The History Of Indian Cinema

The History Of Indian Cinema 100 Years Of Indian Cinema 1913 to 2012 (Bollywood):

The History Of Indian Cinema

The Beginning Of Cinema:

Cinema came to on July 7, 1896 with a screening of the Lumiere Brothers' Cinematograph films inBombay . Yet the first entirely Indian-made film, Raja Harischandra, (produced and directed by DG Phalke) was released in 1913. Phalke was inspired to make a film about Indian mythology after seeing a film about the life of Christ. His style of film drew on emerging modern "Indian" art forms, chromolithography and photography, religious processions and performances, folk and urbantheatre, and foreign cinema. This new hybrid created by Phalke became the norm immediately in three of Indian cinema's popular genres: the mythological, the devotional (films about the lives of saints) and the historical. Other genres, grouped loosely as "social films", set in contemporary , were also established during the silent period.

Cinema is one of 's most vibrant cultural products and a major industry which is as old as Hollywood . Itproduces around a quarter of the world's films; its 13,000 cinema halls have a daily audience of around 15 million and many of these films are hugely popular overseas. has not one, but several filmic styles which can be distinguished in terms of film-making (methods of production anddistribution), the film text (technical and stylistic features, language) and by the film's reception (by the audience and by critics). These styles cover "art" cinema, made in several Indian languages, including English and "commercial" cinemas, also made in several languages. The commercial cinema of Bombay (Mumbai), made in the national language, Hindi has established itself as the national cinema, and although its reference may be national, it shares the key features of melodrama, the use of song and dance, and the operation of a star system with cinema across Bollywood.

The Talkies:

The coming of sound with the first Indian talkie, Alam Ara (1931), soon divided the cinema audiences. Bombay became the centre of the Hindi-Urdu film, using a form of spoken language, which was understood at varying levels over much of north . Hindi was later to become the (contested) national language of , like Urdu was to . This Hindi-Urdu film evolved a style which would be seen as national, while the other cinemas began to be regarded as local or regional.

A studio system thrived in Bombay until the late 1940s with the emergence of the independent producer, who saw the star as the critical box-office factor, and began to chase the big stars for their movies. The stars in turn hiked their prices to unheard of levels, eating up most of the producers' budgets, a trend which has continued to the present Indian film industry.

The Golden Era:

Following independence in 1947, the 1950s and 60s are regarded as the "Golden Age" of Indian cinema in terms of films, stars, music and lyrics. Genre was loosely defined, the most popular being "socials", films which addressed the social problems of citizens in the newly developing state. This era saw the emergence of director/producers such as Raj Kapoor (Shree 420 /The Fraud 1955), Guru Dutt (Pyaasa/Thirst 1957), Mehboob Khan (Mother India 1957), BR Chopra (Naya Daur /A New Age 1957) and Bimal Roy (Madhumati1958). Meanwhile, Satyajit Ray, who made his first film, Pather Panchali /Song of the road, in 1955 with help from the West Bengal government, established himself as one of the world's great film makers and was given international recognitionwhen he was awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement (1992).

The Cinemas Re-hall:

Although colour television was introduced in in the 1980s, it was pirated videocassettes which were seen to pose the greatest threat to the cinema. Cinema halls played mostly to male, working-class audiences, so it is not surprising that this decade is largely remembered as an age of the actionmovie, experiments with disco dancing and rape-revenge movies. The increasing availability of the audiocassette during this decade led to a revival in film music and the return to popularity of the teen romance, with roles taken by a new generation of younger stars, who dominated the 1990s: Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Despite the arrival of satellite and cable television, the family audience was coaxed back into the cinemas by a policy of video-holdback and the refurbishment of the cinema halls. This was led by Sooraj Barjatya, who's Hum aapke hain kaun...!/What am I to you? (1994), was the biggest box-office hit in Indian cinema history with the slogan "The greatest institution is the human family".

A new wave of film makers, who made films in the more technologically advanced South Indian studios, began to release dubbed versions of their films which were major critical and commercial successes in the north. At the forefront of these was Mani Ratnam (Bombay 1993/4), who introduced the music director AR Rehman to the world, whose sophisticated compositions made film music appeal to a new generation.

By the end of the 1990s though, it was clear that the only films which could compete with Hollywood at home and abroad were the super plush romance movies originally created by Yash Chopra, one of the top directors in 1970s, whose influence as producer, director and mentor saw the biggest hits from these years: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jay enge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai .

has the world's biggest movie industry in terms of the number of movies produced (around 800 movies annually). It is a great sector for foreign investment by corporatised entertainment companies. Though risks are high on a per-movie basis, the risk spreads out across a number of films. However, the domestic film-making industry, despite its prolificacy, is yet to acquire the character of professionalism on a large scale.

