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The First Indian FIlm
After viewing a screening of The Lumière Brothers, Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar (better known as Save Dada) is inspired to purchase a camera of his own. In 1899, he captures a wrestling match in Mumbai’s Hanging Gardens, and sends it to London for processing. ‘The Wrestlers’ would be the first film to be shot by an Indian. -
The Birth of Bollywood
Directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, the first full length Indian feature film is made in 1913, a silent film called Raja Harishchandra. After watching the French film The Life of Christ (1902), Phalke quits his job at a printing press, and goes to London to learn how to make a film, and returns to India to do so. Similar to Shakespearean times, Phalke casts men in women’s roles (finding women willing to act in the film proved a struggle). The film is a commercial success. -
The First Talkie
Directed by Ardeshir Irani, the first Indian film with sound is released in 1931. After watching the American ‘part-talkie’ 1929 film, 'Show Boat', Irani is prompted to make the film. It is the first Hindi Bollywood film, and is a commercial success. The song, “De de khuda ke naam per”, is the first song in an Indian film and is also widely successful. The high concentration of music sets the template for the style of Bollywood films thereon. -
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The Rise of Bollywood
The number of production companies grows following the release of Alam Ara. In 1927, 108 films are produced, and in 1931, 328 are. The film’s themes are more focused on historical and mythological stories that are full of gods, princes, and metaphors. Colour and animated films begin to rise, and attendance of films begins to include not just the rich, but also the working class population. -
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The Golden Age
Following partition in 1947, a new movement called the Indian New Wave or Parallel Cinema rises. This is considered the golden age of Hindi cinema, during which the most critically acclaimed Hindi films are made. Socially engaged cinema that follows the lives of ordinary people are being made. Stories that are typically ignored are now being told, replacing the initial fairytale themes with films that criticize the social hierarchy present in India, polygamy, and prostitution. -
'Mother India'
Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’, released in 1957, tells the story of a mother struggling to raise her sons alone and with a money-lender on her back. It loses the Oscar by a single vote. It’s story is identifiable to farmers, and the low working class in India. Films like ‘Mother India’ shed light on the more common stories of perseverance and the reality faced by single mothers, farmers, orphans, ‘the untouchables’, and other members of society victimized by the Indian hierarchical system. -
Film & Fashion
Following the release of Mughal-e-Azam in 1960, Madhubala's iconic anarkali dress catches the eye of fashion lovers across the country. Perhaps the earliest influence of Indian film on fashion, the style of dress becomes increasingly more popular at Bollywood events, which becomes reflected on Indian fashion itself. The anarkali remains to be one of the more popular styles of South Asian dresses today, almost 60 years following the film's initial release. -
A Shift Towards the ‘Angry Young Man’
With Bollywood dominated by musical romances, it makes a massive shift to a genre of gritty, violent crime films. Reflecting the current socio-economic and political atmosphere, and channeling discontent with corruption, poverty, and violence, it creates character of ‘the angry young man’, who gives a voice to the voiceless. The films made during this era take aspects of Hollywood Westerns, and give way for masala films to emerge. -
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Classic Bollywood & The Masala Film
A blend of various genres into one film, the ‘masala film’ is born, pioneered by directors such as Nasir Hussain and Manmohan Desai. These are the films that comprise of the dramatic Bollywood that we know today. Films like these, that include romance, action, humour, and music, are commercial hits, well received by South Asian audiences. The films are a sort of escapist experience into a world of drama, glitter, glam, dancing, and royalty: an imagination of India in its most dramatic form. -
The Quintessential Bollywood FIlm
The first ‘masala film’, ‘Yaadon Ki Baaraat’, released in 1973, contains all the elements that make up any action, drama, romance, musical, crime, and thriller. It launches the careers of actors such as Amir Khan, and attracts audiences with its flashy clothes and catchy soundtrack. Through films like this, dancing becomes a prevalent theme in Bollywood cinema and becomes more popular in Indian culture. -
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New Bollywood
In a second shift, similar to the one between the 1960s and 1970s, Bollywood takes another turn towards films filled with emotion, music, and youthfulness, setting a template for Bollywood musical romances. Films that highlight economic liberalization in India rise along with independent films, and actors Amir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Ruh Khan break out onto the big screen. -
Current Day Bollywood
Bollywood has influenced India’s sense of nationalism and patriotism, and has brought awareness to the stories of women, children, and the urban poor that otherwise would not be told. Indian crime films represent discontent amongst the masses on rising prices, growth of the slums, and a rise in violence and gangs. Through Bollywood cinema, India has been able to choose how their stories that are told to the rest of the world, and are able tell them in the most authentic and truest manner.
