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By studying Indian cinema we can enter productively into the thought-worlds and performance-worlds of other traditional arts too.

(Gokulsing & Dissanayake: 1998: 10).

1 Summing up

Folklore fulfills many functions in a society, which can be largely grouped into religious, economic, social, cross cultural, historical-national and psychological or individual. On the other hand, cinema is one such medium that encompasses most of the art forms in itself and in turn stands as the most popular form of mass communication in the world. Therefore it automatically translates into the fact that like in many other functions, folklore is an integral part of cinema as well, and this has already been discussed in different chapters of this thesis. While summarizing the preceding chapters, it can be observed that the researcher has tried to encompass as many aspects of the topic as possible, within the stipulated time frame.

The opening chapter of this thesis titled 鈥業ntroduction鈥� has been designed as an introductory chapter. It begins with a detailed account regarding the background of the research, emphasizing on the conceptual framework. After stating definitions of the terms like 鈥榝olk鈥�, 鈥榣ore鈥� and 鈥榝olklore鈥�, the researcher has thrown light upon the four large groupings of folklore, which are鈥攁) oral literature, b) material culture, c) social folk customs, and d) folk performing arts. It was also emphasized in the chapter how these four divisions of folklore cannot be termed as mutually exclusive because components in folklife function in an overlapping manner. Since time immemorial, man has relied upon different media to express his emotions, desires and imaginations. To do so man has resorted to performing some form of art. Whatever might be the media, folklore has always been associated intimately with performance, leading to the intermingling of oral narratives, material culture, social folk customs with the folk performing arts. Therefore, folklore relies for its existence on people, i.e. the mass, and mass media helps in preservation of folklore even in resurrected formats.

The concepts of mass culture or 鈥榝olklorismus鈥�, which is the industrial renewal of folklore, has also been discussed in this chapter. It has been stated in the chapter that mass culture or folklorismus is the process of channelizing traditional themes, metaphors, motifs, ideas and beliefs into commercial products aiming at mass consumption. As such mass media and other forms of modern communication can be regarded as mass culture. In India, which basically resides in the villages conserving its age-old traditional value systems, the folkloric elements have turned into important components of the commercial mass culture.

In the next section of the said chapter, light has been thrown on world cinema and perspectives of folklore. Throughout most parts of this thesis, the researcher has based the categorization of cinema on the findings of Indian Folklorist Jawaharlal Handoo, who, on the basis of the impact of folklore, deciphered popular Indian cinema into four broad categories, which are鈥攊) full myth films, ii) half myth films, iii) mythic theme films, and iv) fairy tale pattern films (Handoo: 1996: 137-138). Since these categories can be implied to the cinema of any other country, the researcher has analyzed foreign films in light of this categorization. A world scenario on the impact and usage of folklore in cinema has been elaborated in the chapter, with special emphasis on movies produced from Hollywood. Other than Hollywood, a few British, German, and Japanese productions have been discussed.

In the following sub-section, the concepts of the 鈥榝olkloric film鈥� and the 鈥榚thno documentary鈥� have been briefly discussed, before moving to the research methodology of the thesis, including the objectives, research questions, and the entire methodology employed. The significance of the study and its limitations have been carefully enumerated. The chapter has been concluded with an explanatory section on the chapterization of the thesis.

As the foremost core step in any research work, the researcher did an exclusive review of related literature from all the available sources including the libraries, printed books, theses, research papers, e-books and web-sources. All these study materials have been discussed in detail in the second chapter of the thesis, titled as 鈥楻eview of Related Literature and Studies鈥�. 

Depending upon the nature of the sources, the chapter was divided into several sub-sections which are as follows鈥�

i) Studies related to folklore,
ii) Studies related to cinema,
iii) Studies related to folklore and mass media, and
iv) Studies related to Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia.

In the section titled 鈥楽tudies Related to Folklore鈥� the researcher mentioned about the studies made in the field of folklore studies. From the celebrated folklore scholars like Vladimir Propp (1895-1970), R. M. Dorson (1916-1981) and Alan Dundes (19342005), the researcher has tried to cover the works of many folklore experts including Prafulladutta Goswami, Birendranath Datta, Nabin Chandra Sarma, Nirmalprabha Bordoloi, Jawaharlal Handoo and a few others as well.

