‘The Superhero’: Ist Global Meeting, Mansfield College, Oxford, England
September 7 – 9, 2015
Parody, Performance, and Simulacra in the Superhero Genre of
Contemporary Hindi Cinema
Producer Rakesh Roshan on Krrish (2006), India‘s first superhero film: “People who have seen
the film, are of the opinion that this film is not like Hollywood, it IS Hollywood.i
As this telling remark suggests, ―Hollywood functions ‗as a crucial marker of film form‘ and
‗the locus of both envy and resentment‘ in setting the Indian film industries‘ standards for
technical and promotional sophistication…Hollywood often serves as the benchmark, with India
getting the short end of the comparison.‖ii
Hollywood‘s decisive millennial turn towards fantasy genres as a result of the global
popularity of superhero franchises like Marvel‘s Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America,
Superman, Spider-man, Batman has been aggressively embraced by Bollywood. Indian
audiences have enthusiastically responded to Western superheroes — Spider-Man and SpiderMan 2 were the No. 3 and No. 2 Hollywood releases in India, after Titanic when Krrish was
released in 2006. More recently, The Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015) broke previous box-office
records when it first released in India, and is currently Hollywood‘s third highest grossing film of
2015, after being toppled by the outstanding BO performance of Jurassic World (2015), which
incidentally stars an Indian actor named Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, The Namesake etc.).iii
CGI and Spandex rule the telly: There has been an explosion of superhero-and-comicbook-inspired American TV dramas such as Gotham, Flash, Arrow, Agent Carter, Daredevil et.
al. Popularity of comic-book based superhero TV dramas with niche Indian audiences have ―led
channels such as Star World Premiere HD to air shows such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The
Walking Dead, and Marvel‘s Agent Carter within hours of their international telecast.‖iv
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Millennial industrial changes in the Bombay film industry - Over the past few
decades, digital and virtual media convergences, of the internet, the video gaming industry,
transnational cable channels, and the rapid growth and bi-directional media content outsourcing
by American and Indian digital graphics companies (Graphics India etc.), and visual effects
companies (Visual Computing Labs [CGI in Jodhaa Akbar]; an Indian subsidiary of Los
Angeles-based Prana Studios responsible for VFX in the 5th season of Game of Thronesv);
Mumbai-based Rhythm & Hues acquired by Prana in 2013 [―…technicians worked on The
Chronicles of Narnia, the first American film with a significant Indian collaboration to be
nominated for an Oscar for best visual effects (VFX)‖vi]; and VFX, the superstar Shah Rukh
Khan‘s special effects branch of his company Red Chillies Entertainment et.al.), have
significantly transformed the millennial Bombay film industry. ―These companies…capitalize(d)
on the rise of special effects in Indian cinema…films like Enthiran and Ra. One hav(ing)
ratcheted up expectations for the visual and effects industry.‖vii The explosion and penetration of
digital media cultures has inevitably influenced the types of genres Bollywood is producing. To
quote Rajiv Raghunathan, Sr. Line Producer, DI, who worked on Krrish (2006) ―Indian cinema
is fast embracing Digital Intermediate technology. Currently, it is the big budget blockbusters
that employ these techniques. However, DI is fast becoming the de facto standard in all
Bollywood films. This is evident in the last year wherein DI is being used increasingly to
enhance the look and feel of the film as opposed to correcting shooting flaws.‖viii
The millennial superhero genre is constitutively informed by digital media cultures. The
digital media world informs the superhero genre in two ways: Firstly, it is enabled by
satellite/cable and internet and its accessibility by millennial Indians who are largely urban,
educated, aspirational youths, aware of global genres, and the latest media trends; Secondly,
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digital media technologies are textually inscribed as content – video games which performs a
pivotal role in Ra.One – the problematic blurring of virtual and real worlds, computers, cellphones, graphics, touch-screen interfaces. In the era of new media and media convergence…a
new kind of reflexivity and self-consciousness governs Bollywood‘s output, and…remains in
conversation with global cinemas.