A Brief History of Indian Movie Industry:

Motion pictures came to in 1896, when the Lumière Brothers' Chinematographe unveiled six soundless short films in Bombay (now Mumbai). This was just one year after the Lumière brothers (inventors of cinematography) had set up their company in Paris .

The first Indian on record to make a movie was Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatvadekar (nickname: Save Dada). He made one short film on a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay , and another on the playfulness of monkeys. Both these shorts were made in 1897 and were publicly exhibited for the first time in 1899 using Edison 's projecting kinetoscope inside a tent which the film maker had himself erected.

's first feature film – named "King Harishchandra" – was released in 1913. It was made by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (nickname: Dadasaheb Phalke, 1817-1944). This was a silent movie.

By 1920, film making had taken the shape of an industry.

The first talkie made in was "Alam Ara" (produced by Imperial Film Company) released in 1931.

Until the 1960s, film-making companies, many of whom owned studios, dominated the film industry. Artistes and technicians were either their employees or were contracted on long-term basis. Since the 1960s, however, most performers went the freelance way, resulting in the star system and huge escalations in film production costs. Financing deals in the industry also started becoming murkier and murkier since then.

Indian Parallel Cinema:

Through his first film Pather Panchali (1955) Satyajit Ray became the pioneer of a genre of films latter known as the 'Indian Parallel Cinema'. Even though Ritwik Ghatak made his first film Nagarik in 1952, he became well known by his film Ajantrik (1958) and became a strong presence in parallel cinema. Mrinal Sen made his first film Raatbhor in 1955.

The first film society was founded in Bombay in 1943 and Satyajit Ray founded a film society inCalcutta in 1947. By the beginning of 1970s there existed above 150 film societies all over . Through these societies people could see the best of Indian cinema and also they got access to the best of foreign cinema. The first International Film Festival of India was held in Bombay , Madrasand Calcutta by the Films Division in 1952. Western classics like De Sica's Bicycle Thieves shown in the film festival created waves among young filmmakers who were frustrated with the mindless song-dance dramas made in . The Film Training Institute of India (FTII - presently Film and Television Institute of India) was set up in Pune in 1961 and the National Film Archives of India (NFAI) was established in 1964. The Film Finance Corporation (FFC) was set up by the Government in 1960, with the objective of giving loans to directors who wanted to make feature films outside the commercial circuit. All these factors lead Indian Cinema to a revolutionary change, a new genre of Indian films arrived, which are often termed as the 'New Wave Indian Cinema' or the 'New Indian Cinema'.

Indian New Wave

Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969) and Mani Kaul's Uski Roti (1969), both sponsored by State owned Film Finance Corporation (FFC), inspired by the French nouvelle vague, set new film sensibility and cinematic language in India. This movement was labelled as the 'New Indian Cinema' or the 'New Wave Indian Cinema'. FTII graduates Kumar Shahani, Mani Kaul, Saeed Mirza, Shyam Benegal and Ketan Mehta were the important names of New Wave Indian Cinema in Hindi. Mani Kaul's Ashad Ka Ek Din (1971) and Duvidha (1973), Kumar Shahni's Maya Darpan (1972) and Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1973) played important role in this new movement in Hindi during the 1970s. M S Sathyu's Garam Hawa (1973) Govind Nihilani who entered film industry as Shyam Benegal's cameraman made his directorial debut through Aakrosh (1980) he continued making socio-political films like Party (1984), Tamas (1987) and Drishti (1990). Saeed Mizra made notable political films like Arvind Desai ki Ajeeb Dastan (1978), Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (1980), Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho! (1984) and Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989).

Adoor Gopalakrishnan through his first film Swayamvaram (1972) extended the New Wave Cinema toMalayalam cinema. Aravindan through his first film Uttarayanam (1974) strengthened the movement. John Abraham, K R Mohanan and P A Backer were strong presence of the new Malayalam cinema.

In Assamise, Janu Barua made his first film Aparoopa (1982). His Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Kali (1987), which achieved international recognition, dealt with social problems of rural Assam. Bhubendra Nath Sikia made his first film Sandhyarag (1977) followed by Agnisnaan (1985), Kolahal (1988), Sarothi (1991) and Abarthan (1993).

Current Affairs

India has the world's biggest movie industry in terms of the number of movies produced (around 800 movies annually, mostly in the Hindi language. Tamil, Telegu, Bengali and Malayalam are the languages in which most of the non-Hindi films are made).

Today, the technology of film-making in India is perhaps the best among all developing countriesthough the films themselves remain mostly repetitive in storyline and content. Superior movies, in thematic and creative terms, are made in many developing countries with less sophisticated technologies.

