Brief Analysis on Narrative Function and Presentation Form of Song and Dance Clips in Indian Films

Wang+Xin

【Abstract】When it comes to India movies， many audiences will be deeply attracted or even vividly remembered by the created magnificent atmosphere and various ethnic characteristics mixed in the film clips. When it comes to ethnic flavor， in addition to the ethnic trappings of India， the most representative is the joyful and excited song and dance clips in the movie. These clips not only highlight the characteristics of the India film， which is helpful to express the mood of the role in that time， but also helps to enhance the visuality of the films. This paper will take the song and dance clips in Indian films as research objects， combining the influential India movies at home and abroad in recent years to study the narrative function and presentation forms of them.

【Key words】Indian films； Song and dance clips； Narrative function； presentation form

I. The narrative function of song and dance clips in Indian films

India， the film production superpower， thousands of films are born here every year； Bollywood， the other Hindi name of Mumbai film base in Indian， is the main production base of India film industry. Since 1930s， the release of The Wayshower， Caravan， Lagaan， Ashoka king and 3 Idiots in China， has got a lot of fans and made them popular in people. Audiences who love India movies are easy to fine that， song and dance clips in Indian films have even become an indispensable symbol in India movies. But they are not just an art element in the movie， but become an important means of narrative narration. The organic integration of song and dance clips and story lines has promoted the creative mode of film content， making Indian movies show their charm in the international movie circles. In Indian films， song and dance has became a special and important narrative language， and an important carrier and lead of the development of the story. It became closely related to the plot of the story. Exaggerate the atmosphere， introduce a new plot， or sublimate the theme of the story to achieve the perfect narrative of the film.

Make a comprehensive survey towards song and dance clips in Indian films， they have the following narrative functions：

1. Connecting function

Because of the social and public sentiment as well as other factors in India， the full length of an Indian movie is generally about 3 hours， which puts forward higher requirements for the physiological and psychological state of the audience during the viewing process. However， the appearance of song and dance， to some extent， has effectively alleviated the feeling of tired or irritably of audience. One and several sections of song and dance clips appeared in a film can not only effectively adjust the audiences perception， but also effectively control the rhythm of the film to a certain extent， which plays an important role in the description of the content of the film. The appearance of them often accompanies by the development of the plot as well as the characters inner emotional ups and downs. In the film Caravan in 1971， the song and dance clips， as a carrier of narration， had made 4 sections in the whole 8 s&d clips unfolded along the story happened on the way. The wandering of the caravan not only made audiences deeply remember the lovely Rita， but also had a deep impression towards Lisa who dared to love and hate. Letting the s&d clips in Indian films as a carrier to help the story plot connected， the participation of such a creative form in the film has become a linguistic symbol of the India film.endprint

2. Emotional performance

Mao Heng， a scholar of the Western Han Dynasty， wrote in the great preface to Book of Songs：“Love moves in the center and speaks on the tongue； so upset of the lack of words； singing songs since the lack of words； the inadequacy of singing songs； I do not know the hand and foot of the dance. The ancient sages in China had already made an expression of emotion in the form of expression， singing， dancing， etc. Compared with film and television actors and the use of acting skills and line language to shape and represent characters， the different thing is that， song and dance can be more explicit or more subtle， showing the personality of the characters. It maybe had made the song and dance clips become a“subtext” of the role in films， letting song and dance becoming the concrete expression of inner feelings. Through the presentation of s&d clips， audiences could get the emotion fluctuation of roles at a certain time to deeply go into their hearts and closely follow the process of the film by eyes and hearts. In the film of Lagaan released in 2001， there were 6 song and dance clips， among them， the fragment of“praying for rain” is performing by a group of national costume actors on the village streets. Through such song and dance， show the present mood of anxious for the rain to come and produce emotional vibes between audiences.

3. The function of expressiveness

Born in accidents， and live in concrete. The artistic conception， is the unity of reasonable spirit and the coordination of deficiency and excess， is a kind of art scene which makes people express and comprehend but difficult to clearly explain and specific grasp in art creation. In the shooting techniques and scene design of s&d clips in Indian films， it also embodies the protagonists mood narrated by creators through song and dance clips to achieve the function of combining emotion with scenery. At the early stage， the lens usage was mainly fixed lens， just use the panorama to explain the song and dance scene before the photography technique of change， pull， shake to shorten the frame of each spot to Intensify the tempo of the film；from the single scene to break through the environmental constraints of the performance scene of a musical performer； the extensive space of scene choosing and selected has not only using live shooting， but also creating illusory scenes， creating a plot to draw， the sublimation theme of the artistic conception. In the film of Ashoka king， it changed the lawn， shed scenery， mountains， lakes and other scenes when encountering with the princess at Cahuachi Ashoka；lets see in Never say goodbye， it changes in the square， the street， the middle of the road， the woods， the church， and so on， at the scene of the song and dance between the hero and heroine. And the environment around the characters are constantly changing colors， so that life sent a immersive， arbitrary situation.endprint

II. Presentation in the sing and dance clips in Indian films：

Song and dance in India are two art forms with a long history. From the beginning of its birth， Indian films have paid attention to applying these two elements with great national characteristics to the film. After more than 80 years of development， the song and dance clips perfectly formed by sing and dance integration in the film has deeply influenced the development of contemporary India film industry and has become an important cultural symbol in Indian films to show the audience its own characteristics. They can be summarized as：

1. sing and dance by leading roles

Most of the people who are familiar with the India film can understand， the sing and dance clips are mostly started by the protagonist. Then it comes to people who relate to the story. The most common presentation form is from solo dance， double dance transiting to group dance. In the film of 3 Idiots， the second s&d clip is produced by the dazes of actress Pia and end up at the sleep of actor lanche. During this period， the two person led the group to sing and dance showing that the heroine was attracted by the heros frankness， charm and bravery. It is the beginning of budding love for the two. Of course， the s&d dance is maybe a patent for a love scene， but they are not only for this. In the film of 3 Idiots， the first s&d clip presents the friendship between the actor， the classmate and roommate of Isfahan Rancho and the Raja. The three stars led the group“students” performances， with scene change from bathhouse， dormitory， tower to campus corridor， which vividly demonstrates the friendship and pure campus life.

2. A supporting role or group of singing and dancing

This form is that the protagonist has not participated in the dance， but the group dance of other actors involved in the storyline to present the form of mood and state. In the film of Ashoka， the actor and actress did not participate in the dance， bu foil the heros love through the mass dance. Render by group will， promote love between men and women， and ultimately to achieve their love.

3. No s&d forms

It is not excessive to say that the sing and dance clips is patent for love scenes in India movies. Compared to the India romance， comedy， which use s&d clips a lot， the different thing is， the s&d clips become more and more useless for the directors who are concerned about the reality. While in the wrestling dad of the film well received and released this year， the director did not arrange the s&d clips like sticking in a pin. In the whole drama， the plot is tight， creating a tense atmosphere. But the director did not abandon the s&d clips of this national cultural symbol completely. At the end of the viewing， with the subtitle actor table on the top left corner of the screen， led by actor Amir Khan， it presents the group dance. With a heated song and dance view， the film produced a one billion box office break. A film directed by the British director Danny Boyle， Slumdog millionaire， the play is full of suspense and plots. But at the end of the film， it also uses the dance plot led by the same male and female to match with the presentation form.endprint