INDIAN cinema proudly celebrates 100 years in 2013. This iconic film industry, which produces more than 800 films a year in various Indian languages, has entertained audiences offering a variety of film-making styles with a melodious musical score at the heart of almost every film.
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival the largest contingent from the Indian film industry to date are present. Vidya Balan (Parineeta, Dirty Picture) is serving as a jury member.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was there to represent the industry and to mark his appearance in the Hollywood film The Great Gatsby.
Bachchan is filled with praise for emerging Indian film-makers.
“I feel great because they are very capable, doing a great job and all of them are moving in the right direction.”
From the time Raja Harishchandra was filmed in 1913, music was always an essential aspect of the storytelling technique. It seemed an inevitable choice for film-makers as early cinema depicted stories based on Hindu mythology which contained many poems set to music.
Cut to present day, and mainstream Bollywood cinema, which has become the mainstay of the industry, still uses music to great effect. While the style of music has definitely changed, often being influenced by global trends and audiences’ interest in Western music, the film-making style has also been influenced in similar fashion.
Generally acknowledged as the Golden Age of Hindi cinema, the 1940s to1960s featured many critically and commercially acclaimed films like Awaara, Kagaz Ke Phool, Madhumati, and Pyaasa. The latter is listed in Time magazine’s 100 best films of all time.
Mother India, directed by Mehboob Khan in 1957, depicted the plight of rural farmers in the wake of India’s industrialisation. It was the first Indian film to be nominated in the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars.
Actors like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt and Balraj Sahni proved their mettle and their female counterparts like Nargis, Madhubala and Vyjanthimala stood their ground with equally brilliant performances.
Many films reflected social themes, depicting the life of working-class India. It was a time when equal attention was paid to style and substance.
Between the 1960s and early 1970s romance took centre stage, possibly as a result of social norms changing slightly. In the film Julie in 1975, the first on-screen kiss was shown in a Hindi film. Prior to this, when it came to the big moment, lovers hid behind a tree or the camera cut to an arbitrary shot of flowers blooming.
Stars such as Dharmendra, Biswajeet and Shashi Kapoor were the romantic heroes of the era. But in the 1960s it was undoubtedly Shammi Kapoor who wore the crown, only to be replaced as king by Rajesh Khanna in the 1970s.
Thousands of fans used to flock around them when they made a public appearance. But none of the adulation could be topped when the legendary Bachchan appeared on the silver screen. The tall, dark and handsome actor with his distinctive baritone voice swept every damsel off her feet and had men imitating his trademark hip sways in music scenes. He was the original “angry young man”, his various characters inevitably waging war against an unjust system. Bachchan was able to transcend this image, showcasing his skill and excelling equally at comedy and drama. In 1999 he was voted Star of the Millenium in a BBC online poll.
After the 1970s there was a move to produce parallel art-type films with more substance. Directors like Shyam Benegal, Saeed Mirza, and Govind Nihalani offered a different perspective and style of film-making, often being hailed at film festivals worldwide.
Actors like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil worked effectively in both styles of cinema and in English-language films as well. The talented Anupam Kher was recently seen to good effect in The Silver Linings Playbook.
The moniker Bollywood, by the way, was supposedly coined by Amit Khanna, a former lyricist, in the late 1970s. He is now head of the Indian-owned Reliance Entertainment, which finances the films produced by Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg’s company.
From the mid-1990s a modern style of film-making emerged with a new wave of directors, heavily influenced by a changing India, bringing a breath of fresh air to local cinema. Directors like Farhan Akhtar, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Anurag Basu, Rajkumar Hirani and others made a great mark with films like Dil Chahta Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (it’s been playing for a record breaking 18 years in Mumbai), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Barfi and 3 Idiots.
Actors like Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan became prolific producers as well. Aamir’s Lagaan was nominated for best picture in the foreign film category at the Oscars. Shahrukh has become a global legend with a string of box office hits.
Women have also raised their profile in the entertainment industry with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Balan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif, among others, receiving much acclaim for their performances.