In pictures: Indian cinema turns 100
- Published
Indian cinema began 100 years ago when Dhundiraj Govind Phalke's black-and-white silent film Raja Harischandra was screened in Mumbai on 3 May, 1913. The 40-minute-long film is a tale of a righteous Indian king who never told a lie.
The first kiss in an Indian film was in 1929 when Seeta Devi and Charu Roy locked lips in the silent film, Throw of Dice. The 1933 film, Karma, saw a kiss between the lead pair Devika Rani and Himanshu Roy which lasted four minutes. Post India's independence from the British rule in 1947, the kiss disappeared from the screen, but it has made a tentative comeback in recent years.
Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara, released on 14 March 1931 at Bombay's Majestic Cinema, was India's first "talking film" or film with sound. According to reports, when the movie hit the theatres, the crowds were so huge that police were called in to control them. Today, it is believed that no copy of the movie survives.
Australian-born Nadia, also known as the "Fearless Nadia" or "the Hunterwali" (the woman with the whip), was perhaps the first foreigner to attain cult status in Bollywood. She arrived in India in 1935 and became Bollywood's first stunt queen. "She would ride a horse wearing a mask, jump onto a moving train, whip 25-30 men single-handedly and beat them up with her bare hands if needed," says film historian Jaiprakash Choksi.
The 1943 film Kismet was India's first certified blockbuster. Directed by Gyan Mukherjee, the film had well-known actor Ashok Kumar play the anti-hero and dealt with bold themes like pre-marital pregnancy.
Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar made her debut in the 1946 film Aap Ki Sewa Mein (At your service). One of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India, Mangeshkar has recorded thousands of songs for Bollywood films and was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), in 2001.
Legendary director Satyajit Ray was India's best-known filmmaker globally. His first film, Pather Panchali, made in 1955, was acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival and he was awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement shortly before his death in 1992.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is more than just a star in a movie-mad nation - he is a national icon. Bachchan gained huge popularity in the 1970s, playing the angry young man in superhit films like Zanjeer and Deewar. He has acted in nearly 200 films and was voted the greatest actor ever by a BBC online poll. He was the first Indian actor to become a waxwork at Madame Tussaud's.
Sholay, the 1975 action-romance-comedy film, was a turning point in the history of Bollywood. Made by Ramesh Sippy, the film starred Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan. The appeal of the cult movie remains unabated even today.
The 2001 film Lagaan (Land Tax) is an epic musical-sports-drama film, written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film tells the story of a village in pre-independence India which challenges the British authorities to a cricket match in lieu of an unjust land tax and beats them at their own game.