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name that springs up is that of the Lumiere Brothers who demonstrated the art of cinema to the subcontinent.
Bombay was the first Indian city that screened
films, for instance, Vitagraph by James B. Stewart and MotoPhotoscope by Ted Hughes. In other words introduction of cinema in India took place with the aid of the colonisers.
Lumiere Brothers
pioneering efforts of Save Dada (Harischandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar). entire Indian entertainment sector underwent huge changes and the emergence of Dadasaheb Phalke took Indian cinema to new heights.
During this time and the era of the talkies the main sources
for Indian films were the mythological texts. The rapid growth of the Indian cinema led to the end of the silent era and ushered in the era of the talkies.
The latter introduced the Indian cinema in a completely
new way to the audiences. Now one could hear the actors and actresses talk, laugh, sing and cry.
Initially films were primarily made in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali
1930s and 1940s witnessed the rise of film personalities, such as,
Debaki Bose, Chetan Anand, S.S. Vasan, Nitin Bose and others. Their contributions helped the Indian cinema to grow further.
By this time apart from Bombay (Mumbai), the film industry shaped
up well in down south too. The Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries & nbsp; were making indigenous films as well.
By late 1940s films in India were made in various languages but the
religious influence was predominant. With struggle for independence the entire scenario altered.
Indian cinema now saw films based on the then contemporary social
issues. Movies no longer were limited to the periphery of entertainment; they were now potent instruments to educate the masses as well.
attributed to the 1950s. Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor, Balraj Sahani, Nargis, Bimal Roy, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar graced the screens.
In south India esteemed actors like Rajkumar, Gemini
Ganesan, NT Rama Rao and several other actors and actresses entertained the audiences.
Besides them numerous singers, composers, scriptwriters,
cameramen and other technicians lend a helping hand in making some of the most outstanding films that carved their own niches in the history of Indian cinema.
were preponderant Indian cinema moved one step further with the release of K. Asif`s Mughal-e-Azam in 1960.
A trail of romantic movies followed all over India. While the
Indian commercial cinema enjoyed popularity amidst the movie goers, Indian art cinema did not go unnoticed.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ritwik Ghatak, Aravindan, Satyajit
Ray, Shaji Karun and several other art film directors were making movies that took India to international fame and glory.
like Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Tanuja and others.
This was truly the red letter year for Hindi cinema as Ramesh
Sippy`s Sholay proved to be an iconoclast and gave to Indian cinema its new superstar--- Amitabh Bachchan. Hardly did anyone know then that the Bachchan era was here to stay for long enough.
At one hand Hindi cinema was growing in leaps and bounds and on the
other the regional films were making their presence felt too.
A number of well established Hindi film stars who became a part of the
star system in India actually began their career with the Indian regional films.
1980s saw the rise of several woman directors, such as, Aparna Sen,
Prema Karnath, Meera Nair and others. It was also the year when Rekha wooed the audiences with her stunning performance in Umrao Jaan.
The regional films like Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali and
others produced a number of romantic films. Renowned film personalities like Balachander, I.V. Sasi, Balu Mahendra, Mani Ratnam, Ram Gopal Varma and others made their marks.
With romantic films at the helm the Indian cinema ushered into
1990s. A mixed genre was witnessed during this time. Romantic, thriller, actions and comic movies were made.
Gradually the face of Indian cinema was undergoing changes one
technology, witnessed dolby digital sound effects, advanced special effects, choreography, international appeal, further investments from corporate sectors alongwith finer scripts and performances.
The aesthetic appeal of cinema became important for the filmmakers.
Khan, Chiranjeevi, Juhi Chawla, Hrithik Roshan and others explored all possible techniques to enrich Indian cinema with their performances.
Even in contemporary India cinema remains a compelling
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India. The cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country as
Plant (1912) .
The first Indian chain of cinema theaters was owned by
the Calcutta entrepreneur Jamshedji Framji Madan, who oversaw production of 10 films annually and distributed them throughout the Indian subcontinent.
Ardeshir Irani released Alam Ara which was the first Indian