UNIT 4 CINEMA AND THEATRE : WITH REFERENCE TO TRANSLATION

Unit Structure

4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Evolution of Cinema
4.3 Relationship of Cinema with Translation
4.4 Introduction to Theatre
4.5 Definition of Thetree
4.6 Development of Theatre in India
4.7 Theatre and Translation
4.8 Comparative Study of Theatre and Cinema
4.9 Let Us Sum Up
4.10 Exercise
4.11 Glossary
4.12 Suggested Readings

4.0 Objectives

Introduction to the development of cinema ;

4.1 Introduction

Cinema and theatre is a simulation of human thoughts and feelings through acting. In other words it is a
medium that is a replica of a person's conscience, desire, need or the world that resides in his mind.

Cinema has emerged as the most powerful medium of audio-visual medium in this century , which has the
ability to influence the human mind, entertain it and also stir it to do something new. Apart from social
responsibility, cinema is the best medium for promotion of artistic feeling in human beings, which grows
in the shadow of art and culture.

Mainly cinema is the art of communicating visual images and sound signals collectively by means of
celluloid. In the early stages of the advent of celluloid, some enthusiastic directors like Pudovkin , Rotha,
Einstein, Grippserson etc. used it to highlight human life and its various aspects.

In every era and changing environment, many new things get added to the society, civilization and
culture. The contribution of cinema as the world's most widespread and interesting art medium in modern

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times has been significant. It is also important because cinema as a medium of expression and
entertainment is regulated by the whole culture of any society and at the same time it also regulates the
whole culture of that particular society. This is because cinema is the only medium that expresses itself in
the 'commune' in all its complexity. We have discussed in our other units how cinema is different and
important from other popular mediums like television and radio.

In this unit, we will also discuss the relation between cinema and translator, how cinema works as
translation and how it gets translated along with language , culture and society.

Let us first have a look at the growth journey of cinema in India and in the world scenario.

4.2 Evolution of Cinema

English author and thinker of 20th century, George Bernard Shaw realized in the infancy of cinema that
cinema as an invention could prove to be more effective than the printing press because it could serve
both educated and uneducated sections of the society equally. It is an influential medium. This art, which
provides the energy of modernity and sophistication to the society, has a significant impact on the
mentality and conduct of the person. Apart from influencing human intelligence , thinking and behavior,
cinema brings changes in it over time. In fact, cinema also selects its story from the society and develops
it according to the society.

In the changing times, technology is needed for any art that affects the society , because technical
partnership becomes necessary to form the vast truths of the society and to reach it to the wider society. In
this way technology sharing leads to the use and development of the latest technology. It is also true that
no technology is the gift of any one person in its entirety, but the use and development of any technology
is collectively under a continuous process. There are many stages in this process of development , behind
which there is a confluence of human's indomitable potential and intelligence. The present form of
cinema has also been the result of a long development process which we can start with the invention of
Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope.

Kinetoscope used to be a box-like device which we today colloquially call a bioscope. Edison showed
moving pictures for the first time with the help of incandescent lamp. In this, people used to look through
a hole in the kinetoscope. Now its use has stopped, but till four decades ago, in fairs and markets, moving
pictures were seen through binoculars. But the problem with the Kinetoscope was that only one person
could see it at a time. But as we know that with the progress of science the difficulties become easier.
This is what happened in 1895. Robert W. Paul, along with his colleague Burt Acres, invented a film-
projector so that cinema could be shown to groups. This was also the time when Auguste and Louis
Lumiere were inventing a triac-instrument in France, which was called the 'Cinematograph'. Along with
Europe, cinema was also being worked on during that time in America.

It was a silent era in the history of cinema. In fact, Edison had imagined sound-cinema only, but his
imagination came true only in the year 1927 when 'Jazz Singer' came. Between 1895 and 1906, while
cinema was struggling with its technology, on the other hand, it was soon realized that more money could
be earned through cinema only when it was shown collectively. This was not possible with an instrument

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like the Kinetoscope as only one person could see at a time. This motif made possible the development of
cinema on a large scale. However, for years cinema remained a medium shown in tent houses and fairs.
But soon they were replaced by studios and producers insisted on patents. Various techniques were
adopted and cinema started running at double its speed.