Moving to the field of film studies, works of film critics and authors like James Monaco, Ronald Bergan, Susan Hayward, Andr茅 Bazin, Robert Phillip Kolker, Christian Metz, Priya Jaikumar, Peter Wollen have been consulted by the researcher for a deep understanding of the film craft both in terms of technicality and aesthetics. Apart from these, other authors whom the researcher went through, specifically for learning cinema as a science, include Lenore DeKoven, Christopher J. Brown, John Purcell, Harry C. Box, Robert Mckee, Patti Bellantoni, Gustavo Mercado, along with Steven Ascher & Edward Pincus. These studies have been included in a section titled 鈥楽tudies Related to Cinema鈥�. After going through the international movie circuit the researcher sought for books which could mirror into the world of Indian cinema since its inception. In this regard, works of film historians, scholars, filmmakers and critics like Yves Thoraval, Vasudha Dalmia, Theo Damsteegt, Manju Jain, Lalit Mohan Joshi, Satyajit Ray, Andrew Robinson, Sangeeta Datta, Anil Saari, Sharmishtha Gooptu and Ashish Rajadhyaksha were fruitful consultations.

In regard to Assamese cinema and writings on cinema in Assamese, works of authors like Apurba Sarma, Pabitra Kumar Deka, Arun Lochan Das and Manoj Barpujari were quite helpful to the researcher. Together with these, several other books written by film critics and film enthusiasts in Assamese were read by the researcher.

Scholars from all over the world have brought about convergence between the fields of folklore and media, though it has never been a concerted effort. In spite of that, authors have tried to throw light on the interdisciplinary nature of the fields of folklore with mass media through their scholarly works. In this connection, works of scholars namely Linda Degh, Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley, Rachel Dwyer, K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake, Mikel J. Koven, Sharon R. Sherman, Dr. O. J. Joycee, Yoshiko Okuyama, Pauline Greenhill and Sidney Eve Matrix, H. Bausinger, Shoma A. Chatterji and a few more were consulted. All these have been grouped under the sub-heading titled 鈥楽tudies Related to Folklore and Mass Media

The last section of the chapter included the studies related to Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia. The person whose film forms the core of the present research was to be understood very closely. For this purpose, the scholar went through a two-way path. The first path was to read the filmmaker as an author, and next was to know him through the eyes of other writers. Hence many books, essays, articles, web contents etc. were consulted for this purpose along with a few theses and research papers.

Before diving deeper into the realms of folklore in cinema in general and Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia鈥檚 films in particular, it was necessary to understand how cinema has unfolded through the waves of time. Therefore the third chapter of the thesis titled 鈥楬istory of Indian Cinema With Special Reference to Assam: A Broad Overview鈥� was dedicated towards study of Indian cinema history with special reference to the birth, growth and evolution of Assamese cinema. This chapter was divided into several subheadings depending upon the eras of film history in India. These eras included the silent era of Indian cinema, the Talkies, the studio era and later ages. From Dadasaheb Phalke鈥檚 Raja Harishchandra to the development of talkies and evolution of the studio system in different parts of the country, this chapter has been dedicated to elaborate the many phases of the Indian cinema industry. The chapter also includes sections pertaining to Indian Parallel cinema movement and 鈥榤iddle of the road cinema鈥� which has been strong carriers of the folkloric elements, apart from the mainstream cinema.

The chapter contains an exclusive section devoted to the history of Assamese cinema. From the inception of cinema in Assam to the recent trends in film production, it has been tried to cover the decades of filmmaking, even if briefly. The section begins with an elaborate note about the first Assamese film Joymati (1935). Emphasis has been given on the award winning as well as milestone films made in Assamese, along with the filmmakers who made their mark in history.

The fourth chapter of the thesis has been named as 鈥楩olklore in Indian Cinema鈥� and dedicated to the discussion of folkloric elements in Indian cinema. Here the researcher has tried to enumerate as many features of folklore as possible, which are visibly or invisibly present in Indian cinema. For the ease of discussion, films have been categorized under different genres, depending upon the nature of the folkloric elements present. As such, prominent genres of Indian cinema, like mythological and devotional, musical, historical, fantasy, horror, magic realism, and films based on themes of ethnicity have been thoroughly studied, keeping in tune with the baseline of the chapter. Each genre has been separately discussed with examples carefully picked up from film industries around the country. This chapter therefore served to be a backbone of the entire research work, as it helped the researcher in narrowing down these aspects into the areas of Assamese cinema in general and then the films of Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia in particular, in the later chapters.

