History of Indian Cinema

Indian Cinema

• Indian film industry is considered the largest film industry in the world.
• Although the main language in which the movies are produced is Hindi, almost every regional language of India has its own film industry catering for their respective areas.

History of Indian Cinema

• A number of brothers invented cinema in the last decade of the nineteenth century; they did not quite realise the fact that their invention would revolutionise the world.
• The first films were made in an unpretentious manner. Only 7 months after its inauguration (cinemas being conducted at Watson's hotel), the Lumiere Brothers exhibited their films for the first time on 7th July, 1896.
• In 1898, Hiralal Sen & brother (Batlal Sen) of Calcutta formed The Royal Bioscope Company.
• The task of making the first feature film goes to Dadasaheb Phalke (Dhundiraj Govind Phalke), who released his first film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913.
• The history of Indian cinema can be broadly divided into three phases.

The Era of Silent Films (1913-31)

• A kaleidoscope of documentary films.
• History of India includes the pioneering efforts like Hiralal Sen & Dadasaheb Phalke.
• First short films in India were directed by Hiralal Sen, starting with Flower of Persia (1898).
• In 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke, the entertainment sector underwent huge changes and the coming of Dadasaheb Phalke would see the production of the first silent feature film of the country, Raja Harishchandra, was released in 1913.
• During this time and during the coming of the talkies, the main sources for films were religious and mythological texts.

Interesting Facts About Indian Cinema

• India's First Film: Adam Airs (light effects and short scenes) by Ardeshir Irani was screened for the first time I March, 1896.
• Raja Harischandra: was the first full-length Indian silent film by Dadasaheb Phalke.
• Alam Ara: was the first Indian talkie film by Ardeshir Irani. The music was made by B. Irani.
• First colour talkie film: Kisan Kanya is the first coloured film, which was directed by Ardeshir Irani.
• First film to win an Oscar: The song AB Tumhare Hawale Watan Sathiyo in the film by the same name is the lengthiest Hindi film song. The length of the song is 20 minutes and the song is featured in three instalments in the film.

Pre-Independence Talkies (1931-47)

• The introduction of the talkies in Indian cinema led to the end of the silent era and ushered in the era of sound.
• The latter introduced the Indian cinema to a wider national audience.
• The latter also introduced the Indian cinema to a wider national audience.
• Now, film could portray the actors and actresses talk, laugh, sing, cry, etc.
• Songs were also primarily made in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Telugu and proved to be extremely popular.
• The 1930s and the 1940s witnessed the creation of several studios, such as New Theatres, Prabhat, Bombay Talkies, Wadia Movietone, Minerva Movietone, Gemini Studios, and others.
• At this time, the content of Indian cinema grew further. By this time apart from mythological subjects and religious themes, the films dwelled on social reform as well in the South as well.
• The making of the first Kannada film Sati Sulochana, was shot in Bombay, due to a lack of facilities in South India.
• More filmmakers were making indigenous films as well as films that struggled for independence, the socio-economic states, industrialization, and religious identity, along with contemporary social issues.

Post-Independence Films (1947-Early 70s)

• The golden period in the history of Indian cinema is attributed to the work of highly acclaimed filmmakers.
• In South India, enforced actors like Bahumati, Gemini Ganesan and Sivaji Ganesan took to the stage.
• other actors and actresses entertained the audiences.
• Then while the magic of Guru, Dutt, and Bimal Roy's were paramount on the industry, Raj Kapoor swept the nation with the release of Awaara (A vagabond) Mughal-e-Azam in 1960.
• A trend of colour in films followed all over India.
• While the Indian commercial cinema enjoyed popularity through the 1960s and the 1970s, also known as Parallel cinema or New Wave cinema.
• Several other art film directors were making movies that took India to international fame and Glory.