taldeha melosa zandea

[Lavonna Baldree]

Indian cinema is composed of multilingual and multi-ethnic film art. In 2022, Hindi cinema represented 33% of box office revenue, followed by Telugu representing 20%, Tamil representing 16%, Kannada representing 8%, and Malayalam representing 6%.[33] Other prominent film industries are Bengali, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Bhojpuri cinema.[33] As of 2022, the combined revenue of South Indian film industries have surpassed that of the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry (Bollywood).[34][35] As of 2022, Telugu cinema leads Indian cinema's box-office revenue.[36][37][10]

Indian cinema is a global enterprise,[38] and its films have attracted international attention and acclaim throughout South Asia.[39] Since the inception of Indian cinema in 1913, Hindi cinema enjoyed the position of top film industry, but in recent years it has faced stiff competition from Telugu cinema.[40] Overseas Indians account for 12% of the industry's revenue.[41]

The history of cinema in India extends to the beginning of the film era. Following the screening of the Lumire and Robert Paul moving pictures in London in 1896, commercial cinematography became a worldwide sensation and these films were shown in Bombay (now Mumbai) that same year.[42]

In 1897, a film presentation by filmmaker Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at Calcutta's Star Theatre. With Stevenson's camera and encouragement, Indian photographer Hiralal Sen filmed scenes from that show, exhibited as The Flower of Persia (1898).[43] The Wrestlers (1899), by H. S. Bhatavdekar, showing a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay, was the first film to be shot by an Indian and the first Indian documentary film.[citation needed] From 1913 to 1931, all the movies made in India were silent films, which had no sound and had intertitles.[44]

In 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke released Raja Harishchandra (1913) in Bombay, the first film made in India. It was a silent film incorporating Marathi and English intertitles.[49] It was premiered in Coronation cinema in Girgaon.[50]

Although some claim Shree Pundalik (1912) of Dadasaheb Torne is the first ever film made in India.[51][52][50] Some film scholars have argued that Pundalik was not a true Indian film because it was simply a recording of a stage play, filmed by a British cameraman and it was processed in London.[53][54][49] Raja Harishchandra of Phalke had a story based on Hindu Sanskrit legend of Harishchandra, a truthful King and its success led many to consider him a pioneer of Indian cinema.[50] Phalke used an all Indian crew including actors Anna Salunke and D. D. Dabke. He directed, edited, processed the film himself.[49] Phalke saw The Life of Christ (1906) by the French director Alice Guy-Blach, While watching Jesus on the screen, Phalke envisioned Hindu deities Rama and Krishna instead and decided to start in the business of "moving pictures".[55]

In South India, film pioneer Raghupathi Venkayya, credited as the father of Telugu cinema, built the first cinemas in Madras (now Chennai), and a film studio was established in the city by Nataraja Mudaliar.[56][57][58]

The first chain of Indian cinemas, Madan Theatre, was owned by Parsi entrepreneur Jamshedji Framji Madan, who oversaw the production and distribution of films for the chain.[50] These included film adaptations from Bengal's popular literature and Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (1917), a remake of Phalke's influential film.[citation needed]

Films steadily gained popularity across India as affordable entertainment for the masses (admission as low as an anna [one-sixteenth of a rupee] in Bombay).[42] Young producers began to incorporate elements of Indian social life and culture into cinema, others brought new ideas from across the world. Global audiences and markets soon became aware of India's film industry.[60]

In 1927, the British government, to promote the market in India for British films over American ones, formed the Indian Cinematograph Enquiry Committee. The ICC consisted of three British and three Indians, led by T. Rangachari, a Madras lawyer.[61] This committee failed to bolster the desired recommendations of supporting British Film, instead recommending support for the fledgling Indian film industry, and their suggestions were set aside.

