An
Exhibition of Bollywood Film Posters in
London
LONDON:
An exhibition of film posters of Bollywood
is on here these days giving the viewers
a brief idea of the phase Indian films passed
through. Capturing the vibrant visual culture
of the Indian film industry, the Cinema
India Exhibition at London's Victoria and
Albert Museum is a collection of over 70
film posters from 1949 to the contemporary
films. Teamed with a series of workshops,
lectures and demonstrations based on Indian
films, the exhibition that will last till
October is catching the tide of enthusiasm
for all things related to Bollywood.
The brain behind the exhibition, Divya Patel
says, "It's something that I have been working
on for a while. I first started writing
a book on Bollywood two years ago. It was
to be released by the year-end. In the meantime,
the museum acquired the space and I thought
of setting up the exhibition, the first
of its kind, here".
The items exhibited have been arranged to
give a sense of the development of the Indian
film industry, and to some extent the country's
history. Patel says, "I want the non-Asians
to visit the exhibition. I have concentrated
on contemporary part of Indian film industry
with a chronological order to section them
off".
Giving an in-depth analysis of the Indian
film industry, she says the posters in the
1970's had very violent and action-packed
images, and perhaps that was because India
was going through a particularly violent
and crime-ridden time in that era. According
to her films are a mirror of the society.
"They reflect what's happening in the society.
The posters are elements of popular culture
giving a first-hand idea about a particular
society.
Besides the film posters, there are also
exhibits of art work inspired by Bollywood
imagery, and photographic studies of the
world behind the scenes. One of the highlights
is Catherine Yass' "Star" series of photographs,
which is a group of portraits of some of
the top Bollywood stars. The exhibition
will also present a feature by a company
of hoarding painters, whose massive billboard
and hand paintings, which were once an integral
part of the Mumbai scenery, are becoming
an extinct art, courtsey modern technology.
