Reading the Bromance: Homosocial Relationships in Film and Television

5. From Dostana to Bromance: Buddies in Hindi Commercial Cinema Reconsidered

Chapter 5 From Dostana to Bromance Buddies in Hindi Commercial Cinema Reconsidered Meheli Sen “Bahut yaraana lagta hai.” (“This seems like a very close friendship.”) Dacoit Gabbar Singh in Sholay In the ninety-year history of Bombay Cinema, no actor has achieved the status of Amitabh Bachchan. . . . He was also, arguably , the last of the pan-Indian film heroes. Vijay Mishra, Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire In this chapter, I trace the transformations that have attended to male homosocial friendships in Hindi commercial cinema from the 1970s to the present. Needless to say, much has changed for the popular film in India over the last four decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, the period the first half of this chapter focuses on, what has been called the all-India film or masala film held sway over the industry and audiences alike. The form, which had crystallized over the late 1940s and early 1950s, encompassed Bombay cinema’s typical pleasures—spectacular song sequences, an emphasis on romance , and, above all, a strong reliance on stars. In the 1970s and 1980s, the successful formula of the masala film also incorporated protracted action sequences, narratives centering on crime and retribution , and Amitabh Bachchan, superstar. Within the umbrella 140 Meheli Sen form, the Bachchan film was its own prototype: while Salim-Javed’s screenplays, proletarian themes, and the crafting of a new kind of masculinity are the most obvious innovations ushered in by the Bachchan film, inclusion of the buddy subplot also emerged as a core melodramatic component. Other major male stars of the period—Shashi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, and Dharmendra, to name a few—played Bachchan’s buddies in baroque sagas of deep love, loyalty, and sacrifice between men. The films in question were immensely popular among audiences across the formidable divides of class, language, and region in India, a factor that made Bachchan a truly national icon. Its many component parts carefully orchestrated , the Bachchan film was also made to appeal to the widest audience possible; the filmic address in question is inclusive in nature and, as scholars have pointed out, especially sensitive to marginal characters and collectives. This form of intensity between men has disappeared in recent Bollywood cinema. Or, to be more accurate, the buddy film has transformed alongside everything else in recent decades. In this chapter, my goal is to trace that story of change from the 1970s to the present , which is also a narrative of transition from Hindi commercial cinema to what is understood as “Bollywood” proper. The liberalization of the Indian economy has had a profound influence on the political economy of the Bombay film industry. Following the granting of “industry status” by the government in 2001 to what were largely disorganized production/distribution/exhibition sectors, the influx of corporate capital has changed the nature of the business of cinema almost beyond recognition. The onset of the multiplex boom has transformed film viewing habits and target audiences in urban and semi-urban regions.1 Stars have become “brands,” and successful films have morphed from individual texts to “franchises,” and, as Asish Rajadhyaksha has argued, cinema is now simply one component in the plethora of texts, products, and services signified by the umbrella term “Bollywood.”2 All of these changes have, of course, changed the nature of the cinematic text. Bollywood is now crafting a new kind of cinema in the era of new media and media convergence .3 Nestled in the folds of these sweeping changes, we are able to discern the transformations that have animated the figuration of male friendships in Hindi commercial cinema. The buddy film of 141 Buddies in Hindi Commercial Cinema Reconsidered the 1970s has morphed into the “bromance,” a post-globalization configuration that is foundationally tethered to India’s “shining” new economy, its consumer ethos, and its avowedly global avatar. The unqualified contemporary circulation of the term “bromance” is a marker of this confident globality; the English language press, which deploys the term to describe a certain kind of hip, urban friendship between men, apparently assumes that its readership is perfectly attuned to the valences of the word as it circulates via MTV and other global media platforms. There are other key differences between the older Bachchan buddy film and the more recent iteration of the subgenre. The new bromance unapologetically addresses a specifically urban, middleclass , and English-speaking youth audience. Dialog is peppered with English words and phrases...