research project (1): INDIAN MOVIE HISTORY
I'm guessing that due to the fact that India was still a British colony, when film was born, the Indian film industry developed almost as quickly and was up-to-date with sound and color film, for instance, as Western industries. But let's start at the beginning.
In 1896, the Lumière brothers first showed their short films in India - only one year after they first presented them in a private screening. The Indian audience was of course as much fascinated by this new medium as viewers all around the world. Eventually, some Indian film pioneers started experimenting with film cameras.
One of these early pioneers was Dadasaheb Phalke, who is nowadays considered the ''father of Indian cinema'', and rightly at that, I think.
In 1913 - after quite some time of experimenting - he produced the first Indian silent movie, called ''Raja Harishchandra''. With this movie, Phalke did not only write film history of his homecountry, but he also established what then became a routine in Indian films: He based the plot on an old Indian myth. Culturally speaking, it makes a lot of sense that the movie has only few inserts representing dialogue. If you're Indian and you're watching a movie that is about a popular Indian myth, you will know the story anyway. You are then not dependent on dialogue to elaborate on the events in the film. However, as a person with a different cultural background, the movie sure can be difficult to follow. You can actually watch it online here.
Overall, India produced about 1.300 silent movies, but only 13 of them are left today. Many were destroyed due to wrong storage, bad copying or weather conditions, or by fires, and some were simply lost.
In 1931, the first Indian sound film was produced, by director Ardeshir Irani.
''Alam Ara'' triggered a discussion about which of the many Indian languages should be used in Indian films. It was then decided, that Hindi should be it, for a culturally motivated reason: Hindi has the largest speech community in India. Therefore, most people would understand the movie. Today, there are usually two versions of every Indian movie - one in English, and one in Hindi. Some films are also produced or dubbed in Urdu, which is an Indian variety spoken also in Pakistan.
Only six years later - in 1937 - the first color film was produced, also by Irani, called ''Kisan Kanya''. With movies now featuring sound as well as color, the whole industry saw itself confronted with a real enrichment to the Indian film. Now, Indian culture could be represented truthfully, in all its beauty and variety. Music and dance scenes would now appear much more lively, and overall work a lot better for the audience. The rich Indian culture of song, dance, and colorful clothes could now be aptly represented.
Unfortunately, I could not find any trailers or scenes of these movies ...
In 1896, the Lumière brothers first showed their short films in India - only one year after they first presented them in a private screening. The Indian audience was of course as much fascinated by this new medium as viewers all around the world. Eventually, some Indian film pioneers started experimenting with film cameras.
One of these early pioneers was Dadasaheb Phalke, who is nowadays considered the ''father of Indian cinema'', and rightly at that, I think.
In 1913 - after quite some time of experimenting - he produced the first Indian silent movie, called ''Raja Harishchandra''. With this movie, Phalke did not only write film history of his homecountry, but he also established what then became a routine in Indian films: He based the plot on an old Indian myth. Culturally speaking, it makes a lot of sense that the movie has only few inserts representing dialogue. If you're Indian and you're watching a movie that is about a popular Indian myth, you will know the story anyway. You are then not dependent on dialogue to elaborate on the events in the film. However, as a person with a different cultural background, the movie sure can be difficult to follow. You can actually watch it online here.
Overall, India produced about 1.300 silent movies, but only 13 of them are left today. Many were destroyed due to wrong storage, bad copying or weather conditions, or by fires, and some were simply lost.
In 1931, the first Indian sound film was produced, by director Ardeshir Irani.
''Alam Ara'' triggered a discussion about which of the many Indian languages should be used in Indian films. It was then decided, that Hindi should be it, for a culturally motivated reason: Hindi has the largest speech community in India. Therefore, most people would understand the movie. Today, there are usually two versions of every Indian movie - one in English, and one in Hindi. Some films are also produced or dubbed in Urdu, which is an Indian variety spoken also in Pakistan.
Only six years later - in 1937 - the first color film was produced, also by Irani, called ''Kisan Kanya''. With movies now featuring sound as well as color, the whole industry saw itself confronted with a real enrichment to the Indian film. Now, Indian culture could be represented truthfully, in all its beauty and variety. Music and dance scenes would now appear much more lively, and overall work a lot better for the audience. The rich Indian culture of song, dance, and colorful clothes could now be aptly represented.
Unfortunately, I could not find any trailers or scenes of these movies ...