100 Years of Indian Cinema......
This May we are celebrating the 100 years of Indian Cinema and in past few days there have been countless articles discussing the same right from film critics to the eminent film personalities.In fact we also had Bombay Talkies released this weekend celebrating the same
It would be an interesting idea to analyse and see this journey from an audience's point of view.If we had to plot a graph of trends in Indian Cinema it will be full of extreme crests and troughs.Especially in the last 3-4 years too,which has seen the industry producing some of the best movies there have been a large number of atrocities too.
Cinema in any part of the world has been influenced by the socio economic enviroment of the country/region at that time.In our case too it has been the similar one.1950s were governed by the socialist themes and tackled the themes of common man and so many movies had the backdrop of viilages too.We had a mix of movies whose backdrop oscillated form cities to villages-for every Naya Daur there was a Taxi Driver but by and large they were similar in themes.The trinity of 1950s-Dilip Kumar,Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand although as different as chalk and cheese in terms of their roles and images played similar roles in terms of themes.Although Raj Kapoor was the quintessential simpleton,Dev Anand-the suave urban hero and Dilip Kumar being the most versatile of the three although played everything from a village bumpkin to an urban loser-most of their roles were around the socailism themes prevalent around that time
1960s proved to be a different decade when entertainment quotient increased and films were lighter and in words of some critics didnt deal with serious themes and social issues much but concentrated more on song and dance routine and most of the plots were identical in nature-although this decade too provided some classics like Guide,Haqeekat et all.But then again this shift was influenced by the socio economic environment of that time.It was more than a decade since we had got the freedom and country was stabilising and growing day by day and we were more happier than we were in 50s in terms of socio-economic environment and it reflected in our movies.But yes the most movies of 60s did look like all the same and but were enjoyable entertainment joyrides
1970s has been the most turbulent and politically charged up decade of our country till date and no wonder this violence reflected on the screen.The decade started with Mere Apne which beautifully captured the essence of youth at that time and this was followed by the emergence of Amitabh Bacchan as the angry young man and one reason his image was lapped up that time as most citizens were feeling the need to take up the fight against the system-be it the license raj,the monopoly in some industries or the emergency.Of course there were some light films also during this decade but by and large this was the decade when violence in the Hindi films shot up.Also,during this decade only the parallel cinema wave gathered momentum which tackled with the real,unconventional and controversial themes which a commercial film maker would not have dared to take up
1980s which is regarded as the most atrocious decade of Indian Cinema was also influenced by the external environment only.Theatres were being shut down,video cassetes were eating into the film business, television had emerged as an entertainment medium,and families too had almost stopped going to the theatres and movies had to be made for the front benchers(I m not at all using the term'front benchers' in a deragotray way).No wonder we had countless stupid south remakes,double entendre comedy of Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor(although I love them as actors and have done some brilliant stuff too) and movies had very bad production values.Every actor was working in three shifts and for most of them quantity was more important than quality.Although this decade also produced some gems but this decade is rightly regarded as the worst decade of Indian Cinema
Things had started improving during the last part of the1980s with the coming of some new age film makers like Mansoor Khan and Suraj Barjatya and the trend continued in the early and in the later part of 90s.Things did improve in 90s especially in terms of quality of film music with the coming of some brilliant composers and emergence of some new stars.The later part of 90s when we could finally see the results of our liberalised economy,it rleflectd on the screen too.Movies like Dil to Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota hai changed the rules of the game and production values reached its zenith.There were movies being shot in exotic foreign locations, stars were wearing the best brands and the business also started becoming more organised
In the millenium,overseas market became a goldmine for the film makers as more and more Indian were going abroad and in terms of logistics too things we improving which made the film makers concentrate on the NRI audience and at times at the cost of ignoring the national audience but most of the times they were able to please both of them.The themes of movies also underwent a change and more and more realistic themes were roped in for the storylines.Every genre saw a change in terms of storyline,for ex- parents had become more liberal so no more the love stories concentrated on pleasing the parents or the lovers' problem dealt with gaining their acceptance but it revolved around their own interpersonal issues.Similarly in action too we were spared of countless revenge dramas and we had more authentic and real action films.Comedy also shifted form slapstick to situational. Comedy specially as the genre got the best response in this decade and continues to do so which again is influenced by the external environment.People are more stressed these days and no body wants to see a sombre movie in the weekend
This decade also saw the coming of corporates to film production which made the business more orgainsed and professional and industry went from strength to strength.The growth of multiplexes lead to production of more and more niche films thereby giving the audience a wider choice to choose from
If we talk of the last 5 years there has been the most varied kinds of movies and strangely all the genres have succedded.On one hand we had some path breaking movies like Rock On,Luck by Chance,Dev D et all but at the same the stupid south remakes have again gained momentum too.In the same month we have a Gangs of Wasseypur and a Rowdy Rathore and similarly Housefull-2 and Vicky Donor.
But there is no harm with this trend and it gives us a wider choice.We may not always like to see a gory and a dark film the same way we would not like to see a commercial potboiler every week.In terms of business too,if commercial movies do well they bring more money to the industry which in turn gives us a chance to take risks.The success of a Housefull-2 and Rowdy Rathore gives Akshay Kumar a chance to act in a small budget Special Chabbis.