In this paper, I contend that the emergent superhero genre of recent Hindi cinema is an
incoherent textual and extra-textual simulacrum of the Hollywood superhero films. The Krrish
superhero, sci-fi franchise, comprising of Koi...Mil Gaya (2003), Krrish (2006), and Krrish 3
(2013), that explicitly references the Rambo franchise in the naming of its constituent films, is
considered Indian cinema‘s first such film series. In 2011, Khan‘s superhero blockbuster Ra.One
was released to mixed reviews and reactions. I would like to argue that the physiognomy,
hypermasculinity, costumes, and performative style of the Hindi film superheroes such as Krrish
and G.One, and archenemies and sidekicks (Kaal and Kaya in Krrish 3; and the eponymous
Ra.One) become unintentionally parodic whilst reflexively imitating the American superhero
genre.
Millennial Hindi superhero films are citations, extensive quotations of the dominant idiom of
Hollywood superhero films; gesturing towards ―Hindi cinema‘s increasing capacity for selfcitation – the creation of ‗something new with the help of references.‘‖ix They exemplify ―the
imitative logic of development which situates Bombay cinema somewhere between a not-quite
and a not-yet Hollywood.‖x The Hindi superhero genre is a self-conscious, formulaic importation
of an essentially American genre that has been hitherto only superficially indigenized and
localized by inserting Indian character names, (occasional) Indian locations, and the inevitable
song and dance sequence. Hindi cinema in the new millennium has invested considerable labor
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in re-imagining, appropriating, and indigenizing millennial trends, discourses, and globally
circulating genres such as the sci-fi/superhero genre (and supernatural, horror, fantasy genres).
Sifting through and reworking the international idiom of superhero films.
Cursory attempts at indigenization/“Indianization” of the superhero genre
―‗Indianization‘ refers to [the] phenomenon, where Hollywood is remade for domestic
audiences…Sumita Chakravarty describes Indianization as the ‗selective assimilation of
technical codes and values‘ used as ‗a tactics for survival adopted by beleaguered or berated film
industries‘ [while] Tejaswini Ganti describes the complex processes through which Hindi film
producers evaluate the suitability of particular Hollywood scripts, scenes, and plots for
adaptation, focusing on how ‗the process of Indianization becomes an arena for Hindi
filmmakers to construct difference at the level of the nation.‘ Sheila Nayar argues that remakes
are more like ‗extracted skeletons,‘ plot repositories that are molded and shaped for a more
sufficient and efficient cultural refilling.‘‖xi
All these superhero films feature song and dance sequences. Local/global collaboration is
exemplified by a song sequence called ‗Chamak Challo‘ in Ra.One in which the American
singer, Akon, sings quite convincingly in Hindi. According to acclaimed director Shekhar Kapur,
Indian viewers would see the film because "Krrish can dance and sing, and Spider-Man cannot,
but mostly because Krrish is more rooted in our culture.‖xii But is it really rooted in Indian
culture? The title and titular character who is the villain, Ra.One phonetically has mythological
connotations, referring to Ravan, the demon-king featured in the sacred Hindu epic, The
Ramayana. G.One, the hero played by the superstar Shah Rukh Khan, phonetically means
‗Jeevan‘ or ‗life‘ in Hindi. The film and its posters faced allegations of plagiarism with
similarities to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the Batman series, Iron Man(2008), The
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Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) and Tron: Legacy (2010).xiii Khan denied the allegations, saying, "I
got inspired from a lot of superhero movies but the movie is original. In fact, Ra.One will be the
first superhero-based movie in the world in which the superhero lives in a family."xiv Making
G.One a family man was supposed to appeal to Indian audiences.
Locations: Usually modern, international, urban cities and spaces: Krrish 3 is recognizably
set in Mumbai, whilst the superhero Krrish makes his appearance in Singapore, and Ra.One is
largely located in London, the Tate Modern featuring prominently in one CGI-sequence of car
destruction.
Transnational influences - Post-globalization era in India – gyms and bodybuilding –
changing standards and ideas about masculinity, and male attractiveness – no longer overweight
and misshapen male stars sporting pot-bellies and mustaches as signs of prosperity, virility and
masculinity.
Superhero star body, hypermasculinity, & performance: Hypermasculine yet supple
physique of the star body which can lend credibility to superhero roles, brawny musculature,
corporeal excess, erotic objectification of the male body, commonplace in Hollywood and Hong
Kong action films, his bulging biceps and hyper masculine body through medium and extreme
close-ups. Roshan‘s body is deployed in action sequences, performing dare-devil stunts without
body doubles, such as in/as Krrish (2006), Bollywood's first fully realized Superman-style hero
In the Hollywood tradition of superhero costuming, Krrish dons a skin-tight, superhero outfit that
accentuates his physique and emphasizes the hero‘s idealized hypermasculinity. He has great
physical strength and is able to leap, like Spider-Man but sans web, among trees. Roshan‘s
physicality is imitative of how bodies are deployed in American and Hong Kong popular and
cinematic culture and is inscribed with transnational influences as this film is primarily set in
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South East Asia, features an extended sequence in which Krrish ‗learns‘ Hong Kong style chopsocky action, and the stunt choreography is orchestrated by the legendary Hong Kong figure SiuTung Ching.
