The introduction of cinema in India

1896 - 1910

Hiralal SenCinema was introduced to India on July 7, 1896. It began with the
Lumiere Brothers' Cinematography, unveiling six silent short films at the Watson Hotel
in Bombay, namely Entry of Cinematographe, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train, A
Demolition, Ladies & Soldiers on Wheels and Leaving the Factory[1]. The Times of
India carried details of the "Living Photographic Pictures in Life-Size Reproductions by
Mssrs. Lumiere Brotheres". In the same year, the Madras Photographic Store advertised
"animated photographs". Daily screenings of films commenced in Bombay in 1897 by
Clifton and Co.'s Meadows Street Photography Studio.

In 1898, Hiralal Sen started filming scenes of theatre productions at the Classic
Theatre in Calcutta, inspired by Professor Stevenson (who had brought to India the
country's first bioscope)'s, film presentation alongside the stage production of The Flower
Of Persia; his debut was a contribution to this presentation. He continued making similar
films to complement theatrical productions, which were shown as added attractions
during intermission, in private screenings for high society households or taken to distant
venues where the stage performers could not reach.

Lord and Lady Curzon on Elephant, Coronation Durbar, Delhi, 1903

Harishchandra BhatvadekarHarischandra Sakharam Bhatvadekar alias Save Dada, who
had attended the show, imported a cine-camera from London at a price of 21 guineas and
filmed the first Indian documentary, a wrestling match in Hanging Gardens, Bombay, in
1897. In 1901, he recorded the return from Cambridge of 'Wrangler' Ragunath P.
Paranjpye, who had secured a distinction in mathematics from Cambridge University,
and M M Bhownuggree, considered the first Indian news film. [2][3]. He also filmed
Lord Curzon (the Viceroy of India)'s Delhi Durbar that marked the enthronement of
Edward VII in 1903.

The commercial potential of cinema was also tested during the time. F.B.
Thanewala's "Grand Kinetoscope Newsreels" is one successful case. J.F. Madan was
another highly successful film producer, who released hit films like Satyavadi Raja
Harishchandra and Bilwamangal; also, he launched Madan Theatres Limited, which
became India's largest film production-distribution-exhibition company and the biggest
importer of American films after World War I. His films were marked by a high degree
of technical sophistication, facilitated by his employment of experienced foreign directors
like Eugenio De Liguoro and Camille Legrand. This expertise was complemented by
grand sets and popular mythological storylines which ensured good returns.
1910-1920

A scene from Raja HarishchandraThe first feature film made in India was a
narrative named Pundalik, by N.G. Chitre and R.G. Torney. The first full-length Indian
feature film was Raja Harishchandra (3700 feet as compared to 1500 for Pundalik), made
in 1913 and released commercially in May that year, by Dadasaheb Phalke. Phalke had
attended a screening of The Life of Christ at P.B. Mehta's American-Indian Cinema and
was inspired to make films himself. He was convinced of the possibility of establishing
an indigenous film industry by focussing on Indian themes. In this regard, he said Like
the life of Christ, we shall make pictures on Rama and Krishna. The film was about an
honest king who for the sake of his principles sacrifices his kingdom and family before
the gods, who are impressed with his honesty and restore him to his former glory. The
film was a success, and Phalke went on to make more mythological films till the advent
of talkies, and commercialization of Indian films lessened his popularity.[4].

In 1916, Universal Pictures set up Hollywood's first Indian agency (see

Hollywood meets India, below). The first South Indian feature was Rangaswamy
Nataraja Mudaliar's Keechaka Vadham, released in 1918.[5] The following year, he made
the film Draupadi Vastrapaharanam, featuring Anglo-Indian actress Marian Hill who
played the role of Draupadi.

Regional film industries

A cinema hall in DelhiIndia is a large country where many languages are spoken.
According to the 1991 Census of India there are about 10,400 'raw mother tongues' in
India. If closely related and mutually comprehensible dialects are grouped, the number
can be reduced to 1576 ‘rationalised’ mother tongues, or with even more consolidation,
114 main languages. These 114 languages are the ones surveyed in the Indian census.[6]
Indian film producers have made films in thirty of the largest languages. However, only
the very largest language groups support major regional industries. These are: Hindi,
Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam. Official statistics categorise
Indian films according to the languages in which they are distributed.

There is a great deal of mobility between the regional industries. Many workers in
other regional industries, once their talent and popularity is established, move on to work
in other film industries, nationally as well as internationally. For example, A. R. Rahman,
one of the best known film music composers in Indian cinema, started his career in Tamil
cinema in Chennai but has since worked in Bollywood, London, and New York.
Similarly, films that succeed in one language are often remade or dubbed in others. Films
like Padosan and Roja, for example, were re-made or dubbed from their original Bengali
and Tamil versions respectively, into Hindi.

The Tollywood industry is the largest(243 Movies a year) in terms of films

produced and box office receipts. Distinctions between regional cinemas may be eroding
with the new practice of simulaneous release in several languages. Producers used to be
highly cost-conscious; they would only pay to have a film dubbed into another language
if it had been a hit in the first language. Dubbed films were always later re-releases. Now
film-makers are releasing versions in multiple languages simulaneously. One journalist
credits this innovation to the Telugu movie industry [7]. It has been picked up by
Bollywood as well.

