 5 elements, exposition (beginning of the story which includes conflict, character and setting), rising action (events before the climax, character’s attempt to solve the problem but fails), climax (turning point or the point of greatest suspense or action), falling action (action and events that occurs after the climax.), resolution (end of the story where the conflicts or problems are solved). Acting and characters- did you like how the characters were portrayed? Did the acting support the characters and help them come to life? Characters are based on people, and people are multifaceted, with their own hopes, desires, faults and aspirations, characters shouldn’t be so different. Main characters should be multidimensional and motive-driven. Only then can an actor authentically embody that character on camera and deliver a performance that we can relate to. Thus, analyzing the characters of both the films and mapping their growth through the plot development becomes a vital part of the study. Direction- did you like how the director chose to tell the story? Was the pacing of the movie too fast or too slow? Was the story line complex or straight forward? Was there a certain amount of suspense or tension that worked? Did the director create a captivating conflict? Like a painter, composer, or an architect, directors have their own style. It can be difficult to follow a movie where the director’s vision is confusing or convoluted. Like with any other kind of artist, we should be able to discern the director’s style in his work. Movies are a form of storytelling, there are a million different ways to tell a story. But a movie should be so well told, so well-crafted, that the story can’t be told any other way. Themes and tone- what are the certain goal of the movie? Was it made to entertain, educate or bring awareness to an issue? Was there any strong impression the movie made on you? Did any symbolism come into play? According to these parameters analysis would be done and also Data will be collected by making a questionnaire and according to the results the graphs will be made.
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Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted variables in an established systematic fashion, which then enables one to answer relevant questions and evaluate outcomes. The data collection component of research is common to all fields of study including physical and social sciences, humanities and business. It helps us to collect the main points as gathered information. While methods vary by discipline, the emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest collection remains the same. The goal for all data collection is to capture quality evidence that then translates to rich data analysis and allows the building of a convincing and credible answer to questions that have been posed.
PRIMARY DATA Data collected first hand in raw form. Data that is collected for a specific purpose. Basically, data collected in raw form directly from a source for a specific purpose, is referred to as primary data. Examples include- Interviewing, Making your own questionnaire etc. SECONDARY DATA Data collected from sources that have already collected it. Basically, it is second hand or-used data that is collected from primary day. Examples include• Data collection from books, Newspaper etc.
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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
Data Analysis is done from the questionnaire that was prepared and was distributed among 140 people. Profile: Survey for the research was conducted in the city, Delhi. Sample of 133 respondents were collected for the survey. The questionnaire included a segment on the respondent’s profile as a classification of their demographic factors such as email ids, name, age, profession, etc. The questions and the responses are as followed:
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Question1: The first question was ‘Do you watch Bollywood
movie?’
It’s
important
that
the
respondent watches Bollywood movies then only he/she will be able to answer rest of the questions.
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Question2: The second question was ‘Are you familiar with Imtiaz Ali’s work?
Question3: The next question was ‘How many movies have you watched from the list given below?’
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Question4: Do you feel like his characters go through some sort of ‘Self-discovery’ where two damaged souls attempting to heal each other are in a journey?
Question5: Do you feel like his movie plots always revolve around a similar story?
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Question6: Do you feel like you can relate to the struggles that he showcases in his movies in your real life?
Question7: Do you feel like Imtiaz Ali’s Romance genre is different from old cliché ones?
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Question8: In how many of the following movies do you think the characters went through some sort of ‘Self-discovery’ journey?
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Question9: Do you think movie ‘Tamasha’ is all about finding oneself midst chaos?
Question10: Do you think movie ‘Rockstar’ is about a man who struggles to find himself spiritually and artistically?
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Question11: Do you think ‘Self-discovery’ plays an important part in his films?
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CONCLUSION
The survey results proves the hypothesis. 88.3% people agreed that ‘selfdiscovery’ plays an important role in the movies of Imtiaz Ali. The movies that were selected for the research were ‘Tamasha’ and ‘Rockstar’.86.4% people agreed that the movie ‘Rockstar’ is all about a man who struggles to find himself spiritually and artistically and goes through some sort of discovery in which he later finds his true self. Same in the movie ‘Tamasha’ from the questionnaire we analyzed that 73.5% people agreed that the movie ‘Tamasha’ is all about finding oneself midst the chaos. The movie beautifully shows the journey of Ved from carefree and jolly person he became mechanic robot working for his boss, same routine, same boring life which he hated. He in the latter half of the movie realized with the help of Tara that the life he’s living is not what he wants, he realizes that he is living a life in which he is not happy at all. He wants to search the true purpose of his life and for that he goes to the story teller in Shimla from which he used to listen stories from, in his childhood.
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REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imtiaz_Ali_(director) https://www.forbesindia.com/article/2014-celebrity-100/imtiaz-ali-the-masterstoryteller/39197/1 https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/love-aaj-kal-imtiaz-alidirector-making-love-stories-kartik-sara-6221463/ https://filmeshilmy.com/2019/07/06/imtiaz-ali-sometimes-your-films-are-morepersonal-to-you-than-your-own-life/ https://www.deccanchronicle.com/151124/entertainment-bollywood/article/whatled-%E2%80%98tamasha%E2%80%99-imtiaz-ali-reveals
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APPENDICES
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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kwY30qEGqbpY20lbQefxKgDedDfehz0XLAO d4bDW-HY/closedform
