The History of Bollywood

Bollywood conjures up images of brightly colored costumes and elaborate song and dance
sequences. Bollywood is the Hindi-language sector of the Indian film business, which
originated in Bombay (modern Mombay) in 1913 with the release of the first Indian feature
film. The industry progressed slowly in the beginning. Between 1913 and 1918, just 23 films
were created.

The first ever talkie ‘Alam Ara’ by Ardeshir Irani was screened in Bombay in 1931. It was the
first sound film in India. The release of Alam Ara started a new era in the history of Indian
Cinema. Thereafter, several production companies emerged leading to an increase in the
release of the number of films. From 1927 to 1931 huge movie halls were built and there
was a significant growth in the number of audiences. Colour films followed soon after in 1937
with and early animations also appeared at this time.

The 1960s gave birth to the Modern Bollywood cinema, which was most easily spotted with
the release avalanche of the two genres that were previously seldom used – action and
romance movies. By 70s, gangster and crime movies entered into popularity. The 80s and
90s brought back into spotlight musicals, family-centric romantic storylines, comedies and
with the colorful all singing, all dancing romances, we saw the beginning of Bollywood
cinema as we know it today.

Indian cinema is no longer restricted to India and is now being well appreciated by
international audiences. The contribution of the overseas market in Bollywood box office
collections is quite remarkable. Around 30 film production companies were listed in the
National Stock Exchange of India in 2013. Indian cinema has become a part and parcel of
our daily life whether it is a regional or a Bollywood movie. It has a major role to play in our
society. Though entertainment is the key word of Indian cinema it has far more responsibility
as it impacts the mind of the audiences.