The development of railways had contributed a lot to the development of cinema. Film-makers started
using trains to show moving effects. Photographs were taken not only from outside the moving train , but
also from inside , but some enthusiastic producers and cameramen even took pictures by placing the
camera ahead on the engine of the train. It was called 'Phantom Ride'. The film called 'The Kiss in the
Tunnel ' is the best example of this. In 1897, Robert W. Paul took the first uninterrupted photographs of
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations by placing his camera on a tripod. This was a major
achievement in the journey of cinema.

Gradually, new tricks were introduced in the cinema. Robert Paul introduced what he called the ' stop
motion ' technique of a vanishing woman in cinema . Whereas G.A. Smith invented the ' double exposure
technique ' with the help of which ghosts were shown on the screen. It was named ' Ghost Effect ' . Smith
made ' Santa Claus ' using this technique. Another technique credited to Smith is called retrograde
technique or reverse motion film. Similarly, where Edwin Porter and Albert Smith introduced animation
and cartoon films to the society, D.W. Griffith stunned cinema-goers by showing the variety of fire effects
and lighting on the screen in films such as ' The Danka Drs Reformation ' . But most important of all was
the advent of narrative cinema. The narrative technique was used for the first time in ' The Light of Jesus
Christ ' . Griffith is credited with introducing the technique that a movie can be based on a story or that a
movie can be a story. The use of technology in cinema has a long continuous story of technological
development, with various experiments in cinema in later years and continuing till today. Presenting with
the confluence of story, scene, motion, drama, sensitivity, human-feeling, dialogue, dialogue-art and
visual-images, cinema brought a revolution on the world scenario of entertainment.

Till 1913, cinema continued to develop at an uninterrupted pace in Britain, France, Italy, Australia etc.
But due to the beginning of the First World War in 1914 , cinema-making in Europe was unfortunately
interrupted. On the other hand, Thomas Edison's patenting of his technology caused most people
interested in cinema-making to migrate to Southern California. In this way a new center of cinema-
making began to be created which we all know today as Hollywood.

Cinema in India also started almost simultaneously with the world-cinema, but in the later years, the pace
of development of cinema in India was interrupted due to two world wars and India's involvement in the
freedom struggle. Nevertheless, today India is the largest film producing country in the world. Indian
cinema began to film wrestling matches and the Hanging Gardens of Bombay. There has been a long
tradition of theater in India, due to which cinema also had the advantage that theater and audience were
present, but due to integration, it took a long time for cinema to become an industry in India. Later in this
chapter, we will also have a look at the development of theatre. Gradually, cinema was soon accepted as a
substitute for theater in India. It is another matter that cinema never became a substitute for theatre. But it
can be said that art films did emerge as a capable rival to 'celluloid'. For the first time in 1896,
Harishchandra Bhatwadekar started cinema in India by showing cinema in Bombay and Hiralal Sen in

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Calcutta. In 1913, for the first time, Dadasaheb Phalke made 'Harishchandra' in India on the lines of the
film 'Love of Christ ' made in the West. It was a silent film which surprisingly hit the box office.

The twenties of the twentieth century was a flourishing decade for the Indian film industry. India
produced more films than Britain during this decade. PC Baruah, Ganguly and Devaki Bose made their
mark in Bengal, while Chandulal Shah, Himanshu Rai and Shantaram made their mark in Bombay. This
was the time when K.K. People like Subrahmanyam were involved in enriching cinema.

