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History of Indian Cinema

The Silent Era

The birth of Cinema in India can be attributed to the Lumiere brother`s.Only a few months after the Lumiere brothers introduced the art ofcinematography in Paris in 18!" cinema made it`s presence felt in India.

The Lumiere brothers` held their #rst public showing at $umbai`s %atson`s&otel on 'uly (" 18).

The Lumiere brothers thus pioneered the art of lm-making inIndia with the astonishing invention of CINE!

The Lumiere brothers` Cinematographe #rst show was a silent mo*ie for 1+minutes. ,i- items" /ntry of Cinematographe" The ,ea 0ath" rri*al of a

Train" 2emolition" Ladies 3 ,oldiers on %heels" and Lea*ing the 4actoryplayed at the %atson &otel.

5i*en the `magic` 6uality normally associated with #lms and the potentialmass appeal of cinema" it came as no surprise that Indians soon entered

the domain of #lmma7ing. The rst Indian to make a lm wasHaris"handra #$ %hatvadekhar& popularly known as #ave 'ada. &ewas a still photographer" a dealer in e6uipment and an e-hibitor of #lms.&is interests led him naturally to the art of cinema.

The public re"eption a""orded to (rangler )aran*pyeat Chowapattyon his return from /ngland with the co*eted distinction he got atCambridge was "overed by %hatwadekar. &e was the #rst Indian toproduce a #lm. !ll he had with him was a pro*e"tor" but he didn`t ha*ea camera" so he got one from London and shot only + s"enes of ,minutes ea"h& whi"h were titled 'o )ahalwanon i ushti and%andar o Na"hata Hua adaari$It was released in 2ecember 18...

the birth of the rst Indian topi"al or a"tuality lm. In /01/& Hiralal #en made his mark as a lm produ"er with a deep

interest in Indian history and mythology.

The rst de"ade of the +1th "entury saw live and re"ordedperforman"es being "lubbed together in the same program. Thestrong inuence of traditional arts" music" dance and popular theatre on thecinema mo*ement in India in its early days is probably responsible for itscharacteristic enthusiasm for inserting song and dance se6uences in Indiancinema" e*en today

0y now" Indian audiences were increasingly being e-posed to %estern

#lms. &ence" the fascination with longer narrati*es and the desire to seeIndian e-periences and characters on screen resulted in the #rst e*ermythological #lm produced in India by 9.5. Tomey`s" which was :Pundali7:.It was shown in 11; and based on the legend associated with a well7nown $aharashtrian saint.

The honour of ma7ing the #rst Indian feature #lm by an Indian goes to2hundira< 5o*ind Phal7e. &is 9a

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directors made their debut? among them ,uchat ,ingh" 2hiren 5anguli"&imansu 9ai and @. ,hantaram.

$any good #lms made during this initial period were greatly inspired by thetwo celebrated epics the 9amayana and the $ahabharata.

The coming of the Talkies

Antil now all #lms were silent. t the beginning of the Bth decade" the #lm*iewers were bestowed with a surprising gift" the silent era had ended" and#lms now had sound" so we could hear actors and actresses tal7ing. In1=1 came the #rst Indian tal7ie lam ra. Produced by Imperial 4ilmCompany and directed by rdeshir Irani. It was dubbed in both &indi andArdu. The #lm too7 months to ma7e because of recording diDculties? withno soundproof studios" shooting was done indoors and at night.$icrophones had to be hidden in incredible places to a*oid being capturedin the *isual recording of the mo*ie. It was a costume drama full of fantasyand with many melodious songs to intensify the audience`s emotions and itwas a stunning success. The #lm had ( songs and the music director was4iroEeshah $. $istri.

The second tal7ie #lm released in India was ,hirin 4arhaad" on =+th $ay1=1. It was produced by $adan Theatres" Calcutta and directed by itsowner $r. '.'. $adan. It had 18 songs. Indra ,abha which was released in1=; had as much as ) songs in itF It was produced by $adan Theatre"Calcutta

%ith the spreading popularity of this new medium of mass entertainment"#lm directors became more audacious and e-plored new areas. The 1=+ssaw the emergence of a fascination with social themes that a>ected day today li*ing. @. ,hantaram" for e-ample" in his #lm mritmantha G1=BH.

