April 21st 1913 was the date that Dadasaheb Phalke featured his film "Raja Harishchandra" at the Olympia Theatre in Mumbai. This was the first truly indian feature film produced.
Today Bollywood enters its 100th year and marks a moment when festivities, awards, commemorations and nostalgia will all take centre stage on the Bollywood scene.
There was no looking back from that date- Indian film production has gone from strength to strength. It was only the other day when I was introducing Bhachain Patel whose recent book called "Bollywoods Top 20" celebrates some of Bollywoods greatest stars through a series of essays. His book is a timely reminder of 20 of the greatest stars in Bollywood particularly those early stars of the fledgling industry. I read with interest the stories of how they rose to stardom as with the unassuming K. L Saigal and the more recent Bollywood branding giant ,SRK.
For anyone living here there is a must see list of Bollywood films. After asking some friends, the recommendations are :
Mother India 1957
Mughal el Azam 1960
Ram Aur Shyam 1967
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro 1983
My name is Khan 2009
Three Idiots 2009
Today India is the largest producer of movies in the world. The movie industry has come a long way in 100 years.
Hope you don't mind an opinion about this list:
ReplyDeleteMother India
I totally agree that this is a must see.
Just a warning: I lived abroad for some years and saw a subtitled version on TV. The subtitling was HORRIBLE. In some cases it totally changed the meanings.
Mughal-e-Azam
In my opinion it's overrated and miscast but most people love it.
Ram aur Shyam
It's just a slightly above average film - decent enough but not especially memorable. It does have a few of my favourite songs.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaar
Great, great film, but good luck with being able to see it. The picture and sound on the DVD are atrocious, which is very sad.
My Name is Khan
Haven't seen it. Not a must see from what I've heard & read.
Three Idiots
A TRULY AWFUL film with a few good moments. I still can't believe how anybody could call it a masterpiece.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteDo identify yourself if you like. It would be lovely to put a name to a comment and I so appreciate your insight into the Bollywood greats. Thanks so much for reading and sharing your views MM
yes it would be lovely to name to a comment. I agree with you so that mind is great . thank u for sharing
ReplyDeletespray pave melbourne