Bollywood: A journey of Indian Cinema

Bollywood: A journey of Indian Cinema

Bollywood is the Indian Hindi language film industry, based in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Bollywood is only a part of the larger cinema of India also known  as Indywood which includes other production centers producing blockbuster films in many other Indian languages.

Bollywood is the largest film producer in India, representing 43% of the net box office, Bollywood is also one of the largest centers of film production in the world. Furthermore, Bollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world in terms of the number of people employed and the number of films produced. According to J. Matusitz and P. Payano, in 2011, over 3.5 billion tickets were sold across the globe, which in comparison is 900,000 tickets more than Hollywood.

Indian cinema suffers Many ups and downs, sometimes economy of this increase like a giant, sometimes it fell vigorously.The whole journey of Indian cinema is classified in some stages

First Stage: The beginning of journey

The journey of Bollywood starts with a silent movie named as Raja Harishchandra. This movie was released in 1913 and it is directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, and is the first full-length Indian feature film. The film was based on the legend of Raja Harishchandra, recounted in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

By the 1930s, the industry was producing over 200 films per annum. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming.

In 1937, Ardeshir Irani, of Alam Ara fame, made the first colour film in Hindi, Kisan Kanya. The next year, he ma  de another colour film, a version of Mother India.

Golden Era of Indian Cinema 

After the independence of India in 1947, the cinema industry rises gradually. The period from the late 1940s to the 1960s is regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. This period saw the production of some of India’s most critically acclaimed directors, actors and actresses, and films of all time

Some of the most critically acclaimed Hindi films of all time were produced during this period. Examples include Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) directed by Guru Dutt and written by Abrar Alvi, Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955) directed by Raj Kapoor and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and Dilip  Kumar's Aan (1952). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India.

 Some of the most famous epic films of Hindi cinema were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Successful actors at the time included Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, and Guru Dutt, while successful actresses included Nargis, Vyjayanthimala, Meena

Kumari, Nutan, Madhubala, Sadhana, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha.The three most popular male Indian actors of the 1950s and 1960s were Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, and Dev Anand, each with their own unique acting style

Ever since the social realist film Neecha Nagar won the Grand Prize at the first Cannes Film Festival. Moreover, Satyajit Ray has been described as one of the top filmmakers of the 20th century. His film, Pather Panchali,  was ranked among the top ten films in a 1992 poll taken by the British film magazine Sight and Sound.

Evolution of Indian cinema

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, romance movies and action films starred actors like Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Shashi Kapoor and actresses like Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Saira Banu and Asha Parekh.

                                                                                            

Amitabh Bachchan, the star known for his "angry young man" roles, rode the crest of this trend with actors like Feroz Khan, Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol, which lasted into the early 1990s. Actresses from this era included Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan, Raakhee, Shabana Azmi, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Rekha, Dimple Kapadia, Smita Patil, Jaya Prada and Padmini Kolhapure.

 The 1970s saw the emergence of the masala film genre, which combines elements of multiple genres (action, comedy, romance, drama, melodrama, musical). Yaadon Ki Baarat (1973), directed by Nasir Hussain and written by Salim-Javed, has been identified as the first masala film A landmark for the masala film genre was Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), directed by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan. The "Curry Western" trend that began with Sholay (1975), written by Salim-Javed, also falls under the masala film genre. 

Some Hindi filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal continued to produce realistic Parallel Cinema throughout the 1970s, The 1970s thus saw the rise of commercial cinema in the form of enduring films such as Sholay (1975), which consolidated Amitabh Bachchan's position as a lead actor.  Another important film from 1975 was Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed.

New Generation of Bollywood 

The period of Hindi cinema from the 1990s onwards is referred to as "New Bollywood" cinema. During the late 1980s and 1990s, the pendulum swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals with the success of such films as Qayamat Se Qayamat,Tak(1988), Main Pyar  Kiya (1989), Chandni (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun(1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Raja Hindustani (1996), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998).

Since the 1990s, the three biggest Bollywood movie stars have been the "Three Khans": Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan.Combined, they have starred in most of the top ten highest-grossing Bollywood films. The three Khans have had successful careers since the late 1980s.

The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood's recognition across the world due to a growing of economy. A fast growth in the Indian economy and a demand for quality entertainment in this era, led the nation's film-making to new heights in terms of production values, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances in areas such as special effects and animation. Some of the largest production houses, among them Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions were the producers of new modern films

Some popular films of the decade were Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), Lagaan (2001), Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), Rang De Basanti (2006), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Dhoom 2 (2006), Krrish (2006) and Jab We Met (2007) among others. 

This decade also saw the rise of popular actors and movie stars like Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Shahid Kapoor and John Abraham, as well as actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Ameesha Patel, Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif.

In the 2010s, the industry saw the trend of established movie stars like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Shahrukh Khan making big-budget masala entertainers

 like Dabangg (2010), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Rowdy Rathore(2012), Chennai Express (2013), Kick (2014), Happy New Year (2014), Drishyam(2015), Bajrangi Bhai jaan (2015), Rustom(2016), Airlift(2016), Sultan(2016), Dangal(2016) and many more....

This is all about the evolution of indian cinema , from nothing to everything , from mooch to macho, from Rona-dhona to supercool, from Touch-me-not to pre-marital sex and this is just the beginning , picture abhi baaki h mere dost

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