Moving on to the next chapter, it was designed to illustrate the life and works of Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia and named as 鈥楧r. Bhabendra Nath Saikia as a Filmmaker鈥�. His early life, education and career have been described in the opening section of the chapter. Before turning his attention towards filmmaking, Dr. Saikia had gained immense popularity as a litterateur in Assam. There a separate subsection has been dedicated to describe his literary creations.

In the following section, Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia was described as a filmmaker who is considered as a trendsetter in regard to the parallel stream of Assamese cinema. The researcher has tried to enumerate those chapters of his life, which were probably his early encounters with the media of mass communication and entertainment. For doing so, many pages from his autobiographies have been brought into this chapter. After an overall observation of the features of his filmmaking style, all his films were separately dealt within another section termed as 鈥楩ilmography of Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia鈥�. Under this section, apart from the production details and cast of all his films, a detailed plot summary has also been included.

The title of the sixth chapter 鈥楢ssamese Cinema and its Folkloric Elements鈥� suggests that this has been an exploratory chapter. Different sections of the chapter have been designed as per the four broad divisions of folklore. Accordingly the first aspect discussed here was, orality of the region and its dimensions in Assamese cinema. This included aspects like the portrayal of oral histories in celluloid, myths and legends in Assamese cinema, and the treatment of folktales in Assamese cinematic narratives. The following two sections of the chapter dealt with material culture as an important component of Assamese cinema and social folk customs of the region as reflected in Assamese cinema. The researcher has also included sections devoted to a brief discussion on how filmmakers in Assam have treated the marginal communities like tea tribes and fishermen communities in their cinema. Thereafter a section illustrates Assamese cinematic music and the influence of folk musical traditions.In this chapter, a number of Assamese films have been discussed as case studies in order to dive deeper into each of the said aspects of folklore.

The seventh chapter 鈥楩olklore in Films by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia鈥� forms the main analytical part of the research. After exploring the content and context of folklore in cinema at international, Indian and state realms, this chapter was finally written as the gist of the present thesis. Careful observation, research and appreciation of the films made by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia was done before composing the chapter. It has been definitively divided into several sub-sections so that the genres of folklore could be carefully explored. Under the section named 鈥楩olk orality鈥� the researcher has analyzed the contents of cinema in terms of a number of perspectives. For instance, the 鈥楩olk orality鈥� section has been further narrowed down to the use of metonymy and metaphor, apart from the patterns of folk speech and folktale in the films under study. The next major section in this chapter has been contributed to the analysis of material culture in the films of Dr. Saikia. The areas which have been discussed under this section were -setting and socio-spatial structuring which included outdoor landscape and indoor architectural set-up along with the use of properties in Dr. Saikia鈥檚 films, food and cookery, costumes, jewellery and cosmetics of mainly the female characters, as well as the occupation of the people.

Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia was a keen observer and employer of social folk customs. Hence this broad division of folklore has been analyzed properly in his films in terms of rites and rituals, folk belief, and recreation and games.

Lastly, the chapter deals with music being employed in Dr. Saikia鈥檚 films and how that was influenced by the folk musical traditions. The filmmaker also utilized folk traditions and music to highlight the psyche of individuals. This aspect has also been analyzed in detail. While speaking about the different aspects of folklore in his films, the researcher has carefully described the scene leading to or containing the aspect under study. In this manner this chapter concluded with an elaborate discussion on the folkloric elements in the films made by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia.

2 Research Findings

In this concluding chapter, the researcher would look upon the key objectives of the study and examine whether these have been fulfilled. Also the findings against the proposed research questions of the study would be analyzed.

1. The first objective of the study was analysis of the representation of folklore through the medium of cinema. In the chapter wise summary of the thesis which has been presented in the preceding section, it is quite evident that the researcher has tried to explore as many aspects of folklore in cinema as possible through categorical discussion and analysis of both the areas i.e. folklore and cinema. The interplay between folklore and cinema has been outlined in different chapters of the thesis, through a number of dimensions involving circuits of cinema at different levels. Most importantly, this research has resulted in the analysis of folklore not only as mere supporting elements involved in giving particular shades to the films, but the different functions played by folklore have been thoroughly studied. As a result of consulting the available literature, and as an outcome of this entire thesis, folklore has been discussed as an important component that builds the sub-texts of cinema around the world. Concepts like the folkloric film and filmic folklore have been highlighted through proper examples and discussions.

