Cinema has become an essential part of the present civilization. Current cinema is thought to have originated in the nineteenth century. It has been the endeavor of the scientists that how to create such reflections which can be shown in such a way that they can experience motion.
The invention of camera, photography etc. is the result of this effort. W.K.L. In 1891, with his untiring efforts, Discan invented a machine that experienced motion in reflections. The machine was named ‘Kinetoscope’.
The first commercial performance of the Kinetoscope was performed on April 14, 1897 in New York. The Lumier brothers of France — Auguste and Louis — tried to make this invention more useful by keeping in mind the possibilities of this invention.
In this theory, a ‘cinematograph’ was created incorporating the principles of movie cameras and projectors, by which pictures could be seen on the screen while moving. The Lumiere brothers made a public demonstration on March 22, 1895 in Leon (France).
In India, four shows were conducted every day of 60–90 minutes by the Lumiere brothers ‘Cinematograph’ at the Watson Hotel in Bombay on 6 July 1897. With this event, India became the third country in the world and the first country in Asia, where it was screened within a year of the invention of cinema.
In 1897, a film ‘Coconut Fair’ was first shot in India by a foreign photographer. The Bengali opera ‘The Flower of Persia’ was screened as a dance-scene film on 7 February 1897 at the Star Theater in Calcutta.
Attracted by these films, Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatwadrekar (Saiva Dada), a commercial photographer from India, had a movie camera sourced from Great Britain. With this camera, he produced two short films.
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The production of these two short films in India is considered to be the beginning of film-making. Noted painter R.G. Pundalik, India’s first film produced by Tarni and NG Chitre, was screened on May 14, 1912 at the Coronation Theater in Bombay. Its photographers were foreigners.
The most important time in Indian film-history came when Dada Saheb Phalke’s full indigenous silent film ‘Raja Harishchandra’ was released for screening on 3 May 1913 at the Coronation Theater in Bombay. It was later screened across India. According to an estimate, about 1,300 silent films were produced from 1913 to 1936.
March 14, 1931 is considered to be the golden day in Indian film history as ‘Alamara’, the first speaking film produced in India, was screened in Bombay on the same day. The producer-director of this film was Ardeshir Irani. The film’s protagonists were Master Vitthal, heroine Zubaida and villain Prithviraj Kapoor.
With the performance of this film, the landscape of the Indian film-industry itself had changed. Competition started in the production of spoken films. Within a year, twenty two films were produced in Hindi, three films in Bangla and one each in Tamil and Telugu.
Dada Saheb Phalke is called ‘Father of Indian Cinema’. Bombay Talkies’ 1948 film ‘Untouchable Girl’ is the hallmark of Indian cinema. The pair of Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani gained immense popularity from this film.
The dialogues of Sohrab Modi, the producer of historical films, ‘Pukar’ made in 1939 and ‘Sikander’ made in 1919, have been on the tongue of the people for years. Only. Shantaram attempted to solve social and political problems by making ‘Man’ in 1939 and ‘Neighbor’ in 1961.
The important film of the forties was ‘Luck’ in which Ashok Kumar gave birth to the image of ‘Antihero’. This tradition continues its influence in Hindi films till date. The decade of forty was the era of songs and music in Hindi films. This tradition of films continued, with one-to-one high-quality films being produced.
In 1958, ‘Mother India’ was created by Mehboob Khan, which earned international fame. The attraction of films was further enhanced by the practice of color films. Many films of Shammi Kapoor’s new acting-style, such as ‘Junglee’, ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’, etc. were produced.
Gautam Ghosh’s ‘Paar’ (1979), Ketan Mehta’s ‘Mirch Masala’ (1979), Sukhwant Chaddha’s ‘Ek Chadar Rally Si’ (1985), etc. are films of their own kind. The film ‘Sholay’, made by Sippy in 19–5, broke all the success records of the film world.
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After this there was a glut of spice films in Indian cinema. Sexy dances continued to be included in these films. Currently, in the new artists of the cinema, there is a competition to screen all the expressions of Kamasutra in the name of dance.
Indecent folklore and folk dances are being presented to the audience in films, due to which the level of Hindi-films has been continuously falling. This is why today’s films are not getting the desired success. Thus, the influence of Western civilization on present-day Indian films is clearly visible. Indian actresses have seen less performance and more competition.
In films, reality is becoming less. As a result, production of art films has reduced. In the era of poor films, some films are trying to maintain the identity of Indian cinema. Due to these evils in films, the artistic nature of the current films has been hurt and social problems have remained untouched. This affects the youth.
Appropriately, films should be educative and entertaining, which will have a healthy impact on society. Cinema is a powerful medium of public education. It has immense potential to influence everyone. Hence, film-makers should also fulfill their obligation towards society with professionalism.
