Unquestionably the most seen movies in the world are Indian. Not talking about the billion audiences with India itself, where an estimated 12 million people go to the Cinema halls everyday to watch their favorite stars, but even in unlikely places such as Russia, China, the Middle East, the Far East Egypt, Turkey and Africa, which extend beyond the Indian subcontinent and the Diaspora, there is a large audience for Indian films. People belonging to different cultural set ups and social ethos harness great love for Indian popular cinema, and many have been fans of Indian Film industry for more than fifty years.

Indian film industry is world famous for the astounding number of films it produces every year, a number which is relentlessly on the increase. Of this staggering number, the films which are made in the city of Bombay, in a flawless merge of Hindi and Urdu, have the widest distribution with the country and internationally. The two sister languages are generally spoken in six northern states and understood by over 500 million people on the Indian subcontinent alone. It was reason enough for Hindi and Urdu to become the language of Popular Cinema after motion pictures appeared on screen in the year 1931.

SILENT ERA:

The name “cinema” originated from cinematography invented by the Lumiere brothers. It functioned better than the Kinestoscope of Edison and Dickinson. The earliest presentation of moving pictures in India came about in 1896. But aboriginal production of movies remained mute for the next fifteen years. Pundalik was the first film to be made on the story of life of a Holy man in Maharashtra. N.G.Chitre and R.G. Torney of Bombay introduced the film in 1912. The next movie in India was Raja Harishchandra made by Dhundiraj Govindraj Phalke and released on May 3, 1913. Dadasaheb Phalke is acclaimed as the “father of Indian Cinema” because he laid the foundation for the future of the Indian film industry. Phalke will always be memorized for his immense contribution to the development of the film industry. After returning from England with plenty of passion and dedication, he established his studio in 1913. Phalke believed Indians must see Indian movies on the Indian silverscreen. After Raja Harishchandra, Phalke started other projects, but could not complete them because of deficiency of funds.

AGE OF SOUND

Silent era continued for another decade before the first talkie movie came out on March 14, 1931. “Alam-Ara”, made by Ardeshir Israni, could establish a strong link with audiences with the advent of sound. The idea of creating an Indian talkie came from Universal pictures production of ‘Show Boat’, which was a 40% talkie. But questions always arose as to how it could cater to 150 million people at that time? Well, at that time people understood Hindustani (a blend of Urdu and Hindi, also known as the language of Bazaar) Hindustani came to be chosen as the official lingua franca of film industry.

THEMES IN INDIAN CINEMA:

Early cinema in India was founded on specific genres like mythology or devotional films. The crux of mythological films is the conflict between good and evil, and the significance of sacrifice for truth. Later on social themes emerged into the picture. Films revolving around the stories of ordinary families were produced in Bombay. Of the historical movies, Mughal-e-Azam and Mother India were the choice. A lot of credit must be given to Raj Kapoor and the R.K. Studios for highlighting the idiosyncrasies of social life through heartrending criticism. These films were also great entertainers and artistic in nature. 1970s belonged to Amitabh Bachchan. The defiant portrayal of angry young mind on the silver screen mesmerized the nation.

Till the late 1960s, movies were directed by people who learnt the art on the job. There were no schools or training institutes for actors, directors, producers and technical experts. The National School of Drama, New Delhi and the Film and Television Institute (FTII), Pune trained actors and directors and several other personnel connected with film. This was also the period when serious thinking was given to a cinematic style that was entirely different from what it was in the past. Critics have called the new trend ‘New Wave Cinema’. What is termed the ‘New Wave’ in the history of Indian Cinema is not the ‘nouvelle vogue’ of French cinema with which Bresson, Godard and other experimental film makers were associated in the fifties and sixties. In the Indian context, the terms are rather loosely used to describe the deliberately realist and non-commercial style of film making that sometimes experiments with form and content. Its roots are in IPTA theatre, the realist novel, and European cinema (especially Russian, French and Italian). It eschews the escapist Hollywood and the Bombay film 34 traditions, and is concerned more with real – life issues of Indian society than with just entertainment. Other terms used to talk about this cinema are ‘alternative’, ‘parallel’, and even ‘another’ cinema.

GOLDEN ERA

The best directors of the time, including Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt, brought new depth to conventional themes. They illustrated on the spacious gamut of cinema stories, but brought to them a delicate vision. The films of the late 1940s , 1950s and early 1960s were expressive and influential and dealt with themes including the utilization of the poor by rich landlords (DO BIGHA ZAMEEN, 1953), the importance of sacrifice and honour (MOTHER INDIA), endurance in the big city ( BOOT POLISH, 1954) , untouchability (SUJATA, 1959) , the changing role of the woman (Mr. and Mrs.55, 1955), urban vs rural morality (SHREE 420, 1955), nature vs nurture 36 (AWAARA, 1951), predicaments faced by modern Indians (ANDAZ,1949), materialism vs spiritualism (PYAASA, 1957) and the importance of fortune (CHAUDHVIN KA CHAND, 1960). These films show a composite and urbane mix of characters, plots, ideas and morals.

