bollywood’s magic masala.

(Re)appraising relationships between India’s commercial art and 1970–80s Masala film narratives.

May 2023

(From Left)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Coolie (1983), Suhaag (1979)
Director: Manmohan Desai
Poster Artist: Diwakar Karkare

The masala genre–a hybrid genre that blends comedy, melodrama, romance, action and musical–grew in popularity due to its ability to evoke high-strung emotions in under one film. In a time where hand-painting was the medium of choice, masala posters were treated as a dramatic piece of visual language due to an artist’s ability to tell a story on canvas to mirror the range of emotions in its narrative. However, with the emergence of technology, the preference for digital methods has led to a possible death of India’s visual culture.

As such, this project aims to revive and appreciate India’s lost art of hand-painting through its ability to exhibit masala narratives using emotional storytelling, in hopes of sparking conversations on its continuing relevance as an advertising medium for Bollywood films.

Bollywood’s Magic Masala is a series of abstract emotional landscapes based on data of varied emotional levels collected from watching blockbuster masala films by filmmaker Manmohan Desai. Showcased through unconventional mediums of 1.5 meter larger-than-life art pieces and originally crafted lino print posters, the outcomes of this project are influenced by prominent characteristics of a hand-painted commercial film poster, where painters use techniques of collaging, layering and overpainting as means to convey emotional appeal to mass audiences.

(01) Emotional Longevity is an art installation that ties the artistic technique of India’s commercial painters with the filmic narratives of masala movies through data. Emotions are translated through the use of five different colours, each representing a level of emotion from 1 to 5 according to the emoted data recorded.

The art piece’s extreme length of over 1.5 meters is a depiction of the 3-hour movie experience of a Bollywood film, and its ability to evoke extensive feelings in just one setting.

(From Top)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977),
Coolie (1983), Suhaag (1979)

(02) Form Exaggeration Poster series is a collection of poster art showcasing a different intrepetation of Bollywood posters through filled-colour illustrations inspired by dramatic formations of movie characters from these masala films. In filmmaker Manmohan Desai’s masala films, exaggeration is a key driving force in enabling actors to depict a certain dramatisation of feeling, provoking high intensity of emotions for audiences to experience as they enjoy these movies.

Choice of medium–lino printing–is inspired by India’s blockprinting technique, as well as to bring out commercial poster characteristics of layering and collaging in conveying a film’s narrative.

Form Exaggeration Poster Series
42cm x 59.4cm
Lino Print on Paper.

(03) The Masala Publications is a 3-part publication series that acts as an information booklet about the Bollywood’s Magic Masala project, with each corresponding to the three key masala films of filmmaker Manmohan Desai–Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Coolie (1983) and Suhaag (1979). In addition to background context of India’s commercial art and the key masala narratives, each book showcases the film’s emotional data that inspired the outcomes of this project.

11.2cm x 21cm
40pp, Recypal
Thread Sewn.

(04) Creative Process Journal is a ring-binded publication that acts as a form of documentation of the creative journey of this project, including research findings, experimentations and its outcomes, lecturer consultations and the various other whacky incidents that took place in our school studio, D301.

More information about this project can be found on magicmasala.cargo.site.