The genres of the mainstream Commercial Cinema in India comprises number of significant themes and subjects that find repeated expression. Romantic love stories, action and revenge thrillers, social drama and injustice, patriotism, comedy, friendships and male bonding, animation and horror, mythology and devotion are the genres of Indian commercial films. The themes incorporated in these different commercial genres reflect a distinctively culture-specific approach that is adopted to give these commercial films a characteristic Indian outlook. It is for these genres and their respective appeals that Indian Cinema cannot do without commercial movies that drive masses to the theatres.
Action Thriller Genre in Indian Commercial Cinema
The action and thriller genre are one of the most prominent genres of Indian commercial cinema, showcasing the typical idea of the hero fighting a group of bad men or the main villain, with stunt sequences and thrills that entertain the audience. Action films came largely into vogue in the 1970s and 80s with the rise of the concept of Angry Young Man initiated by megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1973 Hindi action drama ‘Zanjeer’. Bollywood actors, such as Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Bachchan himself were the popular action icons of the time. Down south it was superstar Rajinikanth who set the trend in Tamil Cinema, followed by the legendary Kamal Haasan. ‘Sholay’, ‘Shahenshah’, ‘Agneepath’, ‘Don’, ‘Kohraam’, ‘Dharam Veer’, ‘Hukumat’ were the action movies of the time and the late 80s saw the genre further promoted with emergence of action stars Sunny Deoland Sanjay Dutt, whose noted action films include ‘Ghayal’, ‘Ghatak’, ‘Khalnayak’ and ‘Vaastav: The Reality’. The 90s saw the rise of credible action stars Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar, the most noted movies of whom count ‘Khiladi’, ‘Mohra’, ‘Phool Aur Kaante’ and ‘Haqeeqat’. The popular action movies of the 21st century include ‘Indian’, ‘Gangaajal’, ‘Khakee’ ‘Yuva’, ‘Aan: Men At Work’, ‘Company’, ‘Dhoom’ series, ‘Ek Hasina Thi’, ‘Dus’, ‘Race’, ‘Singham’ series, ‘Rowdy Rathore’ and ‘Baby’ in Hindi and ‘Run’, ‘Sivaji: The Boss’, ‘Billa’, ‘Dasavathaaram’ and ‘Enthiran’ in Tamil.
Romantic Genre in Indian Commercial Cinema
Romance and eroticism have always featured strongly in Indian Cinema. As with most traditions of cinema in the East and the West, romantic films and love stories are appealingly popular in India and have been so from the very inception. Here again, one sees clearly the shaping hand of culture. The sentiments expressed and the mannerisms of expression are also rooted in traditional culture. Compared to Western films, sexuality showcased in Indian films is less. Songs play a vital role in Indian romantic films, eroticism and sexuality often closely linked with them.
One filmmaker who epitomized romance on the silver screen was director-producer Yash Chopra. He is referred to as the “King of Romance”, with his illustrious list of romantic films including the likes of ‘Silsila’, ‘Kabhie Kabhie’, ‘Darr’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ and ‘Veer Zaara’. Love and romance acquired new dimensions with Yash Chopra. In Indian cinema, the landmark romantic films include ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’. In the contemporary times, the romantic genre in Indian commercial cinema has seen changes and been amalgamated with comedy, colloquially referred to as Rom-Coms. Films today deal with the concepts of casual relationships, break-ups, infidelity, extra marital relations, separation and sexuality. These are no more taboos on the Indian celluloid.
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