Research Methodology
Visual Research Depiction of living rooms in Indian movies over the decades
Authors Poorvi Mittal, Digital Game Design Shubham Kesharwani, Interaction Design Pranamita Roy , Universal Design Rahul Sanapala , Design for Retail Experience Sabarish KS , I nformation Design
Guided by Prof. Mamata Rao
Abstract Cinema has always played a significant role in influencing the Indian culture. While the role of cinema in influencing the the Indian culture and lifestyle has been largely talked about, the influence of the Indian society on the films being produced is still a subject of fresh research. This research paper looks into the representation of Living rooms in Indian cinema. While it can be said that films are a reflection of indian society(Leepsa, 2013). The representation of reality is not always accurate. Various factors influence the film-makers, when they decide on, how they want to represent the society. In this research we are trying to map the changes in the style of representation of living rooms over the decades, and trying to understand what factors played a significant role in influencing them.
Introduction & Background The cinema often shows what the the audience want, it is an escape for them from their complicated and harsh lives into the celluloid dreamworld. The film-makers try to pay heed to their demand and expectations, whilst trying to maintain their individualistic and creative identities. The audience’s expectations are greatly influenced by the social, political and economic world. They have their aspirations and demands triggered by the environment and situations around them. The filmmakers ideas and identity is also greatly influenced by the creative trends, which usually are an outcome of prevalent social ideas. We are mapping the changes in living room representation in Indian cinema. Everything a film depicts is influenced by reality and other factors. In this research we try to look into the changes the representation has gone through over time, and understand the reason behind it. Starting from black and white movies that were made post independence, through the 60’s which were considered the golden age for Indian cinema (Sharpe, 2005), to the 90’s where the dynamics of Indian cinema saw a significant change post liberalisation(Kaur & Sinha, 2005). This research does a visual evaluation of living rooms from the perspective of space and realism, on a decade wise timeline.
Hypothesis Our hypothesis was based on discussion, which concluded that the living rooms in Indian cinema were not just a depiction of the common living spaces as seen across India. It was a depiction of reality, superimposed with the social, economic and political state of the country during that time.
Methodology Since we were looking at the depiction of Indian living rooms, we started scanning for movies where the living room setting played a significant role in the storyline. Due to the abundance of movies in the Indian cinema, with varied genres, the scope of the study was narrowed down keeping in mind the short duration of study.
We chose to study only the urban living rooms settings. Widely depicted over the decades, most of the movies in bollywood were set in urban context (Chaterji, 2016). Hence it was easier to gather data on the subject. The study was limited to one section of the society - Middle Class. Middle class has been well depicted in Indian movies over decades. Study was limited to films directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. He was known for his non melodramatic depiction of middle class (Duara, 2006). Taking him as the subject we could find subtle changes in his style over a period of time. His filmography ranges from 50s to 90s which gives us a wide range of data to study. He is renowned for his social films that reflected the changing middle-class ethos. We came up with a list of 11 films between 1959 and 1998, hence covering a timeline of 5 decades. Table 1: List of movies analysed
Anari
1959
Gaban
1966
Bawarchi
1971
Anand
1971
Mili
1973
Abhimaan
1973
Golmaal
1979
Kisi se na kehna
1983
Jhoothi
1985
Namumkin
1988
Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate 1998
Data Collection In order to study evolution of living rooms from Past to Present, based on the hypothesis, decade wise film sourcing was done for all films done by a Hrishikesh Mukherjee, in order to evaluate the transition of visuals in his movies due to the trends of that time. Internet being the medium of this data collection, we read through various online articles, film summaries and reviews. After which we selected one to two of his movies from each decade to make data more concise and easy to interpret. Each movie was watched thoroughly, and screenshots were taken keeping in mind maximized visual representation of living room on screen. These screenshots were then visually analysed.