4.3 Relationship of Cinema with Translation

In this chapter we are discussing how cinema performs the function of translation. Apart from this, in this
sequence, we will also see how it gets translated through language, society and culture. Cinema plays a
deep part in the fabric and texture of all three, namely language, society and culture. In this context,
Benjamin Lee Warf says, "Any language is meaningless without the embedded elements of culture, just as
any culture looks non-existent without keeping the structure of its natural language at the center." That is,
language is the soul of any culture, rather say that it is a dialogue between these two i.e. society and
culture, and the energy of life flows continuously. For example, Benjamin Lee Warf says that just as a
surgeon, while performing bypass surgery, cannot ignore other parts of the body, in the same way a
translator is expected to pass through the process of translation to the text related society. And don't
ignore the culture. It is appropriate to say here that when cinema related to a particular language is
translated into another language, a similar convention of cultures is visible there too. From the example of
the talking films that were made after 'Alam Ara', we can say that the linguistic culture of Bengali ,
Marathi , Tamil etc. had left a deep impression on Hindi cinema. In 1935 , PC Baruah associated with '
New Theatres ' made ' Devdas ' in Bengali. Baruah's 'Devdas' established itself as a defining film not only
in Hindi cinema but in Indian cinema. Only the proper coordination of society and culture with the
technology of cinema makes it successful , then the language automatically contributes. This is the reason
why the film 'Sant Tukaram' made in Marathi in 1936 was the first Indian film which could get
international discussion and respect. V. Damle and S. Jointly directed by Fattelal, the film was deeply
rooted in the society and culture of Maharashtra. It can be said that apart from society , culture and
language, if there is any element which plays a central role in the success of the film, it is human
sensitivity. An example of this was Mrinal Sen's 'Bhuvan Som' ( Hindi) made in 1969. The language of
this film was Hindi, the society and culture were of Gujarat, the story was Bengali and the mood was non-
Hindi speaking, but the film was successful. What better example of translation can there be? Many
excellent Hindi language films have been translated from Tamil language films, establishing their
relevance from the cinematic screen to the international world. In Tamil, talented directors like Mani
Ratnam laid the foundation for modern, powerful and highly imaginative cinema. Film talents like
Assamese (Jaanu Barua), Ketan Mehta (Maanvi Ni Bhawai) in Gujarati, Nirad Mahapatra (Emami
Ningthem) in Oriya, established the film as representative of society and culture.

Wherever cinema tried to translate society and culture, language never became a barrier. Cinema does use
popular language, but Indian cinema is known as ' Elipattayam ', 'Swayamvaram', 'Mukhamukham',
‘Anantram', 'Vidheyan', ' Matilukal'. South Indian filmmaker Adoor Gopal Krishnan, who has given
thought-oriented films, believes that it is futile to criticize films only on the basis of language. That's why
Adoor considers it 'crude' or rude to call films in languages other than Hindi as ' regional cinema ' . This is

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the reason why Adoor opposes dividing films of Girish Kanard , Ritwik Ghatak , Shyam Benegal, Girish
Kasaravalli, Satyajit Ray etc. into two categories of art and popular cinema and they always bridge this
gap.

When any film is translated into another language, its scope becomes wider. It is appropriate to say here
that its translation can be ridiculous only on linguistic grounds. This is the reason why when cinema goes
through the process of translation, its creative, cultural and social responsibilities increase even more.
According to Roman Jacobson, only creative translation can be possible within translation. According to
him, any composition when translated transposes the signs. He believes that any translation is considered
successful only when it can convert foreign symbols into symbols of the target environment in addition to
translation. Jacobson, like Benjamin Lee, is not ready to accept that the symbols of one environment are
substitutes for the symbols of another environment, rather he says that symbols from two different
cultures may appear to be similar, but not form one. But, in spite of all the odd circumstances, films are
being translated even today and will continue to be translated in the future as well. The reason for this is
well known that cinema is the most powerful medium of audio-visual medium, because it has not only
entertainment but also the ability to provide information, education as well as the ability to bring about
social change. Even in western countries, cinema has been considered as the most important medium of
cultural expression. For example, you can take Basil Wright's film 'Song of Ceylon' made in 1934 , which
also explores the culture, religion, art, and even the economic condition of his country. This film is also
important because there is an expansion of poetic feeling everywhere, which makes the expression even
more powerful. Along with this the film also exposes the ugliness of the colonial rule in a meaningful
way.

