History of Indian Cinema
- One of the most flourishing cinema industries found today is in India. But the pioneers of the industry were actually foreigners.
- In 1896, the Lumiere brothers demonstrated the art of cinema when they screened Cinematography consisting of six short films to an enthusiastic audience in Bombay.
- The success of these films led to the screening of films by James B. Stewart and Ted Hughes.
- The history of Indian Cinema goes back to the nineteenth century.
- In 1896, the very first films shot by the Lumiere Brothers were shown in Mumbai.
- But history was actually created when Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar popularly known as Save Dada, the still photographer, was so much influenced by the Lumiere Brothers’ production that he ordered a camera from England.
- His first film was shot at the Hanging Gardens in Mumbai, known as ‘The Wrestlers’. It was a simple recording of a wrestling match which was screened in 1899 and is considered as the first motion picture in the Indian Film Industry.
- The hierarchy of metropolitan markets and foreign markets over rural India happened during the framework of a right turn in both political and economical sector, with an increase of Hinduva (Indian nationalism) prices.
- Globalization has four different aspects. As far as the goods’ circulation, India’s industry has a great history in her presentation in the international market.
- Bollywood represented the 15% of India film production and justified the 40% of India’s income, with an annual growth rate of 10 and 20%. The main cause of this is that Bollywood was the second biggest domain of development in India. The revenues in global markets were skyrocketed.
- The Indian film industry produces more movies and sells more tickets than any other film industry. Her incomes are only surpassed by the incomes of U.S.A movies. Researches, like Marc Fetscherin (2010) research, have shown that the factors of a movie’s success are universal and not limited locally.
- In 2005, were released 1041 films and were sold approximately 3, 6 million tickets all over the world. India is the biggest film production industry universally. In contrast, the U.S.A in 2005 released 535 films and sold 2.6 million tickets.
- The Bollywood’s annual turnover was calculated at 575 thousand dollars in 2005. Contrary to Hollywood, in which the same year won 23 million dollars. CII and KPMG (2006) estimated that in the period 2006-2007 the incomes of Bollywood will be increased in 16%, while for Hollywood only 7%.
- The exports until 2007 were increased up to 60%. The United States and Canada are the two main export destinations and are calculated almost to 30%. United Kingdom is following with 25% and the Mauritius and Dubai with 10% each. Other equally big markets are South Africa, Russia, Fiji islands, New Zealand and Australia, where a large number of India Diaspora dwells.
Impacts of globalization
- In the middle of (1980-90), India faced a growing economic crisis because of the stagnant economic growth and the persistent balance of payments deficit.
- This crisis was coped with a loan from the USA of the order of 70 billion dollars making her the third more indebted country in the world.
- Bollywood exploited this chance and decided to utilize the consumers’ power of India Diaspora, in order to cope with the Hollywood’s challenge.
- Via this way it tried to become the biggest global economic power in the cinema industry.
The impact of economic changes in the films
The decade of 1990 marked the revelation of free market reforms in Indian market, known as economic liberalization. The economic liberation revealed the emergence of a global middle class. This middle class has joined by new rich technocrats, who were affected by the consumption patterns that characterize their counterparts in developed countries, have acquired a social economic mobility.
It’s true that economists and other social scientists who have written about the causes of economic liberalization in India have supported their views exclusively on maximizing wealth. Many factors to be taken into account and have been ignored. For instance, a big ideological change or a culture with completely positive shift in the moral assessment of business and commerce.
Types of Awards
- Arab Indo Bollywood Awards
- Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards
- Asianet Film Awards
- BIG Star Entertainment Awards
- CineMAA Awards
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award
- Filmfare Awards
- Global Indian Film Awards
- International Indian Film Academy Awards
- National Film Awards (Directorate of Film Festivals)
- Prag Cine Awards
- Screen Awards
- Stardust Awards
- Times of India Film Awards
- Zee Cine Awards
- Filmfare Awards
- IIFA Awards
- National Film Awards
Significant Festival awards
- International Film Festival of India
- a) Golden Peacock (best picture)
- International Film Festival of PUNE
- a) Golden Crow Pheasant
- Mumbai International Film Festival
- a) Golden Conch (best fiction and best documentary)
- International Film Festival GOA
- France - Cannes International Film Festival
- Canada - Toronto Film Critics Association
Birth of a New Era
The number of films being produced saw a brief decline during the World War II. Basically the birth of modern Indian Film industry took place around 1947. The period witnessed a remarkable and outstanding transformation of the film industry.
Beginning of the Talkies
1. The first ever talkie ‘Alam Ara’ by Ardeshir Irani was screened in Bombay in 1931 which made the silent era to an end. It was the first sound film in India. The release of Alam Ara started a new era in the history of Indian Cinema. Phiroz Shah was the first music director of Alam Ara. The first song which was recorded for Alam Ara in 1931 was ‘De de khuda ke naam par’. It was sung by W.M. Khan.
2. 50s and 60s were considered as the Golden Age of Indian cinema. But the 70s completely changed the way films were made, especially in Hindi film industry. Changing social norms and changing economies influenced movies and the companies that made them.
3. Indian cinema has an identity that is very unique and unmatched. We have moved from the black and white silent films to 3D, but our cinema continues to retain its basic essence - to thrill.
4. It's a miracle that Indian cinema has withstood the test of time despite the vast cultural differences in the past 100 years. Indian cinema, despite all its peculiarities, has been a reflection of the socio-economic, political and cultural changes that took place in the country.