Data Analysis To arrive at the final conceptual framework, we studied literature related to analysis of movie set designs and studied the data collected to finalise the coding categories. Deductive coding (analysis criteria based on literature study): ●
The location of the movie
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Economic status depicted in the film
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Size of the room and space composition
●
Colour palette
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Furniture setting and wall hangings
●
Lighting used
●
Needful elements
Inductive coding (analysis criteria developed while analyzing the data):
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Scale of space
●
Furniture
●
Lighting
Visual Analysis Colour Palette In order to understand the visual character of his films, screenshots from the film were composed on a sheet and, colour palette was generated using an automated generator. All the films over the decades showed the use of neutral colours like browns and greys, with constant use of red as a highlighting colour as seen in table 2. Table 2: Colour palettes Movie Name
Year
Anari
1959
Black and white
Gaban
1966
Black and White
Bawarchi
1971
Anand
1971
Mili
1973
Abhimaan
1973
Golmaal
1979
Kisi se na kehna
1983
Jhoothi
1985
Namumkin
1988
Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate
1998
Space and Realism The quality of space was visually analysed and findings were presented in the format as seen in figure 1.
Figure 1: Labelling of visual information
Observations All the observations were tabulated into a table, see Table 3, based on the criteria described in the data analysis section of the paper. Table 3: Observations Movie Name Anari
Gaban
Bawarchi
Anand
Mili
Year Size of the room
Furniture sitting
Character(s)
Wall Lighting hangings 19591. Protagonist Small living area Protagonist is a 1. chiaroscuro House: Very huge with desired spatial painter. Protagonist lighting, an living space with setting as per the Antagonist is a House: effect of favcy circular Indian rich industrialist Antique contrasted windows of 4-5 ft context(Protagonist' statues and light and diameter s) Lavishly set up paintings shadow 2. Antagonist House: furniture , recessed 2. Small and congested sculptures, volume Antagonist living space with all of the spaces House: things on and related to furniture Calendar around the cot. (antagonist) art and cheap paintings 19661.Courtyard space, Minimal house hold Protagonist is Picture chiaroscuro with an woven cot in things, furniture like slacker, who frames lighting, an the center of the woven cot, diwan goes with the were used effect of space. Some details cot, small picture flow. His wife, in the contrasted of small canopy, on frames house wife. His scene light and which some things father is a honest shadow were place shows person who the Indian usage of works at court. space. 2. Living room space with diwan cot 1971no designated living floor mat old post man's picture of bright and area home saint that happy corridor between the family room and 'Aangan' is might be used as the following gathering area 1971Moderately spaced Minimal furniture in Upper middle none natural. living room. House Doctors household. class doctor. shown. has beach facing . verandah with seating arrangement. 19731. Mili’s house: One 1. Mili’s house: Sofa Mili is a student Lamp lights spacious living room set, wooden coffee and Shekhar is a and natural
Space Composition Tightly packed furnitures
Keeps it simple, and light colored backgrounds. Very clean space composition / organized one.
empty
minimal.
Abhimaan
Golmaal
in a flat. Simple table, rocking chair, rich drunkard light decors and furniture. side table with lamp 2. Shekars house: shades, chandelier, Two Spacious living wallpaper, paintings room in a studio flat, on the wall. Carpet one of which opens flooring. to the terrace. 2. Shekhar's house: Stylish furnitures. LR1: stylish chairs, Open kitchen and cushions stools, separate dining are glass table, wooden connected with the bookshelf (painted living rooms. white), arranged 3. Neighbour 1: books and crockery, Runas house, The padded walls, living room shows is standing lamps and stylized with drapes lamps on cornet and curtains. stools, paintings on furniture matching walls, carpet, the rom colour LR2: large open 4. Neighbour 2: space, carpet Lower middle class flooring, cushion Living space with stools, wallpaper basic wooden bed, and painted walls, one sofa and 3. Runas house: almirahs. Sofa set, low rise wooden coffee table,wooden stools, standing lamp,curtains,carpet flooring 4. Neighbour 2: Small living room, wooden bed, one sofa, multiple cairs, wallpapers, carpet on carpet flooring, portraits on walls. 1973Large spacious living Bright red sofa sets, successful singerpainting on natural light rooms, Music rooms carpet flooring, the walls, which is also serves wallpapers and not clearly the purpose of a paint, visible living room, office of the singer handled by the protagonist's friend/advisor. 1979Scale of the rooms Minimal furniture in 1. Young Present, Artificial to are realistic both the accountant and with a clear Natural light households. his sister, 2. reflection Senior citizen of the industrialist and inhabitants
spacious, minimal furniture.