In addition to the expression of a cinema story, it also gives expression to humanity and constitutes it in a
new way, therefore, as an art medium, it is the responsibility of cinema to translate human beings with
their full humanity and artistic feeling. When we talk about films that have a meaningful relationship with
the arts and keep pace with the culture, then we come across the names of films representing diverse
ideologies. These films have been given many names over time, such as realistic film, artistic film,
parallel film , new wave film , commercial film, non -commercial film, elegant film etc. To translate
society and culture in all these types of films, in addition to spontaneity, realism, sensitivity, imagination ,
dynamism and poetry, human and social sophistication is needed. This is the reason why art films were
used against social distortion. The field of art films is such that very powerful and progressive films were
made. Films like 'Damul' or 'Ankur' aptly presented the reality of Indian public life, its horrors and
struggle, which portrayed sympathy towards the common man.

Griffith Eisenstein, Chaplin, Orson Welles, Felino, Bergman, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Godar, Satyajit Ray,
etc. are prominent among those who tried to translate social reality through cinema. A deep moral vision
sets Ray apart from the rest. He considered the audience as his ideal and advocated keeping them at the
center. But he also believed that a limited audience can also be a big and successful cinema. But he also
considered it necessary for the film to be financially successful for ideal and successful films. Among his
successful films, the name of 'Pather Panchali ' is internationally renowned. The film is the story of
interpersonal relationships happening within a family. Where poverty, death, creation, destruction are all
portrayed together. But everything happens in the shadow of invisible social change. The film is
characterized by photographic realism and emotionless analysis. But, this cinema nominated in excellent

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films irrigates the viewer with emotion and sensitivity. It is a Bengali film but its social setting is global.
Apart from this, Satyajit Ray produced classic films like ' Apur Sansar ', 'Charulata', ' Gopi Gayane Bagha
Byne ', ' Seemabandh ' and 'Agantuk ' .

One film that is very important to mention in the context of cinema and translation is French filmmaker
Godard's 1956 film Shwassahrit (' Breathless') which created a sensation among filmmakers around the
world. This film tried to define film-culture in a new way. The film highlights the never ending
relationship between life and literature. Translating the novelty of the subject succinctly to the audience,
the film was instrumental in changing the grammar of cinematic culture. If the role of cinema is effective
then it is possible that humanity will be expressed in a new and meaningful form. Due to these reasons
many times such films are made which take initiative to save humanity, culture, language and society.
French filmmaker Wim Vanders ' film ' Lisbon Story ' is a film in which the film's protagonist wanders in
search of unseen images and unheard sounds. He feels that all images and sounds have been destroyed by
industrial civilization. Here the filmmaker has presented the person, society, man and any aspect of life in
such a way that his creativity penetrates deep into the viewer's feelings and emotions.

In order to translate the film, attention must be paid to the fact that the text of the film is being translated
correctly or not. Because dialogues differ in many films and in such a situation the responsibility of
linguistic sophistication increases on the translator. Wherever You Are, If You Are, by Polish filmmaker
Kristofer Janusi, is one such film. The heroine of this film becomes a victim of mental insanity. The film
has an atmosphere before the Second World War. It was a very difficult task to translate the dialogues of
the heroine who lived in the black shadow of the war into a different language. Nevertheless, while
translating it, the fact was kept in mind that no discount can be taken in conveying the real feeling of the
film to the audience.

Cinema, which translates society and language, plays an important role in the permanence of culture and
in enhancing and disciplining its sophistication and civilization whenever needed. For these reasons, the
role of cinema becomes important to investigate the basic questions of life. In this context,
Humfregennings' film, A Diary for Timothy, set in 1944 during World War II, may be mentioned
contextually. Here Timothy as a child symbolizes the struggling generation to come. How Britain's adults
are determined to save the nation during World War I so that the country can survive and as Timothy
grows up to lead the country in a meaningful and better direction. This effort made through films cannot
be neglected as mere entertainment, rather it can be considered as a milestone towards humanity and
social change. There is a need for a comprehensive sociological study of this art which translates to
'people's psychology' .

