Author: Malti Sahai
Photographer: Jayakrishnan / Rauf Ahmed
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: 64
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8174361421
Description
Recording the progress of Indian cinema since the first silent movie in 1913, this book drives down the memory lane with a short text and 24 nostalgic frames of yester years.
Bollywood has cast a lasting spell on the Indian psyche. . .Starting with Dadasaheb Phalke’s ‘Raja Harishchandra’ and K.L Saigal’s soulful voice, the Indian viewer ship opened its heart to Raj Kapoor’s Chaplinesque image, Dilip Kumar’s tragic persona, Dev Anand’s body language. . Nargis, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Sharmila Tagore. . . And then, the charisma of the superstars Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. . .
Raja Harishchandra by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke was the first totally indigenous feature film. Released on May 3, 1913, the film was advertised as "Raja Harishchandra - a performance with 57,000 photographs. A picture two miles long for only three annas". The first Indian Talkie, Alam Ara (1931) by Ardeshir M Irani, was a costume drama full of fantasy: it was inspired by the stylistics of Parsi theatre. Songs were used to intensify emotions.
By the 50's, a formula for popular success in Indian films, consisting of song, dance, spectacle and fantasy was forged. Film was recognized also as the significant instrument of social criticism. Hindi cinema in the '60 became still more escapist. The zest for life and youthful energy took shape in the simple boy-meets-girl, innocent hill-station romances of the period. The release of Aradhana at the beginning of the '70s gave birth to the country's first superstar Rajesh Khanna.
The angry Youngman hit the screen in the persona of Amitabh Bachchan in 1973. Right unto the mid-eighties, Amitabh Bachchan 's name itself could sell a project. The trend of violence flowed into the '90s. By the mid-nineties, time for feel-good movies had arrived in Bollywood.
The dominance of the Khans - Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan is now threatened by a new phenomenon, Hrithik Roshan. The look today is high-tech; the dances choreographed MTV style, the music energized in A R Rehman's fusion.
Over the decades, Bollywood films have become slicker but in the absence of new storylines, have often lost their way. Despite the hi-fi recording techniques and fusion music of today, people still call the '5-s-'60s, the golden era of film music. Cinegoers still look for appealing tunes, while music directors delve once again into folk and ethnic sources for inspiration.