This four-part series spotlights four Syracuse University summer abroad programs and students’ experiences – part 1 of 4.

Syracuse University students can use the summer to escape hard work, but participants of the SU Bollywood Practicum traveled halfway around the world in search of it.

Created in 2008 by Tula Goenka, an associate professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the SU Bollywood Practicum takes Newhouse to Mumbai, India, for a hands-on film production experience.

This summer, 12 students, accompanied by Goenka and Newhouse adjunct professor Mark Bennington, worked for three weeks at the Whistling Woods International Institute for Film, Fashion & Media. There they gained practical work skills, valuable life experiences and new perspectives.

“I think it is really important for students trained in the western way of storytelling to find out there are other ways to telling a story, other ways to approach filmmaking,” Goenka said.

In the students’ first week at Mumbai, they took part in the filming of a Bollywood dance routine, as dance and song are very important aspects in Indian cinema, Goenka said.

Sarah Grabman, a sophomore television, radio and film major, said getting firsthand shooting experience was one of the most beneficial aspects of the program. Students were taught the dance’s choreography in two days and shot the scene at night from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. the next day.

“We were shot by some of the students at the institute and a professional cinematographer,” Grabman said. “We got hair and makeup and professional outfits done, so we got the whole experience in front of the camera and behind the camera.”

Students also worked on creating a documentary film for a Mumbai-based non-governmental organization. The student groups met with representatives of the organizations and then filmed their own documentaries, often having to commute to different parts of Mumbai on their own, Grabman wrote in her blog.

This mix of collaboration and hands-on experience was one of the most beneficial aspects of the program, Grabman said. They could converse with and learn from people already working in the film industry. Each morning the students received a lecture from either a professional filmmaker or a professor at the institute.

But perhaps the most important thing that these students learned in India was how differently things are done across the globe – unlike Hollywood stories, Bollywood films cannot be categorized by genre, Grabman said.

“We have a comedy, or a horror, but they like to include everything all within one film, and they call it Navarasa, which is the nine emotions you go through as you’re watching a film,” she said.

Learning film concepts like Navarasa, and working on a day-to-day basis with Indian filmmakers not only strengthened the students’ production skills, but immersed them in Indian culture as well.

Grabman said that she noticed the cultural differences as soon as she got off the plane. What she noticed the most was the welcoming spirit of the Indian people: they would offer help with no ulterior motives and freely invited Grabman to dance at their weddings, which she added was one of the coolest experiences of the trip.

The students also got to experience the richness of Indian history, taking class trips to villages and visiting the Taj Mahal, Goenka said.

Seeing the marble mausoleum was one of the most memorable parts of the trip for senior public communications major Nathaniel Carlson, who is staying in India after the program to intern with Trace VFX, a production company. Carlson vividly remembered an experience he had with artisans near the Taj Mahal.

“You walk inside and see three or four men with a range of age from thirties to fifties sitting on the floor, doing intricate work with semiprecious gems thinner than a fingernail,” Carlson said in an email. “They’re all working either carving these little pieces until they’re perfect or taking them and putting them together to form the finished piece.”

Carlson said he was mesmerized, sitting on the floor, watching them create floral patterns of gem on marble. Although they spoke little English, as Carlson left the store one of the artisans called him his friend, appreciative that Carlson had shown an interest in his work.

As in Carlson’s case, SU Bollywood Practicum does more than teach filmmaking technique, Goenka said, It exposes students to a totally different worldview and provides perspectives on life outside the western world.

“To go to a part of the world which is completely different, which is a developing nation, I think just exposes you to different things that you do not get from a developed country,” Goenka said.

Published on June 24, 2014 at 11:24 pm

Contact Brendan: bskrisel@syr.edu