4.4 Introduction to Theatre

There has always been an interdependent relationship between the development of human and the
development of art. In this, theatre has been such a genre which has worked to provide a dimension to the
emotional manifestation of human. Needless to say that this genre has played an important role in the
development of language, society and culture. In this unit we will get acquainted with the development of
Indian theatre. It will also examine how theatre translates language, society and culture.

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4.5 Definition of Theatre

Theatre is such an art, where presentation has special importance. It is an art form presented in front of
the audience by three-dimensional mediums such as words or voices , gestures or activities, situations or
installations, in which the story or life experiences are presented to the audience in a variety of ways. The
discussion of Indian theatre is incomplete without Bharatmuni. Bharatmuni is the author of ' Natyasastra'
and for the first time he gave theatre a meaningful condition and direction. According to him, drama is a
follow-up of human gestures and its folk instincts.

The relevance of theatre is proved parallel to society and social values. Theatre takes inspiration from the
society and returns it to the society. It creates the conditions for the unfolding and presentation of a story
or real experience, creates characters, and presents the whole event in its original form or with minor
modifications, without losing its meaning presents in front with full vivacity .

4.6 Development of Theatre in India

The development of Indian theatre and literature has been an important contribution, along with
Ramkatha and Krishnakatha, the stories of Kauravas and Pandavas contributed a lot in the development of
theatre. Theatre flourished in a new form based on the stories of Valmiki's 'Ramayana' and Vedvyas'
'Mahabharata'. The basis of the development of Indian theatre is Bharatmuni's 'Natyashastra' which is
considered the standard book of this genre in the world along with Aristotle's 'Poetics' in the west. Indian
theatre has been continuously developing after the book written about two thousand years ago.

This development of Indian theatre can be divided into three phases :

Classical Phase
The classical phase focused on the writing of plays and the creation of various expressions for their
presentation on stage. This was the time when Sanskrit plays developed and Ashvaghosha, Visakhadatta ,
Kalidas , Bhasa , Harsha and Shudraka contributed significantly to its development. He took the subjects
of his plays from legends, Puranas, history, folklore etc. This allowed these audiences to live and enjoy
stories they were already familiar with. Among the major plays of this phase,'Malavikagnimitra',
'Vikramorvashiyam' and 'Abhigyanashakuntalam' composed by Kalidas are famous.The subject of
'Malavikagnimantra' is historical and the subjects of 'Vikramorvashiyam' and 'Abhigyanshakuntalam' are
mythological. The basis of all these three plays was love. Kalidas was a fan of the soft feelings of the
mind. 'Sariputraprakaran' composed by Ashvaghosha was the first of the Sanskrit dramas which had
Buddhist philosophy embedded in its core. Bhasha composed ' Swapnavasavadatta ' and based his plays
on Ramayana, Mahabharata and ancient texts. 'Uttaramcharit' and 'Mahavir Charit' written in 700 AD
were the best plays of Bhavabhuti. Shudraka, Harsha, Visakhadatta, Bhasa, Kalidas, Bhavabhuti Nissad
were six such creators, who made incomparable contribution to the development of Indian theatre through
their written plays. Harsha's 'Ratnavali' and Visakhadatta's 'Mudrarakshas' also have a special place in
theatrical texts.

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Traditional Stage

The plays of this era were mainly based on traditions and oral practices. The stories narrated from
generation to generation began to be staged in this era and in this era folk stages emerged in different
parts of India with different names in different languages. People started presenting their traditions
through plays. In this, songs, dance and dialogues were used for the presentation of plays. Exactly as it
was done in the classical phase. Ramlila, Raslila, Nautankiyan and other such plays became traditionally
popular in every region. In this sequence, 'Khayal' in Rajasthan, 'Manch' in Madhya Pradesh, 'Nautanki' in
Uttar Pradesh, ' Jatra' in Bengal, ' Bhawai ' in Gujarat etc. emerged. In this era, the presentation of plays
also started through puppets. Puppet dances were also forms of drama in India. 'Putal Naach' (West
Bengal) and ' Kudheri ' (Orissa) are the best examples of puppet dances.