0y the 1B+s" howe*er" a winning formula for success at the bo- oDce hadbeen forged" consisting of song" dance" spectacle" rhetoric and fantasy. close and signi#cant relationship between the epic consciousness and theart of cinema had been established. $oreo*er" #lm was increasingly beingrecogniEed as a *ital instrument of social criticism. It was against thisbac7ground that #lm directors li7e @. ,hantaram" 9a< apoor" $ehboobhan" 0imal 9oy had chosen to ma7e their #lms" #lms that were togenerate not only national but also international interest.

%hile the popular tradition of Indian #lmma7ing was de*eloping withundiminished *igour" by the mid 1!+s" a distinctly `artistic` cinema too7

shape" than7s to the pioneering e>orts of the 0engali #lmma7er ,atya

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It is the post independence period that saw the golden era of Indian cinemawith melodious socials 3 melodramas. 9a< apoor G9 4ilmsH was onee-ample. wara" made 0y 9a< apoor set the agenda for popular cinemaand was a hit within India as well as o*erseas. fter 9a< apoor" 2e* nandset up Ja*7etan in 1B with his brother Chetan nand.

4ilms with *arious themes were now being made. The theme of lostbrothers was being repeated Gas many as !+ #lmsH. ,ide by side went on

the tear

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A" A," Canada and ustralia" where there are large ,outh siancommunities.

In the ;+++s" 0ollywood began inuencing %estern cinema" and played aparticularly instrumental role in the re*i*al of the merican musical #lmgenre. 0aE Luhrmann stated that his successful musical #lm Moulin Rouge!G;++1H was directly inspired by 0ollywood musicals.

LagaanG;++1H was nominated for the cademy ward for 0est 4oreignLanguage 4ilm? and two other 0ollywood #lms DevdasG;++;H and Rang De

BasantiG;++)H were nominated for the 04T ward for 0est 4oreignLanguage 4ilm. 2anny 0oyleMs Slumdog MillionaireG;++8H" which has wonfour 5olden 5lobesand eight cademy wards" it has also won 8 Oscars inits name" it was also directly inspired by 0ollywood #lms" and is consideredto be a :homage to &indi commercial cinema:.

What now??

The ;+++s saw a growth in 0ollywoodMs popularity in the world. This led thenationMs #lmma7ing to new heights in terms of 6uality" cinematography andinno*ati*e story lines as well as technical ad*ances such as special e>ects"

animation etc. ,ome of the largest production houses" among themNash9a< 4ilmsand 2harma Productionswere the producers of new modern #lms.

The opening up of the o*erseas mar7et" more 0ollywood releases abroadand the e-plosion of multiple-es in big cities" led to wider bo- oDcesuccesses in India and abroad" including Devdas" Koi... Mil Gaya" Rang DeBasanti" Lage Raho Munnabhai" Krrish" Dhoom 2" Om Shanti OmandGhajini" deli*ering a new generation of popular actors G&rithi7 9oshan"bhishe7 0achchanH and actresses Gishwarya 9ai" Preity intaand 9ani$u7er

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+rom the numerous girls #ho have been *ushed into the 0esh trade andare made to do inhuman ativities.

2or most Indians& "inema is the enduring sour"e of the image oftheir nation as a vast and diverse land$ 2or them its also theprimary sour"e of knowledge about our national heroes&martyrs& the struggles and sa"ri"es of our forefathers& thework of our so"ial reformers& the wars of the pre-and-post-Independen"e era& in"luding the re"ent and ongoing war against

"ross-border terrorism& and our a"hievements as a free anddemo"rati" nation.

& Movie li"e La"shya de*ited the im*ortane o+ having a goal in li+eand standing u* +or it and also gave us a taste o+ the (ndian &rmy1shum*ing 3itory over the Kargil against 4a"istan. 5urther a movie li"ethe Legend O+ Bhagat Singh learly made us +eel *roud o+ our +reedomghters and also lighted u* a sense o+ res*et and res*onsibilityto#ards our o#n ountry.