Culture and the folklife is what makes the essence of Assamese civilization. This holds true for the cinema of the state as well. In spite of the literature being available in regard to cinemas of Assam, a proper and categorical representation of the folkloric elements present in Assamese cinema still needs to be composed. An important outcome of this thesis is that it has tried to explore this underrated aspect of Assamese cinema, in tune with proper classification under the folkloric categories or genres. The researcher feels that though ample study and analysis has been done in this piece of research in order to fulfill the first objective of the study, there remains room for more exploration in this field. If this thesis could serve as a reference material for the future researchers then the present work would contribute its bit in a vast area of study that needs to be explored.

2. The second objective of this research was to understand the usages of folklore in portraying the intrinsic messages through the medium of cinema with special reference to the films made by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia. To fulfill this objective the researcher has studied cinema 鈥榓s a text鈥� with appreciation of its contextual components also. Cinema, rightly being termed as the 鈥楴inth Muse鈥� by film scholars, serves a series of social functions, like many other art forms. However there is also a class of film critics, which believes that sending a message or preaching an ideology is not what cinema is supposed to do. Therefore it is essential for the film researchers to understand the sub-text of cinema through its components, folklore being a prominent among them.

Dedicated chapters in this thesis have made efforts to fulfill the objective of researching the folklore present in cinema and the definite functions which it has played, both inside the film and on the psyche of its audiences and critics. A detailed chapter that includes the representation of different genres of folklore in the films made by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia forms the core of analysis here. In this regard, the researcher emphasized upon both the structural components of the film narrative as well as its aesthetic parameters.

3. The third and final objective of this study was to create academic study material in the context of portrayal of folklore through the medium of cinema. This has been mentioned while discussing the first objective as well. The researcher hopes that if the findings and analysis of this thesis will serve as reference materials for the future researchers, the purpose of the study would be fulfilled.

At this point, while concluding the thesis, the researcher would like to once again mention the research questions of the present study and throw light upon the findings. In the present study, the researcher proposed to find out how folklore elements have been incorporated in the medium of cinema. While aiming to do so the researcher designed two research questions. Here are the findings of the same鈥�

a. The first research question was 鈥楢re folklore and cinema interrelated? If yes, how does the incorporation of folklore elements help the filmmaker in upgrading his/her film or in making closer contact with the audience?鈥�

After reviewing a series of literature related to cinema, filmmakers鈥� notes and critical essays on films, it has been ascertained by the researcher that major aspects in cinema are essentially related to folklore and that this mass media, with its tremendous reach and long existence, has contributed as a carrier of folk elements to a great extent. Hence filmmakers make it a point to employ such elements so that their films can move closer to the audience鈥檚 psyche.

b. The second research question was 鈥楬ave films concerned with depicting life in 鈥榬eal鈥� or in the 鈥榝olk鈥� form been more successful in terms of business and criticism?鈥�

A close look at the works of the most successful filmmakers at the international as well as national level clearly reveals that they have been instrumental in consciously employing elements of folklore in their narratives. This is evident from observing the trend of world cinema that has been critically acclaimed. These films have earned commercial success as well as awards and recognition worldwide. Therefore, depicting life in 鈥榬eal鈥� or in the 鈥榝olk鈥� form has been an important criterion of well received cinema around the world.

3 Observation

Folk ideas and folk motifs have been indispensable parts of Indian cinema, especially in the regional films. There are innumerable accounts to justify this fact. Apart from this, a class of filmmakers also focussed on promoting the use of regional dialects in popular Hindi films as well. This aspect is seriously taken into account and dialogues are developed depending upon the background dialects of the characters. Folk songs from Rajasthan, drum beats from Punjab, the Baul tunes of Bengal, and mountain songs from Garhwal region have influenced music in Indian cinema to a great extent. Apart from music, dance compositions have also relied upon folk dances. According to Robert Brifault, 鈥榝estivals are the most concrete expression of collective emotions and loyalties鈥� (Sarma: 2015: 284). Indian cinema has very well utilized this aspect of folklife. Festivals have not only been visualized as a tool to depict culture and traditions, or as song sequences to portray time lapse and story development, but festivals have been used as strong backdrops in many narratives. For instance, the Dashami or tenth day of Durga puja, when the idol of the goddess is immersed in water, has been dramatically used in Kahaani (2012, Dir. Sujoy Ghosh) for the final climax scenes. The protagonist wears identical white saree with red border and gets mixed in a sea of women during the festival procession. This creates a tough situation for the cop to trace her.

