100 YEARSOF INDIAN CINEMA

100 YEARS OF INDIAN CINEMA

About a century ago, in 1912, Dadasaheb Phalke completed the first Indian feature film, Raja Harischandra and released it in 1913. A silent film based on the legend of King Harishchandra, it was released for the masses on May 3, 1913. Dadasaheb Phalke was a visionary. After he had conquered obstacles, both social and technical, to make Raja Harishchandra, the result was simply unbelievable. Phalke’s film tells the story
of the noble and righteous king, Harishchandra, who first sacrifices his kingdom, followed by his wife and eventually his children to honour his promise to the sageVishwamitra. Pleased with him for what he does, however, the Gods restore his former glory. The film had an all-male cast because no woman was available to play any of the female leads. The reel was 3,700 feet long, and had a running time of 40 minutes. Because of his film's massive success, Phalke had to make more prints for rural areas.He came to be known as the ‘Father of Indian cinema’ later. The original film comprised four reels. The Naonal Film Archives of India only has the first and last reels, although some film historians believe they belong to a 1917 remake which shares the same title.

Indian fillm industry waited for almost 18 years before the first talkie got made. Titled Alam Ara and directed by Ardeshir Irani, the film debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai (then Bombay) on 14th March, 1931. It became so popular that it is said that the police had to be summoned to control the crowds.

Kisan Kanya was a 1937 Hindi feature film directed by Moti B. Gidvani and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It was India's first indigenously made film in color. However, V. Shantaram had produced a Marathi film Sairandhri (1933) earlier which had scenes in color. However, the film was processed and printed in Germany. Kisan Kanya was, therefore, India's first indigenously made color film.

Indian film industry was prolific in terms of the number of films being made every year. But the man who showed the power of Indian cinema to the world was the celebrated Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Ray’s epic Pather Panchali (1955) was awarded for being the ‘Best Human Document’ at the 1956 Cannes Film Fesval, establishing him as a major internatonal filmmaker. Till today, it is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made.

Chhota Chetan is a 1998 Hindi movie directed by Jijo Punnoose. It was dubbed from the 1984 Malayalam movie, My Dear Kuttichathan which was India's first 3-D film Chota Chetan was the first feature film to introduce DTS for a stereoscopic 3-D feature film.

At the turn of the year when it completes a hundred year journey, the Indian cinema with its wide popular appeal would have left an indelible influence on our polity, culture and society. In the process it would produce some of the finest internationally acclaimed auteurs and films.Indian cinema, the largest by volume and the second largest by value in the world, turns a grand and graceful old lady of 100 years

Ten decades have gone by. Today, the nation is paying a tribute to the date that Phalke had immortalized with the first public screening of his film. India being a nation where more than 1,000 films are made in various languages every year, the medium’s growth deserves a special narration for those who wish to understand what cinema in the country is all about.

Indian cinema encompasses regional films (Tamil,Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarath, Bhojpuri, Punjabi etc), but the most visible body of work is generated by the Hindi film industry. Right from romances, underworld flicks, hilarious comedies, well-crafted ofbeat films and jawdropping action films to social dramas and thrillers: Indian cinema includes just about any genre one can possibly think of.

Indian cinema, despite all its peculiarities, has been a reflection of the socio-economic, political and cultural changes that took place in the country. Here's hoping that Indian movies continue to entertain us the way they've been doing since 10 decades.