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Karmayogi
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Indian
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Indian
cinema has come a long way from the shaky flickering images and grating noises and sounds
to a very sophisticated state-of-the-art technology for creation and projection of image
and sound track. India's film business was $2.1
billion in 2006, as per PWC and FICCI. |
The
people's lifestyle and sociology have been reflected in the mind-boggling number of 27,000
plus feature films and thousands of documented short films in 52
different languages making it the largest and most fascinating film
producing country in the world -- a phenomenon which the world cannot ignore. Ramoji
Film City, outside Hyderabad (AP) is the biggest film single center in the world for
making films, outside of the US.
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The Indian film
industry is the largest in the world in terms of the number of films
produced annually (1,091 feature films and over 1,200 short films were released in
the year 2006 alone). In contrast, 473 films were produced in the
US in 2003 (India produced 877 movies in 2003). Movie tickets in India are among the cheapest in the
world. India accounts for 73% of movie admissions in the
Asia-Pacific region, and earnings are estimated at US$2.9 billion for 2007. |
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The industry is mainly supported by the vast cinema-going Indian
public. The Central Board of Film Certification of India cites on its
website that every three months an audience as large as India's
billion-strong population visits cinema halls.
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Indian films are
popular in various parts of the world, especially in countries with
significant Indian communities.
The most
important trend for the Indian entertainment industry is that the number of Indians
scattered around the world are numbering close to the affluent population back in India.
And as entertainment becomes a strong ethnic bond for Indians in alien lands, theatre
owners, TV/cable channel operators, event managers are all hankering for Indian
entertainment products. |
Brief History of Indian Cinema
Legacy
In 1886 the Lumiere Brothers Cinematographe unveiled six soundless short films at
Bombay's Watson's Hotel. Soon after, Hiralal Sen and H.S. Bhatavdekar started making films
in Calcutta and Bombay, respectively. Bhatavdekar made India's first actuality films in
1899. Though there were efforts at filming stage plays earlier, India's first feature film
Raja Harishchandra was made in 1913 by Dadasaheb
Phalke (the Father of Indian Cinema). By 1920 there was a regular industry bringing out
films starting with 27 per year and reaching 207 films in 1931 to about 1000 feature films
in 1999.
Talkies:
Alam Ara (1931) was the genesis of the
talkie feature films. The film's popular Hindustani dialogues and seven songs made it a
big hit which resulted in other filmmakers to raise the number of songs in their films
till it reached a whooping 71 in "Indrasabha". Film songs became a Pan-Indian
phenomenon.
Regional
culture and craving to see-hear a film in one's own language caused the mushrooming of the
regional film industries beginning with Bengali, Tamil & Telugu followed by Marathi,
Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese, English and several other dialects.
Golden Era
The post independence
period saw the golden era of Indian cinema with melodious socials & melodramas. The
first International recognition came with Satyajit Ray's
Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito
(1956), and Apur Sansar (1958). Satyajit Ray is considered as one of
the greatest directors of all times. He was awarded an Oscar for life time achievement
shortly before his death in 1995.
The 70's saw
the birth of the parallel cinema which promoted realistic cinema. At around the same time
was born the long lasting trend on the angry young man pitted against the Establishment as
represented by Amitabh Bachchan, the superstar of the Indian Film Industry. Amitabh
Bachchan was virtually a one man industry and this trend lasted till the late eighties.
The Advent of the Video and Cable Television in the late 80's resulted in a dip in the box
office collections but the industry managed with a force, few people had expected.
Current
scenario:
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The
90's saw the Indian Cinema come to a full circle with Hum Aapke Hain Kaun turning out to be the biggest
grosser ever by crossing
Rs. 1 billion. Much of the action in this movie is centering around music. Although the
pre-recorded cassette market is growing at a slower pace of 7 to 8 per cent annually, that
for Hindi film music, an estimated Rs 3 billion a year market, is growing by 25 to 30 per
cent. The "mast mast" music from Mohra is reported to have sold 6 million
cassettes, while actual sales were probably more. |
The time is not far when the same
recording studios which are dubbing Jurassic Park in Hindi and Aladdin in Tamil, will be
dubbing Indian movies in foreign languages for the South Europeans, the Latin Americans,
the Africans or the South Asians.
International
Film Festival of India
This festival is oldest motion-picture festival in Asia, and an important forum for
international cinema. Although the International Film Festival of India was founded in
1952, nine years passed before the second festival took place (1961) and four years passed
before each of the next two events (1965 and 1969). The festival was not held again until
1976 in Bombay. Since then, the festival, with its unique cycle of locations, has taken
place every January.
While the
festival is best known for its extensive survey of Indian cinema (all films are subtitled
in English) and its Third World Women's Film Program, each year it also features a
selection of more than 100 films from around the world and exhaustive coverage of a
particular national cinema. In addition, it offers retrospective showcases of films by
master filmmakers from India and abroad; for example, the 1984 festival presented films by
Swedish director Ingmar Bergman,
Polish director
Andrzej Wajda,
Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, and German director
Volker Schlöndorff.
The festival
nonetheless attracts thousands of local attendees and remains a favorite among filmmakers
who understand the importance of festivals in marketing new work. It has become a crucial
venue for American and European film promoters seeking to attract Indian and Southeast
Asian buyers and distributors.
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Fast
Facts:
- India is the largest and most fascinating film
producer in the world.- Indian film industry is more than 100
years old.
- Satyajit Ray was awarded the life-time achievement award at
the Oscars in 1995.
- India makes more than 2,000 movies each year.
- Andersen report |