In addition to all this, in this era of theatre, 'shadow theatre' was also developed, which was close to
puppetry, but was slightly different in the sense that where the audience could see the figures of puppets
in the dance of puppets, on this stage they Only shadows could be seen through the light. The first
mention of this type of theater is found in the Tamil text ' Shilappadikaram' . Some Western scholars like
Pichel, Luders and Winternitz are of the opinion that the well-known Sanskrit drama ' Mahannataka' was
written specifically for shadow theatre. Shadow-theatre became famous mostly in Orissa, Kerala,
Maharashtra , Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The images shown in this were usually black
and white, but in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, these images were also multicolored.

Modern Stage

The modern phase of the development of Indian theatre began when the confluence of Indian theatre with
Western theatre began with the advent of the British. The combination of these two gave rise to a new
form of theatre which was based on real and natural performances. Modern theatre especially made its
narrative realistic, experimental and real issues related to the people so that the natural elements of life
could be staged more deeply. With the political changes after independence, the Sangeet Natak Akademi
was established in January 1953 and under this the National School of Drama was established. Ibrahim
Alkazi was appointed as the director of the National School of Drama. The rise of Ibrahim Alakji took
place in the sixties when a new era in the field of drama-writing in Indian languages was being ushered in.

Dharamveer Bharti, Girish Karnad, Mohan Rakesh , Vijay Tendulkar and Badal Sarkar contributed to
making the field of drama wide , strong and multi-coloured. Dharamveer Bharti's ' Andhayug ', Girish
Karnad's ' Yayati ,' and ' Tughlaq ', Mohan Rakesh's ' Ashadh Ka Ek Din', Vijay Tendulkar's' Sukharam
Binder' and ' Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai ', Badal Sarkar's ' Hiroshima ' drama They hold a special place in
the field. By presenting almost all of these works on the stage in an original way, Ibrahim Alkazi created a
new theatrical discourse.

Alkaji considered the recitation, rehearsal and background stage of the plays to be essential for both color
training and theatre work. Apart from this, set design, lighting-concept, clothing-configuration to posters
and brochures of theatrical productions also have a very important place in the world of theatre. Alkaji
was the first to take the initiative to maintain creativity in this field as well .

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Indian theatre has come a long way by passing through various developments in these three phases and
has given birth to contemporary theatre. At present, many theatre circles , committees and academies in
India are committed and working for the development of theatre so that Indian theatre can be given an
international identity. Even in the contemporary perspective, Indian theatre has retained its vibrancy and
is on the path of continuous progress.

4.7 Theatre and Translation

Translation in theatre has always been considered a difficult task. When a work is translated into the form
of theatre, it deviates from its original, either due to the techniques of theatre or its own conditions and
due to the target audience of the theatre, but then it is communicated to the target audience in the same
form. It is not able to be communicated in the form in which it is originally intended. Since theatre is an
art of expression in words and narrative techniques, a translator is faced with many translational problems
when adapting a text for the stage. In such a situation, the whole process of converting the original text
and its theatrical text becomes present in front of us as a complex process. We will discuss this whole
process in the next unit. Theatre lessons differ from lessons in other genres because theatre is an art of
silence. In theatre, many things are expressed in silence, where the artist says a lot without saying
anything, while artistic expressions like story, poetry etc. are present in their statement with completeness.
In this way we can say that theatre translation is also not only linguistic translation but also translation of
tradition, society and culture. For example, we can take the plays of Lakshminarayan Mishra. There is
excellent coordination of Indian and Western sentiments in his plays. The plots of his plays are related to
Indian history and social and cultural problems. For these reasons, his plays have been given the noun of
problem oriented plays. He has analyzed real-life problems and male-female relations and depicted the
conflict between the individual and the society. His plays written in the thirties (1933) - 'Sanyasi',
'Rakshasa Ka Mandir', 'Mukti Ka Rahasya', 'Rajyoga' and 'Sindoor Ki Holi' highlight the problems of
modern life with great detail.