According to unofficial estimates available in January 2001, the Indian film industry has an annual turnover of Rs. 60 billion (approximately US$1.33 billion). It employs more than 6 million people, most of whom are contract workers as opposed to regular employees.

Though India’s overall entertainment industry is taking on professional colours (with the rise of TV production companies), India's movie industry per se remains highly informal, personality-oriented and family-dominated.

Until the late 1990s, it was not even recognised as an industry. Even though it has since been recognised as an industry, banks and other financial institutions continue to avoid the industry due to the enormous risks involved in the business. Two banks, Canara Bank and Indian Bank, have reportedly lost heavily by financing films. However, the prospects of bank financing and riskinsurance are becoming brighter, albeit at a slow rate (as explained further down this report).

As a result, the financing of films in India often remains shrouded in mystery.

Surprisingly, however, the oft-murky world of film industry’s finances has not tainted the film industry’s perception in the general public eye or in the government’s attitude. Even though manyfamous people from the movie industry have risen to positions of political and social responsibility, including seats in federal and state parliaments, none of them have cared to reveal – or have been under pressure to reveal – the truth about the industry's finances.

The rot or financial amorality of India's film industry seems to have set in since the 1960s. Until the 1960s, film producers would get loans from film distributors against a minimum guarantee: this meant that the distributors had to ensure that the film was screened in cinemas for a fixed minimum period. If this minimum guarantee was fulfilled, the producers had no further liability. Profit or loss would be the destiny of the distributors.

Star System: 

The financing pattern, centred on distributors, is suspected to have changed since the 1960s when the studio system collapsed and 'freelance' performers emerged. This gave rise to the 'star system' in which actors and actresses ceased to have long-term contractual obligations towards any studio or film production firm (such as the now defunct Bombay Talkies, New Theatres and Prabhat Studios). Rather, they began to operate as freelancers commanding fees in proportion to the box office performance of their recent films. This increased costs of film production since the more successful actors and actresses hogged major proportions of the producers' budget.

In the changed system, distributors would pay 50 per cent of the film-making cost leaving it to the producer to get the rest from other sources.

The 'other' sources are:

 conventional moneylenders (who lend at an interest rate of 36-40 per cent annually);

 non-conventional but corporate resources,

 promissory note system (locally called 'hundi' system): this is the most widely prevalent source, and

 underworld money: about 5 per cent of the movies are suspected to be financed by these sources.

Film production thus became a risky business and the relationship with usurious money-lendersstrengthened over the years.

As at the start of 2001, a reasonable budget film in Hindi could cost US$1.75 million. A low budget Hindi film can be made for even as low as Rs. 15 million.

A big budget Hindi movie can cost in excess of US$30 million. The 'bigness' of the budget is attributable mainly to the high fees paid to 'stars', celebrated music directors, high-end technologies and expensive travel costs to shoot in exotic locations worldwide.

At the time of writing, it is believed that 'stars' like Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are paid Rs. 20 million (US$440,000) per film. In contrast, script writers and film editors remain poorly paid. In an interview, India's so-called 'superstar' Amitabh Bachchan (whose wax statue stands at Madam Tussaud's in London) attributed the lack of strong storylines to the poor money paid to writers.

India has a National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) which finances some films. A few film makers, who would find it hard to obtain finance from the regular sources, have been financed by the NFDC. However, NFDC cannot be considered to play a central role in the film industry because it finances too few films which, too, are not of the type that has made the Indian film industry so vibrant. It however goes to the NFDC's credit that, without it, some of India's best film makers wouldn't have got a break in the industry.

Another shortcoming with the NFDC is that it funds films only at the production stage while ignoring the just-as-important marketing stage.

The film industry is currently losing unestimated volumes of revenue due to competition from local cable operators who illegally beam newly released movies into the drawing rooms of their subscribers.

Future Of Indian Cinema's:

This is not intended to be a scare story, however. As mentioned above, the overall entertainment industry in India is taking on professional colours and this will change the culture of the film industry too. Some film production companies, such as Mukta Arts, have made public share issues, thus keeping out of the world of murky financing.

The Film Federation of India is actively seeking to make film financing a viable proposition for banks. It is likely that films would also be insured to offset possible losses for banks.

The granting of industry status to the film industry will eventually allow overboard financing of films, though this will result in production of fewer films than at present.

Stricter enforcement of copyright law will help the film industry in its fight with cable operators.

Foreign entertainment companies, with steady revenue streams, can do good business if they investin Hindi and other Indian language films. Despite high risks on a per-movie basis, the risk spreads out across a number of movies.