The Hindi film industry

The Hindi film industry, based in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), largest branch of
the cinema. Hindi film Industry is often called 'Bollywood' (a melding of Hollywood and
Bombay). The word "Bollywood" is sometimes applied to Indian cinema as a whole,
especially outside South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, but this usage is incorrect.
Bollywood has been recently greatly criticized for what critics see as a violation of Indian
cultural values and its discussion of controversial topics. It is considered the most liberal
out of the Indian language film industries.

Regional movies are distinctively different to Bollywood (Hindi) movies. As the

stories and themes of the movie portray the culture of the region. While most Bollywood
movies nowadays are greatly influenced by western culture.Although Bollywood can be
considered to be largest in terms of viewers.It is believed that 95% of the Indian
Population watch Bollywood. Due to more people watching Bollywood films, it has
therfore has international recognition espcially in Western Countries such as the UK,
USA and Australia.

The Tamil film industry

The Tamil film industry, based in the Kodambakkam area of Chennai is one of
the biggest regional film industries in India. Nicknamed 'Kollywood', it is one of the most
successful film industries in India, and its popularity is not limited to India but
worldwide. Tamil films are especially popular in countries like Sri Lanka, Singapore,
Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and the United States. These
films often get dubbed or remade in other languages like Telugu, Hindi, and so have wide
viewership. Prominent examples of Tamil films dubbed into other Indian languages are
film director Mani Ratnam's Roja and Bombay. Anniyan, a recent Tamil film became the
first Indian film to be dubbed into French.
 In the film markets of South India, and particularly in Tamil Nadu, film directors
such as K. Balachander, Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra, Santhana Bharathi, Shankar,
Cheran, and Mani Ratnam have achieved box-office success whilst producing films that
balanced art and popular elements. Noteworthy examples of such films, from the 1970s
to the present, include Apoorva Raagangal, which dealt with a complex father-son
relationship; Moondram Pirai, a National Award winner about an amnesiac and her
caretaker; Raja Paarvai, a film about the love affair of a blind violinist; Muthal
Mariyathai, a film about the platonic relationship between an aging village head and a
young fisherwoman; Mouna Raagam, a study of the conflict between two unlikely
newlyweds; Sindhu Bhairavi, a feature about a Carnatic musician and his ardent critic;
Nayagan, a chronicle of an Indian don; Guna, a feature about a deranged man's obsession
with an imaginary lover; and Thavamai Thavamirundhu, an account of the travails of a
father in raising his two sons.

Despite successes, the industry is failing since it does not attract many viewers. And most
films made usually involve explicit content such as pornography.

Conventions of commercial films

The principal difference between American and Indian commercial cinema is that
Indian films usually feature periodic song-and-dance routines which, in a good movie, are
expected to move the story forward (in mediocre movies, they are poorly integrated into
the story). Songs are sung by professional play-back singers and lip-synched by dancing
actors and actresses. Most non-Indians would consider the ordinary Indian film a musical.

Indian commercial films, in whatever regional centre they are made, tend to be
long; they are usually two to three hours long, often with an intermission. They tend to be
melodramatic, sentimental, and formulaic, but may also feature romance, comedy, action,
suspense, and other generic elements. Unlike commercial Western films, there is almost
no nudity at all in Indian films. Such scenes are classified as obscene in the Constitution
of India and are usually removed by the Indian Censor Board.

Art cinema in India

In addition to commercial cinema, there is also Indian cinema that aspires to
seriousness or art. This is known to film critics as "New Indian Cinema" or sometimes
"the Indian New Wave" (see the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema), but most people in
India simply call such films "art films". These films deal with a wide range of subjects
but many are in general explorations of complex human circumstances and relationships
within an Indian setting.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, art films were subsidised by Indian
governments: aspiring directors could get federal or state government grants to produce
non-commercial films on Indian themes. Many of these directors were graduates of the
government-supported Film and Television Institute of India. Their films were
showcased at government film festivals and on the government-run TV station,
Doordarshan. These films also had limited runs in art house theatres in India and
overseas. Since the 1980s, Indian art cinema has to a great extent lost its government
patronage. Today, it must be made as independent films on a shoestring budget by
aspiring auteurs, much as in today's Western film industry.

The art directors of this period owed more to foreign influences, such as Italian
neorealism or the French New Wave, than they did to the genre conventions of
commercial Indian cinema. The best known New Cinema directors were Bengali: Satyajit
Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, and Bimal Roy. Some well-known films of this movement include
the Apu Trilogy by Ray (Bengali), Meghe Dhaka Tara by Ghatak (Bengali) and Do
Bigha Zameen by Roy (Hindi). Of these film-makers, Satyajit Ray was arguably the most
well-known: his films obtained considerable international recognition during the mid-
twentieth century. His prestige, however, did not translate into large-scale commercial
success[citation needed]. His films played primarily to art-house audiences (students and
intelligentsia) in the larger Indian cities, or to film buffs on the international art-house
circuit in India and abroad.

Art cinema was also well-supported in the South Indian state of Kerala. Some
outstanding Malayalam movie makers are Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, T. V.
Chandran, Shaji N. Karun, and M. T. Vasudevan Nair. Some of their films include
National Film Award-winning Elippathayam, Piravi (which won the Camera d'Or at the
Cannes Film Festival), Vaanaprastham and Nizhalkkuthu (a FIPRESCI-Prize winner).
Starting in the 1970s, Kannada film makers from Karnataka state produced a string of
serious, low-budget films. Girish Kasaravalli is one of the few directors from that period
who continues to make non-commercial films. He is the only Indian director after Satyajit
Ray to win the Golden Lotus Awards four times.