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Hooray for Bollywood

Meera Syal celebrates Indian cinema's 100th birthday, revealing how the world's most prolific film industry has evolved and why its formula continues to draw global audiences.

Meera Syal celebrates Bollywood's 100th birthday and explores its increasing influence in Britain.

Stars, directors, critics and fans look back through the archives to uncover how the world's most prolific film industry has evolved and why the magic masala formula continues to draw audiences across the globe.

30 minutes

Last on

Mon 12 Aug 2013 01:30

Bollywood - a brief history

Bollywood - a brief history

The Bollywood film industry celebrates its centenary in 2013.



The first moving pictures seen by audiences in India were shown in the 1890s. The inventors of film- the Lumiere Brothers – organised a screening in Bombay in 1896. The Times of India called the new phenomenon of film the “Miracle of the Century”.

Amongst those inspired by the new film technology was photographer Dadasaheb Phalke who unveiled India’s first feature film in 1913. The film told the story of King Harishchandra – a tale from Hindu mythology. It spawned a billion dollar film industry.

Early Bollywood

Bollywood romances grew in popularity in the early days of Indian cinema with romantic films like A Throw of the Dice (1929), featuring starlet Seeta Devi, leading the way. Bollywood’s obsession with romance had begun.

In the 1930s India’s screen idols began to talk as a result of new sound technology resulting in films like Sant Tukaram (1936) about a Hindu saint, which became a huge hit. Millions flocked to see it with its array of catchy song and dance numbers. The template for Bollywood film was starting to be drawn up.

By the end of the 1930s India was producing more than 200 films every year.

Indian Independence and Mother India

As India’s Independence movement gathered momentum in the 1940s Indian cinema became more political with films like Kismet (1943) featuring the controversial song Go Away Foreigners.

A definitive point in Indian cinema was the film Mother India (1957) about a woman thrown into poverty, made 10 years after Indian independence. Many film goers in Britain were able to see the movie.

Independence changed India but also had a surprising effect on its film industry. In 1952 – five years after independence – censors banned the on-screen kiss and this continued for more than two decades.

Film makers came up with increasingly imaginative ways to get round the censors. In the film Aaradhana (1969) two lovers were shown singing by a raging fire, with obvious symbolism.

Bollywood in Britain - early roots

During the 1950s and 60s Indian immigration to the UK increased and the new immigrants brought with them a passion for Indian film. Jaswant Sidhu arrived in Birmingham from India and, together with his friends, set up the Eastern Film Society which organised screenings in cinemas across the West Midlands. These were the first Indian films to be seen in the UK.

Increasingly, British film premieres of Bollywood films featured the movie’s stars who would come to promote their movies in the Midlands, causing another surge in interest from audiences.

In the 1970s Bollywood started to experiment with traditional American genres such as the western. This resulted in the most popular Indian film ever made – Sholay (1975) – the first so-called “curry western”.

Bolllywood films also became more racy in the late 1970s with films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) directed by Raj Kapoor. The film starred actress Zeenat Aman who became India’s first sex symbol.

The 1980s and 1990s

Bollywood had to adapt to changes in the video industry in the 1980s especially piracy which meant that people were attending films in much smaller numbers. But the industry fought back in the 1990s with good old-fashioned big screen entertainment using bigger budget and exotic locations.

In 1995 the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge mixed Bollywood exoticism with English scenes including the garden of a suburban semi and London’s Trafalgar Square.

The film was a love story about two British Indians and represented a huge development in Bollywood films, tapping into a new market. The new generation of second-generation British Indians were now becoming interested in watching Bollywood films.

Contemporary Bollywood

English-speaking films were also being made in Bollywood style during the 2000s including Bride and Prejudice, director by British-born Gurinder Chadha. This Bollywood-style musical was filmed mainly in English to make it accessible to audiences around the world.

Other fresh takes on Bollywood have included Dev D, a gritty, modern take on an old love story with it characters getting mixed up in drugs and the sex industry.

The West Midlands continues to be a focal point for Bollywood cinema, helped by the large Asian community.

More Bollywood films are being made in the UK and the Midlands than ever before.

Producers from Mumbai are increasing coming to the WestMidlands to film Bollywood movies with its array of locations and relatively cheap filming opportunities.

How Bollywood transformed Indian cinema

How Bollywood transformed Indian cinema

2013 marks the centenary of Indian cinema.

Over the last 100 years Mumbai's Hindi film industry - known as Bollywood - has becomewell known across the globe.

on the tv News website.

Bollywood and Birmingham

Bollywood and Birmingham

A century on from the birth of Bollywood, it is no longer just India that is famed for making its colourful, musical films - Birmingham has become an increasingly popular location and launch pad for the industry over the last decade.

The use of western cities like Birmingham is a sign of how Indian cinema is constantly having to evolve and adapt.

on the tv News website.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Meera Syal
Producer Joel Mapp
Executive Producer Rachel Bowering

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