Jow a mo*ie li7e $y 0rother Ji7hil starring ,an

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Bhool Bhulaiya starring &"shay Kumar and 3idya Balan #as a o*y o+ theMalyalam movie M&'( $%(R& %&;%8 >?@ +or #hih 4riyadarshan #asthe assistant diretor. Its very rare to see a movie that is not a "opyor a so-"alled-inspiration$ Its sad be"ause most of these movieswhi"h do e4"eptionally well and are dire"ted by well knowndire"tors are not someone8s original idea$

s an audience sometimes we witness that for some mo*ies a lot of hypeis "reated whi"h has no drama& no a"tion& absolutely nothing in it

but still "ompels us to go and wat"h itand it doesnt really li*e up toour e-pectations. The hype is primarily because of the caste or the directoror simply because of the songs and the production house. ,o for us as anaudience its a complete waste of time and money. /g The recentlyreleased Billu Barber Ahoom Baraber Ahoom Saa#ariya etc.

The newest addition into the art of lmmaking in India is- "tem

Songs. If its a 0ollywood mo*ie" then there has to be songs. Jow there is anew trend. The trend of hot item songs. /*ery 0ollywood mo*ie has an itemsong. They are basically songs which ha*e nothing to do with the story ofthe #lm but are a maF $o*ies not only inuencepeople in terms of things that are shown on screen its also the charactersthat are played that ha*e a huge impact on the audience particularly theyoungsters. 0ig stars li7e ,haru7h han" mitabh 0acchan" 7shay umar"

'ohn braham etc doing things li7e getting drun7" smo7ing etc does notlea*e a *ery healthy impact on the minds of Noung boys.

Indian Cinema now days is not *ust an art but has emerged as a

business hub where money simply 5ows. &owe*er loo7ing at it fromthe producers point of *iew" a lot of money goes into ma7ing mo*ies"considering the s7yroc7eting rates of our actors and the huge budget setaside for costumes and *arious technologies used in the #lms. Jot all ofthese big budget mo*ies ma7e an impact at the bo- oDce. ,ome of themfail miserably and hence this is a huge loss for a producer or the productionhouse. They in*est in a proerent approach" but it does not. 4or e-ample #lms li7e Lovestory 27C71 as #e "no# had a lot o+ visual eets unusual ostumes hugesets made to give us the +eel li"e #e1re gone into the +uture. (t didn1t really

live u* to its e)*etation. Other movies #hih have made disaster are-&so"a "aal Drona Bahna &e haseeno et!

C#$C%&S"#$:

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The Indian 4ilm Industry thus has come a long way since its inception" fromsilent mo*ies to tal7ing mo*ies" from blac7 and white low resolution tocoloured and ad*anced graphics. The Indian 4ilm Industry o*er the years hasgrown both in siEe and 6uality. This has facilitated the coming of many newtechnologies. /-ample the 2igi 4Q surround until ;++1 used to happeno*erseas but then in ;++= N94 studios came up with its inbuilt and muchelaborate sound setup and following which numerous other studios now ha*eit ma7ing India self suDcient of producing #lms with same 6uality than any

other international #lm.

In today s time the Indian Cinema is ruling the media industry. It has madedeep impact on the *arious other sectors of the industry. 4or e-amplenumerous tal7 shows are being broadcasted in the Televisionwhere #lmdirectors" actors" producers are in*ited. 2edicated channels are being airedwhich broadcast the #lmy songs day and night. On the other hand 'adiochannels continuously play the #lmy songs and inter*iews of the 4ilm stars areaired regularly where they spea7 about their upcoming mo*ie etc. This is notthe end e*en the $ews(a(ersare ooded with articles related to the #lmsand its stars. There are dedicated pages and sections designed primarily for

the #lm and the entertainment industry. /*en on the "nternete*ery secondwebsite will either ha*e an ad*ertisement of an upcoming mo*ie or a re*iewor some e-clusi*e photos. &ence we see that in our society. Cinemas ha*egained the most widespread popularity. Its actually fueling the other streamsof the media and helping them run the business.

$o*ies in India are basically made with a lot of spices. In India a mo*ie has toha*e song" dance" romance" thrill" suspense" comedy" action" family dramaetc. People in India wor7 for ten hours a day and that too during the main partof the day and so many of them return to a home with no entertainment. The

only a*ailable entertainment is mo*ies. %hether a business tycoon or a cycleric7shaw dri*er all want to watch mo*ies.

Indian cinema has impro*ed drastically and now the audience is *ery maturetoo. They still want song and dance but not the running around treese6uences. ,o now there is a new mar7et for item songs. This is where a nicefast trac7 is made only for a great dancer to dance and increase the sales.,ome of the top songs ha*e been 0abu