India: cinema yesterday, today, tomorrow. Best Old and New Indian Movies

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The world leader in the annual production of various films is India. Cinema in this country is a global enterprise that has surpassed the Chinese and Hollywood film industries in terms of the number of documentaries and feature films produced. Indian films are shown on the screens of ninety countries around the world. This article will discuss the features of Indian cinema.

Multilingual structure

Indian film industry is multilingual. The fact is that the country uses two official languages: Hindi and English. In addition, almost every state in India has its own officially recognized language. And in many regions of the country (Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Assam, Anhra Pradesh, Gujarat) films are being made. And it is not at all surprising that Indian cinema is divided along linguistic lines. In Tollywood, films are made in Telugu, in Kollywood - in Tomil. Hindi releases ribbons famousBollywood. India releases more than 1000 films in various languages every year.

Indian movie genres

There are two main genres in Indian cinema.

Masala is a commercial film created for a wide audience. Films of this type are characterized by a mixture of several genres: melodrama, drama, comedy, action movie. Most of these pictures are colorful musicals, shot against the backdrop of the most picturesque places in India. The plot of such tapes may seem fabulous and implausible. The genre got its name in honor of the Indian mixture of spices - masala

"Parallel" cinema is an Indian art house. The content of such paintings is distinguished by seriousness and naturalism. Leading the way in this direction is Bengali cinema, whose leading directors Satyajit Rai, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen have earned worldwide acclaim

The rise of Indian cinema

Indian cinema was born in 1899 when photographer H. S. Bhatwadekar, or Save-Dada, made several short films. The first full-length silent picture called Raja Harishchandra was released in 1913. Its creator was Dadasaheb Falke, who happened to be a director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cameraman and distributor of his creation at the same time. In 1910, 25 films were shot in India, and in 1930 - 200 films. In 1931, on March 14, the first Indian sound picture, The Light of the World, was released. She was a great success. In the same year, 27 morefilms (22 of them in Hindi), which brought the illiterate part of the Indian population to the cinema. In 1933, the first British-Indian film, Destiny, was made. His release was an important milestone in the cultural life of India - in the picture there was a kiss scene of the main characters. Interestingly, after the country gained independence, in 1952, a law on cinema was passed, prohibiting kissing on the screen as “indecent”. The first color Indian film was released in 1937. It was called "The Peasant's Daughter" and did not have much success at the box office. The Second World War crippled Indian cinema: political censorship became tougher, there was a shortage of film. But the Indians continued to visit cinema halls. The film "Destiny" lasted 192 weeks at the box office and did well at the box office.

Golden Age of Indian Cinema

The golden age is the heyday of cinema, which was marked in the 1940s-1960s in India. Films that appeared during this period have become classics of the genre. Mother India (1957), directed by Mehboob Khan, received many awards at foreign film festivals and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. The most famous directors of that period were: Kamal Amrohi, Vijay Bhatt, Bimal Roy, K. Asif, Mehboob Khan. Tapes "Paper Flowers" and "Thirst", filmed by Guru Dutt, were included in the list of "100 best films of all time" according to famous Western publications. The leading actors and actresses, favorites of all India, were: Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman,Madhubala, Nutan, Meena Kumari, Nargis.

Raj Kapoor is the favorite of the public

Raj Kapoor is known not only as a great actor, but also an outstanding director who made the best Indian films. His paintings were a steady commercial success. Tapes "Tramp" (1951) and "Mr. 420" (1955) tell about the life of ordinary urban workers in India. The secret behind the success of Raja Kapoor's films is simple. They show the life and way of life of various segments of the population as they are. At the same time, films shot in the comedy genre conquer with their optimism and love of life. The phrase from the song to "Mr. 420" fully characterizes the main character of the picture: "I am in American socks, fashionable British trousers, in a large Russian hat, and with an Indian soul." It is not surprising that the audience could not tear themselves away from the movie screens. Raj Kapoor played his best roles in his own films and was wildly popular both at home and abroad. He received many flattering nicknames. He was called "the father of Indian cinema", "the blue-eyed prince of the East" and "Indian Charlie Chaplin". Old Indian cinema with Raj Kapoor still makes an unforgettable impression on the audience.

Parallel Cinema

In contrast to the commercial film industry, a "parallel" cinema has emerged in India. Bengali cinema played a major role in this. Chetan Anand (Valley City), Ritwik Ghatak (Nagarik) and Bimal Roy (Two Bighas of the Land) made the best Indian films in this genre. These directors laid the foundation for neo-realism in India. After that, Satyajit Rai created the Apu Trilogy.(1955-1959), which influenced the entire world cinema. Her first film, Song of the Road (1955), won numerous international film festivals. Thanks to the success of the trilogy, "parallel" cinema has become firmly established in Indian cinema. Other directors in the country (Buddhadev Dasgupta, Mani Kol, Adur Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen) began making art-house films. Satyajit Rai during his lifetime received worldwide recognition and many cinematic awards. The second part of the Apu Trilogy, released in 1956, the film Invictus, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Golden Bear and two Silver Bears in Berlin. Indian directors Guru Dutt, Ritwik Ghatak and Satyajit Rai are recognized as the greatest theorists of auteur cinema of the 20th century.

Romantic thriller

In the early 1970s, romantic films with action elements came into vogue. These pictures were filmed mainly in Bollywood. The main character of such films was the "angry young man" (the image embodied by the actor Amitabh Bachchan), who independently opposes evil and wins all gang wars. Films, richly seasoned with songs and dances, with a bright romantic component and elements of martial arts, conquered not only India, but also other countries of the world. Indian films "Zita and Gita", "Beloved Raja", "Mr. India", "Disco Dancer", "Dance, Dance" and others are still being reviewed by fans of the genre with pleasure. The most famous actors during that period were Shashi Kapoor, SanjeevKumar, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz and Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore and Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Anil Kapoor and Medhun Chakraborty.

Modern Paintings

New Indian cinema has received worldwide recognition. Commercial Indian films continue to gain top positions. In 1975, Ramesh Sippy's film "Revenge and the Law" was released. Some critics recognize her as the best in the Indian film industry. The movie The Wall (1975) by Yash Chopra also earned rave reviews from filmmakers around the world. In 1980, the film Salaam Bombay Nair Mira won the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival. This film also received an Oscar nomination. In the 1980s-1990s, the paintings "Sentence" (1988), "Burning Passion" (1988), "Everything in Life Happens" (1998), "Playing with Death" (1993), "The Unabducted Bride" (1995) were created). Leading Indian artists such as Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were involved in many films.

One of the leading countries releasing films in the genre of "parallel" cinema is still India. The film "Betrayal" (1998), created by screenwriter Anurag Kashyap and director Rama Gopal Varma, was a resounding success and laid the foundation for a new genre of Indian cinema - "Mumbai noir". The Mumbai underworld is reflected in the films Dancing on the Edge (2001), Payback (2002), Traffic Light Life (2007) and so on.

Features of commercial cinema

Many films are released every year in India. Cinema in this countryis continuously developing. Highly artistic Indian films often appear on movie screens, with a strong dramatic plot, amazing actors and original creative approach at all levels of filmmaking. However, many films are shot according to the template. Stereotypical plots, weak cast and so on. Particular attention in such tapes is given to the musical component. Movie soundtracks are released well in advance of the film's release in order to stir up public interest.

A huge part of the audience in India is the poor, so commercial films often tell about the fate of a man who managed to defend his place under the sun alone. Much attention in the tapes of this type is given to bright colors, beautiful outfits, music. This helps the audience to forget about their worldly difficulties for a while. The most beautiful Indian models often become actresses in commercial films: Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Datta.