There is also a transnational dimension to Roshan‘s unstable and mutable body and
physical features that not only accommodate diverse genres, but transcend fixed racial and
national identities, facilitating the emergence of a global star - Western bodybuilding practices
(such as DTP or Dramatic Transformation Principle) and physical training, and stylistic
techniques of the body montage. Roshan was featured on the August 2012 cover of the magazine
Men’s Health. The article was an incredibly detailed account of his grueling exercise and dietary
regimen in preparation for his superhero role in Krrish 3 under the guidance of famed American
trainer Chris Gethin.
Roshan has constructed a ‗pumped-up‘ physique through grueling body-building sessions at
the gym, inspired by Hollywood‘s legendary macho men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester
Stallone and Claude Van Damme, thus transforming himself from a lanky ‗boy-next-door‘ (Jha,
2001) to an icon of masculinity befitting superhero roles. Much like the musclemen of Bombay
cinema, and particularly Salman Khan whose gym Roshan used to visit, the star body have been
created through Western body building practices (such as the aforementioned DTP) and designed
to fit the Western model of masculinity so that it sports an ‗international look‘ which can crossover and be accepted by global audiences. It bears few traces of Indian body-building and/or
indigenous wrestling practices and is a transnational body fit for consumption by Western, crossover viewers, and befitting a superhero.xv
Transnational labor involved in superhero costuming: Imitative of the caped crusader and
modeled on Hollywood superhero costumes and accoutrements (face mask, underwear). The
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Hindi film superheroes do not wear traditional Indian costumes unlike the Barka Avenger, a
popular animated, Pakistani superwoman who dons the traditional Islamic dress worn by women,
thus giving new meaning to a piece of garment which has often been accused of being oppressive
and disempowering Muslim women. Created by AKA Haroon in 2013 in Islamabad, and ranked
among the world‘s most influential fictional characters by Time magazine, this emerging local
superwoman fights with books and pens against a Taliban-like, evil magician called Baba
Bandook who is in cohorts with a corrupt politician. This imaginative reworking of the superhero
genre is a gutsy attempt to undermine dominant political and gender ideologies in the region.
According to its creator, the burka is simply hiding the character‘s identity like other superheroes
and since the main character ―is a woman, we could have dressed her up like Cat-woman or
Wonder Woman, but that wouldn‘t have worked in Pakistan,‖ referring to the overly sexualized
depictions of Hollywood superwomen.xvi
Krrish (2006): Getting the ‗look‘ right! ―To create a homegrown superhero, the Roshans had to
start from scratch. A crucial question: What would this hero wear? Six months of trials and
fittings ultimately led to the rejection of tights and a lungi (a skirtlike garment, worn mainly by
men) in favor of a more modern all-black-leather ensemble. Some 70 designs for masks were
tested…Rakesh's biggest concern was making Krrish look sufficiently world class. ‖
Krrish 3 (2013) costumes: A team from the US scanned all the costumes.
Kaya‘s costume: Imitative of overly sexualized Hollywood superwomen in skin-tight costumes,
a mutant named Kaya, one of Krrish‘s archenemies, is clad in such a svelte, clingy outfit made of
rubber and latex (weighing 20 kilograms, and taking three and a half hours to don), that the staractor playing Kaya, Kangana Ranaut, reportedly, ―felt so naked in [her] costume.‖xvii According
to costume designer Gavin Miguel, since Kaya had ―a lot of toughness in her personality…
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instead of looking at feminine superheroes for reference, I looked at Batman. We wanted the
outfit to maintain a balance of strength meets femininity…xviii
Ra.One (2011) costume: Designed by Robert Kurtzman and Tim Flattery, and made by a team
of specialists based in Los Angeles. G.One‘s blue latex costume cost a million dollars. In the
words of SRK, ―Like the Spiderman suit, my costumes are specialised. They are not for style –
you can‘t wear them to parties. But yeah, you could probably wear G.One‘s designer Tshirts"xix
Transnational Collaborative Special effects: Hollywood special effect + Indian Prasad EFX
realizes India‘s first Super Hero
Aided by Hollywood's Marc Kolbe and Craig Mumma, who had both previously worked on such
films as Independence Day, Godzilla and Sky Captain as well as the prequel to Krrish, the E.T.