Spacious and minimal furniture
his sister along personality with his daughter Kisi se na 1983Scale of the rooms decent furniture retired father, none indoor lights , moderate kehna are realistic according to the son eligible for shown. natural spaces for requirement. with General manager movement, sofa set and a tea post table. modern household Jhoothi 1985big open space sofa kum bed, arm natural light chairs, show pieces, book shelves, plants, gym equipments Namumkin 1988Scale of the rooms Minimal but posh Insurance agent, Wall Artificial mood Small spaces, are realistic furniture depicting a lawyer hangings lighting filled with western lifestyle. trying to chunky Zero influence of emphasis furniture the Indian on the inhabitants foreign location used Jhooth Bole 1998two living rooms wooden carved retired police old picture lamp lights and heavily Kauwa 1. inside the house sofas and patterns officer and oil natural light furnished Kaate with intricate rugs and cushions paintings detailed furniture and bamboo 2. sitting furniture for the arrangements in a outside sitting veranda
Findings ●
Late 50’s, saw influence of the colonial era in his movies, especially with the set design. A lot of focus was given to minute details, such as makeshift shelves, cupboards. As per requirements, the rooms are transformed to suit the needs of the characters in the movies.
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60’s movies focused on the characters and their relationships. There was not much focus on the living spaces. He has kept the sets as natural as it can be for that time period.
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In the 70’s, lifestyles of the characters were depicted as per the economic statuses and the industrial growth. The upper middle class families were shown to have luxury spaces with more room for leisure items.
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1980’s saw a shift in the taste of audience. Viewership increased for the movies for action packed, over the top set designs and foreign locations. To keep pace with the trends, he kept the genres of the movies similar, however, incorporated the stylized sets for the larger audience’s preferences.
●
In the 90’s Hrishikesh’s films went over the top with the sets. Everything was scaled up and the lavishness of the sets were increased to cater to the then market of commercial cinema.
Discussions The movies in the 50s and the early 60s had greater focus towards realism. Mukherjee being a disciple of Bimal Roy, who was known for his Neo-Realist style of cinema (Duara, 2006), showed a great influence of his work in his films. The scale of the spaces and settings were kept realistic and simple. However the lighting appeared unnatural as a result of less advanced technology at that time. Later 60s and early 70s saw the advent of coloured cinema. The details however remained of the same level, due to which the sets appeared less realistic. There was improvement in the quality of lighting. Later 70s saw the rise of modern middle class in India. The scale of spaces were kept modest, but the quality of space and furniture saw a rise in beautification, leading it away from realism. The films were being made as aspirational cinema for the young moviegoers, who idolized their stars. Early 80s was the time when television was introduced in India. Indian film tried to woo the public by going an extra mile by creating larger than life and unrealistic sets. As seen in Kissi se na Kehna (1983) and Jhoothi (1985). Later in the 80s Mukherjee directed Namumkin (1989). The film was shot entirely in foreign location at that was used as a publicity and marketing tool for the film, showing attempt to influence the new kind of audience India had. Post 1990 Hrishikesh directed only one film, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate (1998). India was in a state of growth post liberalisation and films were expected to depict the aspired reality. The film
was a deviation from his style, the spaces were significantly scaled up, as a response to the prevalent trends.
Conclusion Hrishikesh’s movies focused on the middle class section of Bombay, a city of service class people. He depicted the hub of the working class. Overall, through the decades, the realistic sets of the movies from the 50’s to 70’s lost preference over the actors popularity starring in his movies. These distorted reflections, not only exaggerate features but also paradoxically dictate patterns of normality. In this sense, they shape and impose exemplarity by broadcasting role models and figures of idealization.
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