The first Telugu film with audible dialogue, Bhakta Prahlada (1932), was directed by H. M. Reddy, who directed the first bilingual (Telugu and Tamil) talkie Kalidas (1931).[64] East India Film Company produced its first Telugu film, Savitri (1933, C. Pullaiah), adapted from a stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam.[65] The film received an honorary diploma at the 2nd Venice International Film Festival.[66] Chittoor Nagayya was one of the first multilingual filmmakers in India.[67][68]

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala made his first film Joymoti (1935) in Assamese, and later made Indramalati.[citation needed] The first film studio in South India, Durga Cinetone, was built in 1936 by Nidamarthi Surayya in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.[69][contradictory] The advent of sound to Indian cinema launched musicals such as Indra Sabha and Devi Devyani, marking the beginning of song-and-dance in Indian films.[50] By 1935, studios emerged in major cities such as Madras, Calcutta and Bombay as filmmaking became an established industry, exemplified by the success of Devdas (1935).[70] The first colour film made in India was Kisan Kanya (1937, Moti B).[71] Viswa Mohini (1940) was the first Indian film to depict the Indian movie-making world.[72]

Swamikannu Vincent, who had built the first cinema of South India in Coimbatore, introduced the concept of "tent cinema" in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land to screen films. The first of its kind was in Madras and called Edison's Grand Cinema Megaphone. This was due to the fact that electric carbons were used for motion picture projectors.[73][further explanation needed] Bombay Talkies opened in 1934 and Prabhat Studios in Pune began production of Marathi films.[70] Sant Tukaram (1936) was the first Indian film to be screened at an international film festival,[contradictory] at the 1937 edition of the Venice Film Festival. The film was judged one of the three best films of the year.[74] However, while Indian filmmakers sought to tell important stories, the British Raj banned Wrath (1930) and Raithu Bidda (1938) for broaching the subject of the Indian independence movement.[50][75][76]

Following independence, the 1947 partition of India divided the nation's assets and a number of studios moved to Pakistan.[70] Partition became an enduring film subject thereafter.[70] The Indian government had established a Films Division by 1948, which eventually became one of the world's largest documentary film producers with an annual production of over 200 short documentaries, each released in 18 languages with 9,000 prints for permanent film theatres across the country.[79]

The period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is regarded by film historians as the Golden Age of Indian cinema.[86][87][88] This period saw the emergence of the Parallel Cinema movement, which emphasised social realism. Mainly led by Bengalis,[89] early examples include Dharti Ke Lal (1946, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas),[90] Neecha Nagar (1946, Chetan Anand),[91] Nagarik (1952, Ritwik Ghatak)[92][93] and Do Bigha Zamin (1953, Bimal Roy), laying the foundations for Indian neorealism[94]

Epic film Mother India (1957, Mehboob Khan) was the first Indian film to be nominated for the US-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[citation needed] and defined the conventions of Hindi cinema for decades.[101][102][103] It spawned a new genre of dacoit films.[104] Gunga Jumna (1961, Dilip Kumar) was a dacoit crime drama about two brothers on opposite sides of the law, a theme that became common in Indian films in the 1970s.[105] Madhumati (1958, Bimal Roy) popularised the theme of reincarnation in Western popular culture.[106]

Actor Dilip Kumar rose to fame in the 1950s, and was the biggest Indian movie star of the time.[107][108] He was a pioneer of method acting, predating Hollywood method actors such as Marlon Brando. Much like Brando's influence on New Hollywood actors, Kumar inspired Indian actors, including Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah, Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[109]

Sivaji Ganesan became India's first actor to receive an international award when he won the Best Actor award at the Afro-Asian film festival in 1960 and was awarded the title of Chevalier in the Legion of Honour by the French Government in 1995.[118] Tamil cinema is influenced by Dravidian politics,[119] with prominent film personalities C N Annadurai, M G Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa becoming Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu.[120][timeframe?]

By 1986, India's annual film output had increased to 833 films annually, making India the world's largest film producer.[121] Hindi film production of Bombay, the largest segment of the industry, became known as "Bollywood".

By 1996, the Indian film industry had an estimated domestic cinema viewership of 600 million people, establishing India as one of the largest film markets, with the largest regional industries being Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films.[122] In 2001, in terms of ticket sales, Indian cinema sold an estimated 3.6 billion tickets annually across the globe, compared to Hollywood's 2.6 billion tickets sold.[123][124]

Realistic Parallel Cinema continued throughout the 1970s,[125] practised in many Indian film cultures. The FFC's art film orientation came under criticism during a Committee on Public Undertakings investigation in 1976, which accused the body of not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema.[126]

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