The business is growing exponentially and we are gaining internal recognition too.Our cinema couldnt have been in a better phase than this in its hundredth year and Here is big cheer to 100 years of Indian Cinema and many more!
It would be an interesting idea to analyse and see this journey from an audience's point of view.If we had to plot a graph of trends in Indian Cinema it will be full of extreme crests and troughs.Especially in the last 3-4 years too,which has seen the industry producing some of the best movies there have been a large number of atrocities too.
Cinema in any part of the world has been influenced by the socio economic enviroment of the country/region at that time.In our case too it has been the similar one.1950s were governed by the socialist themes and tackled the themes of common man and so many movies had the backdrop of viilages too.We had a mix of movies whose backdrop oscillated form cities to villages-for every Naya Daur there was a Taxi Driver but by and large they were similar in themes.The trinity of 1950s-Dilip Kumar,Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand although as different as chalk and cheese in terms of their roles and images played similar roles in terms of themes.Although Raj Kapoor was the quintessential simpleton,Dev Anand-the suave urban hero and Dilip Kumar being the most versatile of the three although played everything from a village bumpkin to an urban loser-most of their roles were around the socailism themes prevalent around that time
1960s proved to be a different decade when entertainment quotient increased and films were lighter and in words of some critics didnt deal with serious themes and social issues much but concentrated more on song and dance routine and most of the plots were identical in nature-although this decade too provided some classics like Guide,Haqeekat et all.But then again this shift was influenced by the socio economic environment of that time.It was more than a decade since we had got the freedom and country was stabilising and growing day by day and we were more happier than we were in 50s in terms of socio-economic environment and it reflected in our movies.But yes the most movies of 60s did look like all the same and but were enjoyable entertainment joyrides
1970s has been the most turbulent and politically charged up decade of our country till date and no wonder this violence reflected on the screen.The decade started with Mere Apne which beautifully captured the essence of youth at that time and this was followed by the emergence of Amitabh Bacchan as the angry young man and one reason his image was lapped up that time as most citizens were feeling the need to take up the fight against the system-be it the license raj,the monopoly in some industries or the emergency.Of course there were some light films also during this decade but by and large this was the decade when violence in the Hindi films shot up.Also,during this decade only the parallel cinema wave gathered momentum which tackled with the real,unconventional and controversial themes which a commercial film maker would not have dared to take up
1980s which is regarded as the most atrocious decade of Indian Cinema was also influenced by the external environment only.Theatres were being shut down,video cassetes were eating into the film business, television had emerged as an entertainment medium,and families too had almost stopped going to the theatres and movies had to be made for the front benchers(I m not at all using the term'front benchers' in a deragotray way).No wonder we had countless stupid south remakes,double entendre comedy of Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor(although I love them as actors and have done some brilliant stuff too) and movies had very bad production values.Every actor was working in three shifts and for most of them quantity was more important than quality.Although this decade also produced some gems but this decade is rightly regarded as the worst decade of Indian Cinema
Things had started improving during the last part of the1980s with the coming of some new age film makers like Mansoor Khan and Suraj Barjatya and the trend continued in the early and in the later part of 90s.Things did improve in 90s especially in terms of quality of film music with the coming of some brilliant composers and emergence of some new stars.The later part of 90s when we could finally see the results of our liberalised economy,it rleflectd on the screen too.Movies like Dil to Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota hai changed the rules of the game and production values reached its zenith.There were movies being shot in exotic foreign locations, stars were wearing the best brands and the business also started becoming more organised
In the millenium,overseas market became a goldmine for the film makers as more and more Indian were going abroad and in terms of logistics too things we improving which made the film makers concentrate on the NRI audience and at times at the cost of ignoring the national audience but most of the times they were able to please both of them.The themes of movies also underwent a change and more and more realistic themes were roped in for the storylines.Every genre saw a change in terms of storyline,for ex- parents had become more liberal so no more the love stories concentrated on pleasing the parents or the lovers' problem dealt with gaining their acceptance but it revolved around their own interpersonal issues.Similarly in action too we were spared of countless revenge dramas and we had more authentic and real action films.Comedy also shifted form slapstick to situational. Comedy specially as the genre got the best response in this decade and continues to do so which again is influenced by the external environment.People are more stressed these days and no body wants to see a sombre movie in the weekend
This decade also saw the coming of corporates to film production which made the business more orgainsed and professional and industry went from strength to strength.The growth of multiplexes lead to production of more and more niche films thereby giving the audience a wider choice to choose from
If we talk of the last 5 years there has been the most varied kinds of movies and strangely all the genres have succedded.On one hand we had some path breaking movies like Rock On,Luck by Chance,Dev D et all but at the same the stupid south remakes have again gained momentum too.In the same month we have a Gangs of Wasseypur and a Rowdy Rathore and similarly Housefull-2 and Vicky Donor.
But there is no harm with this trend and it gives us a wider choice.We may not always like to see a gory and a dark film the same way we would not like to see a commercial potboiler every week.In terms of business too,if commercial movies do well they bring more money to the industry which in turn gives us a chance to take risks.The success of a Housefull-2 and Rowdy Rathore gives Akshay Kumar a chance to act in a small budget Special Chabbis.
The business is growing exponentially and we are gaining internal recognition too.Our cinema couldnt have been in a better phase than this in its hundredth year and Here is big cheer to 100 years of Indian Cinema and many more!
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