inspired Koi…Mil Gaya, ―Krrish is among the first Indian films to be truly considered in the
visual effects genre. EFX, a division of Prasad Labs, among India‘s top digital post production
facilities was the partner of choice to execute the film‘s visual effects requirements. One of the
few Indian films that had an intensive pre-production planning process, Krrish involved
extensive visualization and story boarding where visual effects supervisors Craig Mumma and
Marc Kolbe became involved in the set design, planning of lighting as well as camera angles. In
doing so, they were able to seamlessly integrate the pre-production planning and shooting with
the post-production processes including Digital Intermediate, 3D modelling and visual effects.‖xx
Says Craig Mumma, ―Krrish is indicative of Indian cinema‘s ascent to the global arena. It will be
a trendsetter because it is among the first few films to leverage global expertise and technology
to make the film larger than life.‖xxi ―As the Indian film industry embraces the digital era,
Autodesk is at the helm of the digital revolution sweeping through Bollywood. They are helping
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directors to realize larger than life visions and cinematographers to match that vision and deliver
the ―wow‖ effect that was previously inconceivable.‖xxii The local/global imaginative, creative,
and technological collaborations that engender the Hindi millennial superhero film reveal ―an
international division of cultural labor that supports the invigoration of new markets and
commodity forms.‖xxiii This is evident in transmedia franchises of Krrish as comic book (Krrish:
Menace of the Monkey Men), video games (Krrish: The Game and Krrish 3), and animated
television series (Kid Krrish aired on Cartoon Network India, and J Bole Toh Jadoo televised on
Nickelodeon) predictably emulate the Hollywood model of transmedia reiterations of the
superhero. The Hindi superhero genre‘s extra-textual mimicry of the pre-release marketing,
merchandising, branding, and transmedia franchising of Hollywood superhero blockbusters also
deserves further interrogation.
Amitabh Bachchan: “All Indian heroes are superheroes”: Salman Khan and
Rajnikanth films are produced and received by Indian audiences as superhero films because
these legendary superstars embody superheroic qualities, despite the absence of overt generic
signs or markers of the superhero film. As the iconic Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan
who will play a superhero, named ‗Astra‘ in an animated TV series called ‗Astra Force‘ to be
aired on Disney Channel India in early 2017, astutely comments, ―All Indian heroes are
superheroes. They take care of a lot of things. They get most beautiful women, fight 50 to 60
villains at the same time and jump off skyscrapers without a scratch… what more do you
want?‖xxiv
Incidentally, the craze for fitness and body building in the Bombay film industry was
started by Salman Khan whose home-gymnasium is famous for having been used by future stars
including Roshan. Salman Khan‘s body is a caricatured musculature, a parody of a comic book
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hero‘s body as in Dabangg (2010) when his muscles inflate in fury, causing his shirt to rip off
and expose his bare upper torso, or when his shirt blows away in the wind, as seen in a fight
sequence in Bodyguard (2011), or when his shirt catches fire in Wanted (2009). His physique
hinders his dancing abilities; an Indian Hulk Hogan, Khan‘s stiff and taut body is suitable for
display and action sequences but not much else. It is ‗an excessive parody of an ideal
masculinity.‘xxv This may be debatable but I think his body is comical and this is acknowledged
in a comedic manner in his most recent box-office success, Bodyguard, when Kareena Kapoor‘s
character and her college mates mimic Khan‘s distinctive gait and stiff arms. In these films there
are moments of self-reflexive knowingness about a parodic masculinity which often becomes a
source of humor. A stable, fixed corporeality of the great Indian mass hero, Khan does not
transform his body to fit the character, instead the character is created to fit his star persona.
QUESTIONS TO ASK:
 Nitin Govil‘s conceptualization of the ‗copy‘ in Reorienting Hollywood: Bollywood has
often been accused of copying. The copy, ―conceived traditionally as forgery‖
intrinsically implies the ―persistence of the structuring binaries – original/counterfeit,
reality/mimesis, truth/artifice…Beyond simple imitation, copying signifies that which is
transformative, dynamic and emergent.‖xxvi
 What does the superhero genre mean to Hindi cinema?
