The Indian film industry earns the rare distinction of producing the largest number of movies in a year. Thousands of people flock to the cinema halls to watch movies every day. Movies in India portray political, social and economic reality to the Indian population as well as to the Indians staying abroad. For most of us, movies are an integral part of our lives as we tend to identify with the characters shown on the big screen.
Movies in India are largely produced in Hindi. However, movies are also produced in other languages like Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, and many more Indian languages.
History of Indian Cinema
India started making films in the early 20th century, the first being Raja Harishchandra in 1913 directed by Dadasaheb Phalke. Some of the important films produced during that time included Bhakt Vidur by Kohinoor studios and Dhiren Ganguly’s Bilat Ferat in 1921. By 1930s on an average the industry was producing around 200 films in a year.
The first Indian sound film was Alam Ara in 1931, which was directed by Ardeshir Irani and the movie was a big success all over the country. The movie is alsoimportant as it gave Indian cinema its first singer, W.M. Khan.Shirin Farhad was a much improved talkie film of Madan Theaters. The era of talkies many social issues such as arranged marriages, women issues and sacrifices.
The thirties saw the birth of three big names that was set to change the face of Indian cinema- Prabhat, Bombay Talkies and New Theaters. These studios began producing erious and meaningful cinemas for the Indian audience. Its most successful product was P.C.Barua who is well remembered for his film, Devdas. Some of theimportant films during this period were Wadia’s Hunterwali, V. Shantaram’s Duniya na Mane, and Franz Osten’s Achyut Kanya. Important female leads were Durga Khote, Devika Raniand Kanan Devi while the male leads were Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and P.C. Barua.
In the late 1950s, films moved from black-and-white to color. Lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema. Successful actors included Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. RK Films were launched in 1950.with the release of Barsaat. It was in that year that the Central Board of Film Censors was also set up.Important films during this period were Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen, Guru Dutt’s Kagaaz ke Phool, and Pyasaa and Mehboob’s Mother India.
In late 1960s and mid 1970s, romance movies and action films were made with stars like Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, romantic movies made way for gritty, violent films about gangsters and bandits. Amitabh Bachchan, the star known for his "angry young man" image, starred in many super hit films of the time. Films like Zanjeer, Dewaar, Sholay, Muqaddar ka Sikandar were blockbusters of the seventies.
In the early 1990s, the pendulum swung back towards family-centric romantic musicals with the success of such films as
Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) and
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).