Highlighting the relation of drama and translation, Benjamin Lee believes that translation is the result of
thinking and understanding from which the original text has emerged. Language translation or translation
is just one of its many embedded elements. Anne Oberfeld also believes that in theatre it seems an
impossible task to separate the original text from the theatrical performance. According to him, there is
the same dialectical relationship between theater and text as the relationship between language and film.
Oberfeld opposes artificially separating theater and cinema from any literary text and assigning higher
literary status to either. According to him, translation also translates experiences. In such a situation , this
argument of Anne Oberfeld becomes important for us, because cinema and theater in many ways translate
the feelings in the same way, and sometimes even better, than any literary work can. In such a situation,
the responsibility of the director of any theatre or cinema increases further towards that language and
literature from which the translated art forms, be it theatre or cinema, come after being translated. This
process of transfer and change of signs is continuous, which goes on between theatre and cinema and
literary creation i.e., poetry, story, novel.

Robert Courigen believes that a translator must listen to the voice that is being expressed without being
spoken and must also absorb the little gestures of the language that the written text is not saying, but that
It keeps on expressing itself in silence. In this way, Robert Courigen reaches very close to Bogatyrev in

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his thoughts where he talks about the linguistic system of the theatre. Bogatyrev says that the linguistic
expression of the theatre is actually a structure of signs. It is not just a sign of discourse but a discussion
of signs. Bogatyrev also supports the idea that characters in the theatre should express their attitudes in
accordance with their social circumstances and conditions. In such a situation, they should also express
their relatives and visual realities with subtlety. Robert Carrigan says the same thing. It goes without
saying that we can understand the role of translation in theatre in such a way that it is otherwise a mode of
converting social situations into symbols. For example, by going through the process of translation, one
sign is actually converting its social situation into a similar sign of another social situation.

Theatre knowingly or unknowingly also translates the unlimited imagination of human. Imagination
refers to the senses, impulses and desires of human extending to infinity. This is the reason why heavy
stage-decoration or special lighting arrangements in the play have only secondary importance in front of
the script of the play and the excellent acting ability of the actors.

Theatrical compositions sometimes translate all the circumstances of the country in a satirical manner in a
sharp manner. Gyandev Agnihotri's ' Shatumurg ' is one such play which makes a scathing satire on the
contemporary political system. Well-known story writer and film writer Kamleshwar used to say, “The
level of satire at which the play is composed is the inauguration of an important direction in the plays.
The insight of the playwright has gone deep everywhere and he has given a dramatic capable voice to the
intentions of the time by holding the original story tightly. It is not an easy task to express such churning
and representation of our country's time, such sense of time and the anger, frustration, dissatisfaction
arising out of it, in true sense and easily.

The art of theatre in India has seen many ups and downs since its inception till the present. Bharatmuni's
‘Natyasastra' became the basis of Indian theatre. Apart from this, Indian theatre also absorbed some
positive elements from the theatres of Greece and Rome. In the second half of the 19th century,
Bhartendu Harishchandra discussed it extensively in his article - Natak. Influenced by Kalidas, Shudrak,
Bhasa, Bhavabhuti along with Shakespeare, Kafka, Chekhov etc Indian theatre stands firm with its strong
potential even today. Along with the development of society, politics and modernity, new dimensions
were added to Indian theatre. In the later years, where on one hand the participation of women in Indian
theatre, the thinking of theatre became serious, on the other hand issues like communalism, terrorism,
marketism and globalization were also raised through it. In this way, theatre tried to meaningful
translation of language, culture and society with progressive thinking .

