THE I NTRODUCTI ON OF CI NEMA I N I NDI A

1896 - 1910
Hiralal SenCinema was introduced to India on July 7, 1896. It
began with theLumiere Brothers' Cinematography, unveiling six
silent short films at the Watson Hotelin Bombay, namely Entry
of Cinematographe, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train,
ADemolition, Ladies & Soldiers on Wheels and Leaving the
Factory[1]. The Times of India carried details of the "Living
Photographic Pictures in Life-Size Reproductions byMssrs.
Lumiere Brotheres". In the same year, the Madras Photographic
Store advertised"animated photographs". Daily screenings of
films commenced in Bombay in 1897 byClifton and Co.'s
Meadows Street Photography Studio.In 1898, Hiralal Sen started
filming scenes of theatre productions at the ClassicTheatre in
Calcutta, inspired by Professor Stevenson (who had brought to
India thecountry'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 attractionsduring intermission, in private
screenings for high society households or taken to distantvenues
where the stage performers could not reach. Lord and Lady
Curzon on Elephant, Coronation Durbar, Delhi,
1903Harishchandra BhatvadekarHarischandra Sakharam
Bhatvadekar alias Save Dada, whohad attended the show,
imported a cine-camera from London at a price of 21 guineas
andfilmed the first Indian documentary, a wrestling match in
Hanging Gardens, Bombay, in1897. 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 filmedLord 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 wasanother
highly successful film producer, who released hit films like
Satyavadi RajaHarishchandra and Bilwamangal; also, he
launched Madan Theatres Limited, which became India's largest
film production-distribution-exhibition company and the
biggestimporter of American films after World War I. His films
were marked by a high degreeof technical sophistication,
facilitated by his employment of experienced foreign
directorslike Eugenio De Liguoro and Camille Legrand. This
expertise was complemented bygrand sets and popular
mythological storylines which ensured good returns.

like Padosan and Roja, for example, were re-made or dubbed
from their original Bengaliand 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 erodingwith the new practice
of simulaneous release in several languages. Producers used to
behighly cost-conscious; they would only pay to have a film
dubbed into another languageif it had been a hit in the first
language. Dubbed films were always later re-releases. Nowfilm-
makers are releasing versions in multiple languages
simulaneously. One journalistcredits this innovation to the
Telugu movie industry [7]. It has been picked up byBollywood
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 andBombay). 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
Indiancultural values and its discussion of controversial topics.
It is considered the most liberalout of the Indian language film
industries.Regional movies are distinctively different to
Bollywood (Hindi) movies. As thestories and themes of the
movie portray the culture of the region. While most
Bollywoodmovies nowadays are greatly influenced by western
culture.Although Bollywood can beconsidered to be largest in
terms of viewers.It is believed that 95% of the IndianPopulation
watch Bollywood. Due to more people watching Bollywood
films, it hastherfore 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 mostsuccessful film
industries in India, and its popularity is not limited to India
butworldwide. Tamil films are especially popular in countries
like Sri Lanka, Singapore,Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom,
Canada, South Africa and the United States. Thesefilms often
get dubbed or remade in other languages like Telugu, Hindi, and
so have wideviewership. Prominent examples of Tamil films
dubbed into other Indian languages arefilm director Mani
Ratnam's Roja and Bombay. Anniyan, a recent Tamil film
became thefirst Indian film to be dubbed into French.

In the film markets of South India, and particularly in Tamil
Nadu, film directorssuch 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 1970sto the present, include
Apoorva Raagangal, which dealt with a complex father-
sonrelationship; Moondram Pirai, a National Award winner
about an amnesiac and her caretaker; Raja Paarvai, a film about
the love affair of a blind violinist; MuthalMariyathai, a film
about the platonic relationship between an aging village head
and ayoung fisherwoman; Mouna Raagam, a study of the
conflict between two unlikelynewlyweds; 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 obsessionwith an imaginary lover; and Thavamai
Thavamirundhu, an account of the travails of afather in raising
his two sons.Despite successes, the industry is failing since it
does not attract many viewers. And mostfilms made usually
involve explicit content such as pornography.
Conventions of commercial films
The principal difference between American and Indian
commercial cinema is thatIndian films usually feature periodic
song-and-dance routines which, in a good movie, areexpected to
move the story forward (in mediocre movies, they are poorly
integrated intothe story). Songs are sung by professional play-
back singers and lip-synched by dancingactors 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 belong; they are usually two to three
hours long, often with an intermission. They tend to
bemelodramatic, sentimental, and formulaic, but may also
feature romance, comedy, action,suspense, and other generic
elements. Unlike commercial Western films, there is almostno
nudity at all in Indian films. Such scenes are classified as
obscene in the Constitutionof 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 toseriousness 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 inIndia
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 relationshipswithin an Indian setting.From
the 1960s through the 1980s, art films were subsidised by
Indiangovernments: aspiring directors could get federal or state
government grants to producenon-commercial films on Indian
themes. Many of these directors were graduates of
thegovernment-supported Film and Television Institute of India.
Their films wereshowcased at government film festivals and on
the government-run TV station,Doordarshan. These films also
had limited runs in art house theatres in India andoverseas. 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 byaspiring auteurs, much as in
today's Western film industry.The art directors of this period
owed more to foreign influences, such as Italianneorealism or
the French New Wave, than they did to the genre conventions
of commercial Indian cinema. The best known New Cinema
directors were Bengali: SatyajitRay, Ritwik Ghatak, and Bimal
Roy. Some well-known films of this movement includethe Apu
Trilogy by Ray (Bengali), Meghe Dhaka Tara by Ghatak
(Bengali) and DoBigha Zameen by Roy (Hindi). Of these film-
makers, Satyajit Ray was arguably the mostwell-known: his
films obtained considerable international recognition during the
mid-twentieth century. His prestige, however, did not translate
into large-scale commercialsuccess[citation needed]. His films
played primarily to art-house audiences (students
andintelligentsia) in the larger Indian cities, or to film buffs on
the international art-housecircuit in India and abroad.Art cinema
was also well-supported in the South Indian state of Kerala.
Someoutstanding 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 theCannes 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 periodwho continues to make non-
commercial films. He is the only Indian director after
SatyajitRay to win the Golden Lotus Awards four times.