Indian Cinema and Satyajit Ray & PARALLEL cinema

Throughout film history, Bollywood has been recognized for incorporating song and dance even during serious subject matter.

WATCH – Take me to Love from Bride and Prejudice- an attempt at Westernized Bollywood

Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali–the first of Ray’s three part Apu Trilogy–has clearly been influenced by the Italian neo-realist movement. Many scenes in the film focus on simple everyday situations for an impoverished family in Bengal.  One of the greatest factors that make Ray’s films so highly regarded is his use of long takes and realistic scenes to incorporate realistic time in his films.

WATCH – The Creative Person: Satyajit Ray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5W5N2oPfPg

The characters are never on the phone and live in a house/hut hybrid. This clearly portrays the separation of Indians in poverty and those who are well-off. There is no dialogue. Italian neo-realist film also often had long takes with little dialogue.