4.8 Comparative Study of Theatre and Cinema

Artistic expression of society, culture and civilization is the basic purpose of theatre and cinema. But the
question may arise that despite the existence of drama in the society today, why does cinema appear to be
a more effective medium? Perhaps the direct answer to this question lies in the development of
technology and skill, in addition to the development of human consciousness and will.

The basic difference between theatre and drama is based on artistic originality. Manoharshyam Joshi talks
at length in this context. They believe that artistic originality in theatre is evident in its live rawness,
whereas in cinema it is used as basic material. Cinema has scope for various options of emotion and

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presentation, while any film passes through high-tech cameras before reaching the audience. But in the
drama nothing happens between the audience and the character. There is scope for repeated analysis and
sophistication in cinema, while theater creates new standards of artistry with its vibrant originality. For
Film and TV the play is performed in front of a camera, not in front of an audience. Secondly, what is
played once is recorded forever. The third and most important thing is that the cameras, which are the
representatives of the audience, are not restricted like the spectators of the theatre to sit in their own seats
and watch the spectacle. In the theatre there is always a distance between the audience sitting on the front
seats and the characters standing on the stage. But for the audience sitting in the theatres, the camera
erases this distance. Cinema can take a great deal of visual liberties by using technique and technology.
But the specialty of theatre is that it leaves a special impression on the audience despite the minimal use
of technology. Along with this, there is a limitation of the theatre that very big things cannot be shown in
it. Scenes like the battle of Panipat or the conquest of Everest or the sinking of the Titanic ship in the
ocean cannot be shown on the grandest stage. Where small things can be shown with the help of a cinema
camera, on the other hand, the biggest things can also be shown. In a way, this is the specialty of a film
that the place of occurrence in it keeps on changing very fast.

Satyajit Ray thinks very seriously about literature, original fiction and screenplay, while discussing the
process of film-making. At one place he explains the difference between theatre and film in this way -
“Theatre and film are completely different things. In a theatre, rituals are easier to follow because you
have three walls and a ceiling, you have a 'proscenium' ( the part between the curtain and the stage where
the orchestra is). Stylized dialogue, stylistic expressions, stylistic setting are all there with a stylistic form.
But why should the film recreate the stage form ? I don't feel any aesthetic need for it , only as some kind
of riyaz it can be. Ray considers cinema a realistic medium. They believe that cinema is very close to
reality. They don't see contraction or any kind of stretch in it. But he recognizes that there is a certain
tension in theatre where conventions have to be accepted. With all these limitations, we are forced to
accept the fact that despite some technical, emotional, stylistic differences, the basic purpose of theatre
and cinema is the same - to translate language, society and culture in contemporary contexts and to adapt
them to new contexts.

4.9 Let Us Sum Up

In this lesson you got acquainted with the development of cinema and theatre, and the role of translation
in it. How cinema is an integrated representation of audio-visual medium. Facing what kind of difficulties
did the cinema move forward on the path of development. How cinema tries to translate language, society
and culture. Apart from this, you got an introduction to the concept of theatre. To know the importance of
various stages in the development journey of theatre you got acquainted with the interrelationship of
theatre and translation and also became aware of the variations and differences between theatre and
cinema .

4.10 Exercise

1. Discuss the development of cinema.

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4. Write a note on the role of modern literature in the development of theatre and cinema.
5. Critically examine theatre and translation.
4.12 Suggested Readings

• Bell, Roger T., 1991, ''Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice'', 1st ed., Longman Group
UK, London.
• Bassnett, Susan, 1991 , "Translation Studies", Revised ed., Routledge, London.
• Ritwik Ghatak, 1987, " Cinema and I", Ritwik Memorial Trust, Calcutta, Roopa & Company .
• Bluestone, George, 1957, " Novels into Films ", University of California Press , Berkeley .
• Susan K. Langer, 1953, " Feelings and Form ", 1st ed . , Routledge & Kegan Paul , London .
• "Marx -Engel on Literature and the Arts ", 1976 , Progress Publications , Moscow . _ _ _

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