THE MIDDLE CINEMA

Indian cinema was at its flourishing best in the 1970s when the Sippy’s, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, B.R. Ishara and Vijay Anand. Shyam Benegal assisted Shyam Benegal assisted by Blaze enterprises, shot into prominence with ‘Ankur’ (1974), and later with ‘Nishant’ (1975), ‘Manthan’, ‘Bhumika’(1977) and Junoon (1979). Benegal turned his back on the standard ‘Kalyug’ and ‘Aradhana’ (1981) genre, infusing a dosage of caste – politics into his first three films. He was personally allied with the making of Govind Nihalani’s ‘‘Akrosh’ (1980), a political film about the mistreatment of illiterate Adivasis. ‘Ardh Satya’ (1984), ‘Party’ (an depiction of the upper middle class), and his TV serial on the partition of India, ‘Tamas’, have been significant success. While the films of Mrinal Sen, Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani did not fare very well at the box office, those of the ‘middle cinema’ reaped a good yield. Saeed Mirza’s ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ , ‘Mohan Joshi Hajir Ho’ and ‘Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro’, Rabindra Dharmaraj’s ‘Chakra’ and Ketan Mehta’s ‘Bhavni Bhavai’ (in Gujarati and Hindi), ‘ Mirch Masala’, and later ‘Maya Memsahib’, ‘Sardar’, started a trend in the making of socially cognizant and political films which were enjoyable as well. Both the new wave and the Middle Cinema went flaccid under the collision of multichannel television, ‘Commercial cinema’, the commercialization of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), and above all the appalling deficiency of exhibition outlets. The plodding decline of the Film Society movement too had arole in the evaporation of ‘Parallel cinema’

NEW WAVE CINEMA

Mrinal Sen, a talented movie maker from West Bengal is considered a pioneer in the new genre called ‘New wave’ Cinema. In the 39 early 1970s, he was its main proponent and he had to do a lot of explaining soon after the release of his BHUVAN SHOME (1969). Without imitating the techniques of commercially successful movies which are usually mixtures of rapid action , maudlin drama , violence , erotic dancing and singing , Mrinal Sen could produce a film that was not only a financial success at the box – office but cut a new path in filmography . Some critics are of the view that Shyam Benegal’s ANKUR (1974) was the real path – breaker and that Benegal was the pioneer of the “New Wave” genre. His cinematic language shook the audience with its bluntness and originality. Both Mrinal Sen and Shyam Benegal inspired many young film makers.

The early years of the 21st century witnessed several dramatic developments in Indian cinema. Cinema was at last declared an ‘industry’ in 2001 by the Indian Government and no sooner did this happen than the gradual ‘corporatization’ of the entertainment and media industry took off. Banks, insurance companies and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) were persuaded to support the industry. The decline of the active dependence on funding from the ‘underworld’ of Bombay also had its beginnings around this time. But perhaps the greatest impetus to the shakeup of the industry was the rapid proliferation of ‘multiplexes’(multi-screen theatres) and digital cinema theatres, first in the metros and later in the big cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. Multiplexes offer a different experience to cinema goers, for in most cases they are part of shopping malls and comprise theatres of different sizes. Thus small budget films could be released in multiplexes and digital cinema theatres. Ticket rates are much higher in such multiplexes than in single screen theatres and therefore attract upper middle class families.

This has consequently mounted onto what has to be known as ‘multiplex’ films – that is small budgeted films made on subjects which are hardly ever dealt with in mainstream cinema. Young blood like Nagesh Kukunoor made films like Hyderabad Blues, Bollywood Calling and Iqbal), veterans like Sudhir Mishra are known for films like (Hazaaron Khawaishen Aisi) and Anurag Kashyap (Black Friday). These filmmakers were able to make a mark thanks to the phenomenon of multiplex. Movies like Being Cyrus, Mixed Doubles, Joggers Park and other several feature films made on a tight, crisp budget were released in such theatres. This had bolstered the potential of low budget films at the box office leading to the new wave of bold and audacious themes and scripts explored by young directors both in the mainstream as well as parallel cinema. Homosexuality, old age (Being Cyrus), HIV-Aids (My Brother Nikhil), live-in-relationships (Salaam-Namaste), communication with the physically and mentally challenged (Black, Iqbal), religious fundamentalism (Bombay, Roja), nationalist history (Mangal Pandey: The Rising), patriotism (Lagaan), and rural development (Swades) have been some of the issues taken up for analysis in feature films and documentaries over the last decade.

COLOR AND TRIUMPH OF ROMANCE

The 1980s weren’t a principally strapping time for film music either. The movie that brought back harmony and adolescent romance was Mansoor Khan’s 1988 film QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK – a love story along the lines of a modern Romeo and Juliet, showing two young lovers blighted by their quarrelling families. Lead actor Aamir Khan shot to renown as the teen idol of the late eighties. QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK was followed by Sooraj Barjatya’s MAINE PYAR KIYA in 1989, another romantic movie with grand music and family values, which brought another cinematic idol to the forefront – Salman Khan. A third actor with the same surname – Shah Rukh Khan – became the biggest new star of the 1990s. Shah Rukh Khan embarked on his career in the theatre and television before he got his big break playing a psychopath in BAAZIGAR (1993). He has acted in all of the big hits of the 1990s, including Aditya Chopra’s excellent romance, DILWALE DULHANIA LEJAYENGE (1995), and Karan Johar’s delightful KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI (1998). Shah Rukh Khan believes Indian cinema shares its dependence on love stories and simple plot lines with Hollywood

In summation, the Indian cinema has developed pretty full-size all through the past century, in particular during the past six decades. This concluding period saw the augmentation of the cinema into a mass medium. Notwithstanding thematic oddness and shortcoming, social conditioning and cultural self-consciousness, it has proved its good point in methodological precision, inventive progression and directorial modernization. Indian cinema, by and large, has hanged about on the path of hygienic popular entertainment. In the coming decades , it can give more awareness and consideration to the community dimension of the medium, predominantly its use in drumming up the masses through valuable communication on grave issues such as social justice, environmental safety and a more cogent and scientific approach to human problems.