 What might the millennial reiterations of this genre tell us about Bollywood‘s industrial
and spectatorial compulsions?
 Why are there only superficial, cursory attempts at indigenizing the genre, and why aren‘t
these present reiterations borrowing from the rich and vast heritage of Indian folklore and
legends?
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 The genre is a reminder of the historical disparagement of Hindi adaptations as ‗improper
imitation‘; inauthentic and unoriginal – perhaps explains the lukewarm response by
Indian audiences to the genre
References
i
‗Autodesk Media and Entertainment helps create ―Krrish‖ - India‘s first Super Hero‘ publicity
brochure
ii
Nitin Govil, Reorienting Hollywood: A Century of Film Culture Between Los Angeles and
Bombay, (New York and London: NYU Press, 2015), 45.
iii
―Box Office: Jurassic World Beats The Avengers Age Of Ultron In India!‖ Business of
Cinema. July 6, 2016. Available online at: https://in.movies.yahoo.com/post/123361586909/boxoffice-jurassic-world-beats-the-avengers-age. Accessed on July 6, 2015.
iv
Sharmila Ganesan, ‗Spandex on the small screen,‘ Sunday Times of India, July 5, 2015. p.13.
v
Shelly Walia, ―This Indian company made Khaleesi‘s dragons in 'Game of Thrones,'‖ Available
at: http://scroll.in/article/741205/this-indian-company-made-khaleesis-dragons-in-game-ofthrones, accessed July 16, 2015.
vi
Govil 109.
vii
Ibid.
viii
Autodesk publicity brochure
ix
Govil 69.
x
Ibid., 45.
xi
Ibid., 70-1.
11
xii
Anupama Chopra, ―In 'Krrish,' Bollywood Gets a Superhero of Its Own,‖ New York Times,
June 11, 2006, Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/movies/11chopr.html?ex=1307678400&en=53ef94c48a3b5
ba2&ei=5088&partner=rss&_r=0. Accessed on July 6, 2015.
xiii
―Has Ra.One been inspired by this?‖Rediff.com. September 19, 2011.Available online at:
http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-raones-inspirations/20110919.htm.
Accessed on July 6, 2015.
xiv
―‗RA.One' superhero is a family man, says SRK.‖ IBNLive.com. October 15, 2011. Available
online
at:
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/ra-one-superhero-is-a-family-man-says-srk-
409904.html. Accessed on July 6, 2015.
xv
For more on transnational influences on Hrithik Roshan‘s star body, see Nandana Bose, ‗From
Superman to Shahenshah: Stardom and the transnational corporeality of Hrithik Roshan.‘
Figurations in Indian Film. Eds. Meheli Sen and Anustup Basu. Basingstoke: Palgrave
McMillan, 2013.
xvi
Nalin Mehta, ‗Burka Cool,‘ Sunday Times of India, July 5, 2015, p. 13.
xvii
―I felt so naked in my costume in Krrish 3, says Kangana Ranaut!‖ Bolegaindia.com.
November 14, 2013. Available online at:
http://www.bolegaindia.com/gossips/I_felt_so_naked_in_my_costume_in_Krrish_3_says_Kanga
na_Ranaut-gid-36583-gc-6.html. Accessed on July 6, 2015.
xviii
―Designing Kangna and Vivek's costumes for Krrish 3,‖ Screen Weekly, November 1, 2013.
Available online http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/5700/.
Accessed on July 6, 2015.
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xix
Nikhil Taneja, ―SRK's suits in Ra.One worth a 100 crore.‖ Hindustan Times. September
12, 2010. Available online at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/srk-s-suits-in-raone-worth-a-100-crore/article1-598780.aspx. Accessed on July 6, 2015.
xx
Autodesk publicity brochure.
xxi
Ibid.
xxii
Ibid.
xxiii
Govil, 72.
xxiv
―All Indian heroes are superheroes: Amitabh-Bachchan.‖ Indian Express, June 15, 2015,
Available online: http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/television/all-indian-heroes-aresuperheroes-amitabh-bachchan/. Accessed on July 2, 2015.
xxv
Yvonne Tasker, 1993, 1.
xxvi
Govil, 41.
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