Many Indian film directors, from pioneers such as Dadasaheb Phalke to later directors like Ritwik Ghatak, Kumar Shahani, Guru Dutt till modern ones like Rituparno Ghosh, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anurag Basu have sought to creatively deploy the visualisations and colour symbolisms associated with traditional forms of dance and mime, folk and classical music to enhance the communicated experience. Some directors use a definite colour palette to make the film watching experience aesthetically richer. Shades of different colours are also used in costumes to communicate the psyche of the characters. Therefore a critical folkloric study of cinema considerably helps in the appreciation process.

While dealing with the concepts of Film, Folklore and Folkloric Films, it has been observed by scholars like Sharon R. Sherman that films have been a strong documentation technique in regard to folklore. It is worth mentioning that all these functions of cinema have been kept in mind by the researcher while analyzing the presence of folkloric elements in cinema. It is also to be noted that techniques of filmmaking have helped the folklorist in regard to documentation of cultural practices, thus leading to the conclusion that film and folklore are interdependent entities.

Since films are an extension of narratives, for many critics the thirty one Proppian functions or type-episodes which every folktale combines have been extended to films as well. For narratologists like Greimas, Propp鈥榮 schema, suitably revised, forms a universal model of narrative organization. Scholars believe that many narratives share a structural morphology with folktales, and therefore Propp鈥檚 method can reveal the underlying structure of narrative in cinema and other media (Joycee: 2014: 243). For instance, the 鈥楬elper Function鈥� propounded by Propp can be observed while analyzing films such as Agnisnan by Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia, where a thief comes to help the female protagonist in her revengeful endeavour.

Unlike the other regional film industries of the country, the Assamese filmmakers did not resort to the devotional genre or saintly films during the early phases. Hence films like Sarbagunakar Sreemanta Sankardev (2016, Dir. Manju Borah, Animation) and Aajan Fakir Saheb (2008, Dir. Asif Ikbal Hussain) were later additions to its movie trajectory. However the Assamese filmmakers have always resorted to portraying the folklife on the screen, without tampering the folklore. They have not been concerned towards developing 鈥楩ilmic Folklore鈥�, as against the Bollywood industry. 鈥楩ilmic Folklore鈥�, as has been defined by Juwen Zhang, is not necessarily the representation of folklore, as is observed in folkloric films and ethno-documentaries. Rather filmic folklore tries to deconstruct or reconstruct the elements of folklore through the medium of film, to put these into whatever time zone the filmmaker deems fit (Zhang: 2005: 267). Development of such filmic folklore is clearly visible in mainstream Indian cinema, specifically Bollywood, where cinema tends to construct the popular culture of masses, be it in a daily life pattern or a grand festivity. People tend to follow the folklore demonstrated on the screen, leading to the assimilation of folkloric elements from different regions of the country. It seems just like putting dishes from different cuisines on the same plate, and enjoying it on the occasion of a newly coined festive occasion.

Cinema in India is assuming newer dimensions. New filmmakers, especially film institute graduates who are working in the regional film diaspora, are making their mark even at the international level. Their films present a much more plausible world and are better known as 鈥榠ndie鈥� cinema. However this Indie cinema鈥檚 origin is not new and can be dated back to 1925 when amid the onslaught of mythological and fantasy dramas, Baburao Painter鈥檚 Savkari Pash showed destitute peasants in a debt trap. British director Peter Greenaway rightly said, 鈥楳ore films go to people nowadays than people go to films鈥� (Bergan: 2011: 9). With the advent of DVDs, downloading of movies from the internet and more recently the Over The Top (OTT) platforms that serve to be the only source of viewing latest releases, owing to closing down of movie theatres due to the COVID-19 pandemic, directors are learning to equip their films with the changing media. However, the bottomline is that whatever might be the media of film-watching, the audience is astonished, provoked and delighted by the intrinsic qualities of the film -the direction, the screenplay, the cinematography, and the acting. Independent filmmakers are now making ample use of the variety of platforms to present their films. The narratives mostly are closer to life, devoid of the fantastical philosophy of cinema. Filmmakers in Assam are also following suit and experimenting with new styles of film narratives. However the problem of finance, marketing and distribution still persists and needs more Government initiatives.