From the black and white era to the OTT boom, Indian cinema has come a long way. In each of its phases since India’s independence, it has been influenced by the hopes, aspirations and fears of the people, which it has sought to entertain.
Noor Jehan and Dilip Kumar in a scene from ‘Jugnu’ (1947); A still from SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’ (2022)
In 1947, as India celebrated its independence, Noor Jahan, the then reigning singer of Hindi cinema, moved to Pakistan. However, there were many others who traveled from Lahore to Bombay after Partition, and others who stayed back in Bombay, including Jahaan Ke Jugnu (1947) co-star Yusuf Khan aka Dilip Kumar, whose Praised. As one of the finest actors of India.
The film industry was in business for almost three decades, but with the birth of an independent India, filmmakers took a patriotic turn in films such as Shaheed (1948), Naya Daur (1957) and Insan Jag Utha (1958). The filmmakers struck a fine balance between feelgood narratives and stories that exposed the harsh socio-economic realities of a nation still trying to find its feet, Satyajit Ray’s debut film Pather Panchali (1955) put Indian cinema on the global map.
By the 1960s, filmmaking took a technological leap with the advent of colour, even as the protagonists began to dance and romance, that too in exotic locations. In the 1970s and 80s, however, the anger and anguish of the marginalized Indian found expression in the works of filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Saeed Mirza. The 1980s saw the Hindi film industry competing with television. But before anyone could say that TV killed the film star, Khan’s trio – Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh – entered the scene. Her arrival coincided with almost economic liberalisation, which led to films celebrating the aspiring Indian like Simran in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, who thought nothing of requesting her family for a Euro trip just before her wedding.
The 1990s saw the advent of satellite television, which ended Doordarshan’s monopoly and created abundant opportunities for a new generation of filmmakers, technicians and actors. This ‘MTV generation’ started looking for Hollywood movies and even TV shows from the US, prompting cinema owners to opt for an audio-visual experience. With the entry of multiplexes, there was even more change in film production. For every mainstream entertainer, there was also an ‘indie’ film that eschewed filmy tropes and captivated audiences with simple storylines. More Indian films began to make an impact at international film festivals. The arrival of YouTube in India in 2008 was another gamechanger as Indians started enjoying short-form content for free. Less than a decade came subscriber video-on-demand platforms, with Hotstar, Sony Liv and Netflix offering original long-format content from around the world on mobile. Thus a language-agnostic audience was born, who were open to watching dubbed or subtitled material. Maybe that’s why KGF’s Rocky is not a Kannada film hero, but an Indian.
