Text and Context – 3: Looking at Indian cinema through Pudovkin’s five editing techniques

While the evolution of editing as a narrative tool, in Indian cinema or otherwise, cannot be entirely attributed to Soviet film theorists, it becomes relevant to see how even today Vsevolod Pudovkin’s film techniques seem to be implemented consistently and creatively

(Originally published in The Hindu on December 15, 2022)

Pure cinema, according to Alfred Hitchcock was the use of the Kuleshov Effect: an effect demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov to show how viewers can derive meaning from a sequential order of shots and the interaction between them. The effect created by the juxtaposition of shots is often used to define the art of cinema itself.

Russian film theorist and filmmaker, Vsevolod Pudovkin — who is argued as one of the founders of the Kuleshov Effect and as a key figure in establishing its derivative, the Soviet montage theory — wrote about five editing techniques under the chapter ‘Editing As An Instrument Of Impression’ in his 1929 book Film Technique and Film Acting. These techniques, once again, use the Kuleshov Effect and speak about how film editing can be used as a “method that controls the ‘psychological guidance’ of the spectator.” These five techniques are contrast, simultaneity, parallelism, symbolism, and leitmotif.

Theories and formulas, once established, tend to be used mechanically after a point. While the evolution of editing as a narrative tool, in Indian cinema or otherwise, cannot be entirely attributed to Soviet film theorists, it becomes relevant to see how Pudovkin’s film techniques are implemented today, even in popular Indian cinema.

Simultaneity, a tool of suspense

Simultaneity is the easiest technique to find in films all over the world. Pick any Indian suspense drama that was influenced by American films, and there is a chance you will find a section in which two scenes with two distinct actions are rapidly knitted to create tension. As Pudovkin puts it, “the outcome of one depends on the outcome of the other,” and this elicits a sense of urgency or excitement.

In Ghajini (2005/2008), the scene that has Kalpana hiding inside her pooja room from the killers is intercut with that of Sanjay searching for her. The imminent danger and the suspense of if and how Kalpana will learn Sanjay’s identity are accentuated here.

In Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram (2022), the scene with the unconscious baby at a battlefield is intercut with Amar and the team on their way to save the day. Several Indian films have used simultaneity as a method to replace ‘shock’ with ‘tension’. In Don (1978) and its Tamil remake Billa (1980), it is only after the end of ‘Are Diwano’ or ‘My Name is Billa’ do we see the police entering the party hall to arrest the gang. However, in the 2007 Tamil remake, Billa and its 2009 Telugu counterpart, the songs are intercut with that of police arriving.

Contrast gets a criminal twist

Speaking of gangster films, thanks to the popularity of the infamous baptism scene in The Godfather (1972), Indian cinema has also used Pudovkin’s contrast technique over and over in gangster films.; here two scenes happening simultaneously are cross-cut but the emphasis is more on the extreme differences in the subject handled. In The Godfather, while Michael Corleone stood as a godfather to his niece at the church, the scene is cross-cut to the Corleone gang’s killing spree. Here, the contrast is between a holy ceremony such as baptism — which is meant to purify the soul — and the act of killing.

In many versions of The Godfather in India, like…..

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