Event Title
The role of the courtesan in Bollywood
Location
Diamond 242
Start Date
30-4-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
30-4-2015 10:25 AM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
The Courtesan performance is an important spectacle in Bollywood films.Although courtesans today are commonly held as marginalized members of society who live on the fringes, in the precolonial period courtesans held a position of power through which they had autonomy, liberty, and status. Bollywood films depict them as a source of entertainment on the surface level. However, when you look closely you see the strength these characters possess. Hence, I want to explore the sexuality of the courtesan. Such an analysis will illuminate the multifaceted aspects of the courtesan identity. My primary sources are the films K. Asifs Mughal-E-Azam and Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Devdas. My secondary sources are the Courtesans of Lucknow, Half the Sky, Without Krsna there is no song, as well as excerpts from of Sacred and Secular Desire and Filming the Gods. These secondary sources will allow me to analyze the deeper of the implications of the role of the courtesan in the context of society as well as uncover the hidden implications of Bollywoods portrayal of these characters.
Faculty Sponsor
Nikky Singh
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. Religious Studies Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Humanities
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
1315
The role of the courtesan in Bollywood
Diamond 242
The Courtesan performance is an important spectacle in Bollywood films.Although courtesans today are commonly held as marginalized members of society who live on the fringes, in the precolonial period courtesans held a position of power through which they had autonomy, liberty, and status. Bollywood films depict them as a source of entertainment on the surface level. However, when you look closely you see the strength these characters possess. Hence, I want to explore the sexuality of the courtesan. Such an analysis will illuminate the multifaceted aspects of the courtesan identity. My primary sources are the films K. Asifs Mughal-E-Azam and Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Devdas. My secondary sources are the Courtesans of Lucknow, Half the Sky, Without Krsna there is no song, as well as excerpts from of Sacred and Secular Desire and Filming the Gods. These secondary sources will allow me to analyze the deeper of the implications of the role of the courtesan in the context of society as well as uncover the hidden implications of Bollywoods portrayal of these characters.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/366