THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF COLOUR USAGE IN BOLLYWOOD UPON AUDIENCE: STUDYING SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI’S WORKS

Abhishree Khanna
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, India

ABSTRACT

Colour is found to be one of the most important visual experiences to human beings. When people associate colours to objects and spaces, colour symbolism comes into play, resulting in an emotional impact. A space where the two aspects – colour and emotion – come together is cinema. Movies contain emotional backdrop created by the storyline, the characters, and more; combining that with the aesthetic frames presented to the viewers can result in an overall enhancement of the emotional scaffolding created. In Bollywood, the largest sector of Indian cinema, Filmi music – soundtracks produced especially for the motion picture industry – accounts for 72 percent of the music net revenues generated. The Bollywood musical videos are a colorful feast in themselves, which are used generously by directors. One among such is Sanjay Leela Bhansali; a Bollywood director, producer, screenwriter and music director who is known for his huge set designs, cinematography and overall artistic perspective. This study identifies audience’s emotional experience caused due to use of colours in specific songs of Sanjay Leela Bhansali movies. The understanding will take place via analysis of the questionnaire created to gauge emotional reception of the audience upon viewing the musical videos. Due to the powerful nature of colours, it can be predicted that they will play an essential role in emotional enhancement and general entertainment of the music videos. Should this study successfully portray the effective colours usage then directors, cinematographers, production designers, film theorists, film students among other can gain further applicable colour understanding. Thus allowing a more conscious and informed use of colours to better the audience connect with the movies’ emotions, ultimately enhancing a visual experience for the viewers.

KEYWORDS

Colours, emotion, Bollywood, filmi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali