Century Cinema

Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema

In 1886 the Lumiere Brothers Cinematographe unveiled six soundless short films at Bombay's Watson's Hotel. Soon after, Hiralal Sen and H.S. Bhatavdekar started making films in Calcutta and Bombay, respectively. Like Lumiere Brothers Bhatavdekar made India's first actuality films in 1899. Tough there were efforts at filming stage plays earlier India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra was made in 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke who is known as the Father of Indian Cinema. By 1920 there was a regular industry bringing out films starting with 27 per year and reaching 207 films in 1931.

Alam Ara (1931) was the genesis of the talkie feature films. The film's popular dialogues and seven songs made it a big hit which resulted in other filmmakers to raise the number of songs in their films till it reached a whooping 71 in "Indrasabha". Film songs became a Pan-Indian phenomenon.

When Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian Cinema, released his epochal feature film Raja Harishchandra on 3rd May 1913, it is unlikely that either the exhibitors or the pioneer film maker realized they were unleashing a mass entertainment medium that would hold millions in sway for the next hundred years. The French might have introduced the concept of moving images, but little did anyone know that India would one day become the largest film industry in the world. It's a miracle that Indian cinema has withstood the test of time despite the vast cultural differences in the past 100 years.

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke who was generally known as Dada Saheb Phalke produced India's first full length silent film, 'Raja Harishchandra', in 1913. He laid the foundation for the beginning of a regular feature film industry in India. By 1920 there was a regular industry bringing out films starting with 27 per year and reaching 207 films in 1931. Many new companies and film makers came up during that period.

The 1930s saw sweeping changes to the industry, technically and stylistically. The most remarkable thing that happened in Indian film industry was in 1931, when India's first talkie, 'Alam Ara', directed by Ardeshir Irani was released. Dubbed into Hindi and Urdu, the film was a smash hit and a new revolution began in the Indian film industry. It's phenomenal success all over India lead to other 'Talking, Singing and Dancing' productions to be hurriedly put into production. At the same time, it marked the beginning of the Talkie era in South Indian film industries also. The first talkie films in Bengali (Jumai Shasthi), Telugu (Bhakta Prahlad) and Tamil (Kalidass) were released in the same year 1931. 

The 30’s are recognised as the decade of social protest in the history of India films. In the 30's three major film centres developed which were based in Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta (Kolkata) and Madras (Chennai). Of these centres, Bombay was known for the making of films geared for national distribution, while Madras and Calcutta were known for their regional films.

From the 1940's to the late 1950's, the films with their concentration on vibrant song and dance sequence. For many these were the most memorable aspects in Indian film history. The 1940s and 1950s also saw the emergence of the 'playback singing', the off-camera voice that performs the songs that the actors and actresses subsequently mime to. Playback singers like Lata and Asha Bhonsle, Muhammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar etc., dominated the Hindi film industry. By that time music became an important ingredient in Indian cinema.

The 50’s were a unique time in Indian cinema, blessed with talented directors and artistes who could stamp their individuality in their work. The big turning point came in 1953 with the arrival of Bengali director Satyajit Ray, and his classic 'Pather Panchali'. International recognition came to it with the Cannes award for the best human document, followed by foreign and national awards.

Apart from Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and others made internationally acclaimed movies. They are known as the founding fathers of the new cinema in India. While, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Aravindan, Ritwik Ghatak, Rituparna Ghosh were pioneering the nation's art cinema, around the same time India also had a kind of popular cinema with social themes - again, particularly in Hindi - made by commercial film-makers like Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt etc. Many of these films no doubt broke records at the box office. eg. Bimal Roy's 'Do Bigha Zamin', Mehboob Khan's 'Mother India', Raj Kapoor's 'Shree 420' and 'Awara', Guru Dutt's 'Pyasa' etc.

Another factor that encouraged truly good Indian cinema was the establishment of National Film Awards, the Film Finance Corporations, the National Film Archives of India and the Film and Television Institute of India. The first International Film Festival in 1952 held at Bombay, Chennai, Delhi and Calcutta had great impact on Indian Cinema. Introduction to international films left a deep impact on Indian film makers.

In the sixties and seventies, big budget films as well as off-beat films increased. The popular Hindi films of this period were: Kamal Amrohi's Pakeeza, Raj Kapoor's Bobby, Ramesh Sippy's Sholay,  Kabhi Kabhi, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, and Muqaddar ka Sikandar.

The eighties saw the advent of women film makers such as Vijaya Mehta ('Rao Saheb'), Aparna Sen ('36- Chouwringhee Lane', 'Parama'), Sai Pranjpye ('Chashme Baddoor', 'Katha', 'Sparsh'), Kalpana Lajimi ('Ek Pal'), Prema Karanth ('Phaniamma') and Meera Nair ('Salaam Bombay'). It was also the decade when sultry siren Rekha wooed audiences with her stunning performance in 'Umrao Jaan' in 1981.

And then in 90's, it was a mixed genre of romantic, thrillers, action and comedy films. A stark upgrade can be seen on the canvas as technology gifted the industry Dolby digital sound effects, advanced special effects, choreography and international appeal. The development brought about investments from the corporate sector along with finer scripts and performances. It was time to shift focus to aesthetic appeal. And stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Rajnikanth, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Chiranjeevi, Juhi Chawla and Hrithik Roshan began to explore ways to use new techniques to enrich Indian cinema with their performances.

In recent years, Hindi cinema has undergone a massive change due to the emergence of new age filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Rajkumar Hirani, Dibakar Banerjee and Vishal Bhardwaj. Of late, Tamil and Marathi cinema has witnessed similar changes with several new filmmakers coming forth to cater to a niche audience.

As the world has become a global village, the Indian film industry has reached out further to international audiences. Apart from regular screenings at major international film festivals, the overseas market contributes a sizeable chunk to Bollywood's box office collections. Regular foreign Investments made by major global studios such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros confirms that Bollywood has etched itself on the global podium.

Films by Indian directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, Shaji N.Karun, Kasinadhuni Viswanath, Girish Kasaravalli, Shyam Benegal and Mani Ratnam have been screened in various international film festivals. Other Indian filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair, Rajnesh Domalpalli, Deepa Mehta, Nagesh Kukunoor and Karan Johar have also found success overseas. The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan while the country's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe. 

Sivaji Ganesan and S V Ranga Rao won the first international award for Best Actor held at Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo and Indonesian Film Festival in Jakarta for the films Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Narthanasala in 1959 and 1963 respectively.

In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries, became a global enterprise. At the end of 2010 it was reported that in terms of annual film output, India ranks first, followed by Hollywood and China. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the target audience. Visual effects based super hero and science fiction films like Krrish, Enthiran, Ra.One and Eega emerged as blockbusters. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.

India is the world's largest producer of films. In 2009, India produced a total of 2961 films on celluloid, which include 1288 feature films. The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV, Suresh Productions, Adlabs and Sun Network's Sun Pictures also participated in producing and distributing films. Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. In 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India (the number is increasing day-by-day), making the commercial presence of the medium felt.

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Documentary - Century Cinema

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Keywords: Bollywood, Hollywood, Indian Cinema, Hindi Film Industry