Recipe for a Palatable Filmy-Hero
Marking the characteristics that shape the figure of 'hero' in cinema.
DancerUltra Media & Entertainment
With popularity of cinema, not just a new medium of telling stories got prevalent but a new phenomenon of stardom also kicked off.
Mahabali Hanuman PosterUltra Media & Entertainment
Heroic figure in itself has always been prevalent in culture. Stories and folk-lores would often have their protagonist emerging as a hero who would make the impossible, possible.
Hence, the hero has always been a character of the story, usually the protagonist of the story.
Manjil by Kalpana PicturesUltra Media & Entertainment
In films though, the very actor who is playing the lead role of the narrative gets seen as the 'hero' instead of the lead character of the story.
Dev Anand was an iconic romantic Hindi hero during 1950s and 60s, who is known for his distinct style.
Aladdin ka Jadui ChiragUltra Media & Entertainment
While an actor's supposed job is to act characters with precision, so much so, that a viewer perceives a fictional character as something real, and not think of the actor per se.
Yet peculiarly, the more a film actor performs the scripted-hero well, more the audience starts believing the actor to be the hero.
Kali Ghata by Shivalik PicturesUltra Media & Entertainment
Consequently, in cinema, particularly in Hindi cinema, the actor becomes a larger identity than the films he is in, known for his specific characteristics.
And the elements of heroic identity are even inserted to characters he is playing.
Shashi Kapoor, is part of the Kapoor family who since 1940s has been rendering a heroic figure in every decade. The list begins with Prithviraj Kapoor, goes to Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kappor, Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor is the latest rendition in the trajectory.
Naukar by Ismail FilmsUltra Media & Entertainment
In other words, instead of just being known for characters he played, the actor-hero's identifiable recurring elements even start defining the characters he will play further.
Insaniyat by Gemini'sUltra Media & Entertainment
The actor-hero in cinema is basically a new category of hero: a filmy-hero. Wherein actor is hero himself, not because of what he does in actual life, but because of specific characters and characteristics that he enacts in his films.
Dilip Kumar, whose actual name is Yusuf Khan is one of the most popular Hindi film hero. 'Devdas' and 'Mughal-e-Azam' are some of his most known films.
The Tragic End of a Legend called Guru DuttUltra Media & Entertainment
While mostly, the ordinary people often dress and groom in ways that are contextual and compliant to their surrounding norms at home and at profession. The filmy-hero, is carefree of such concerns.
BaarishUltra Media & Entertainment
Even if he is depicting ordinary middle-class characters, he would be often presenting himself in eccentric haircuts or dresses.
Nishan by Homi WadiaUltra Media & Entertainment
The audience, instead of complaining about the gap between the exaggerated style quotient displayed onscreen and actual life appearances, rather appreciates these appealing get-ups of filmy-hero, partly because the audience gets to live a bit of its fancy through the onscreen hero.
Action
Another most prominent characteristic of the film-hero is to be a master of action.
Zimbo finds a son by Homi WadiaUltra Media & Entertainment
As human life is full of undesired, unjust outcomes which many a times ordinary people have to just reconcile with and move on, the filmy-hero through many of his films gives a relief, albeit fictional, by fighting out through his raw-muscle and grabbing what belongs to him.
ZimboUltra Media & Entertainment
The action hero also provides an icon-to-revere to anxious masculine concerns circulating in society.
Yash by Sushilkumar AgrawalUltra Media & Entertainment
A male figure sensitive to women and feminine concerns and skilled enough to charm her has been an ideal ingredient in Hindi cinema to cull out romantic heroes.
AliBaba aur 40 chor Sanjeev Kumar by Homi WadiaUltra Media & Entertainment
In a patriarchal society, where women often go through various subversions, and since men in subsequent generations uphold male dominance, possibly due to anxieties of male complex, the romantic hero who is tender, affectionate, sensitive and yet courageous is highly palatable for the audience.
Daulat Ki JungUltra Media & Entertainment
Tragic Figure
Finally, one key mold for the filmy-hero is of a tragic figure.
Poster of Film PyaasaUltra Media & Entertainment
The stylish, all-powerful and romantic shades may often remain distant fancies for a viewer, something only to be found in reel and not in real. The disillusioned protagonist who suffered series of tragedy through mean and treacherous ways of life, strikes a chord with viewers.
Guru Dutt- The Beginning of an EndUltra Media & Entertainment
Guru Dutt is one of the first Indian actors who was recognized as a film-hero, due to his portrayal of protagonists who have been wronged by others.
PyaasaUltra Media & Entertainment
Upon encountering the tragic character, viewers identify with the actor, as they see him embodying their own suffering on-screen.
In effect, the filmy-hero becomes something like a mythic or divine figure: Ram won over Lanka, Tom Cruise saves the world, the angry young man Amitabh Bachchan fought the evil in society, and Guru Dutt embodied the disillusionment with the corrupt selfish world.
Curation and Write-ups: Abhishek Kukreja
Images: Ultra
