Dadasaheb’s Raja Harishchandra, a silent film produced in 1913, marks the beginning of the history of Bollywood, as Bombay’s huge film industry is often called. It was a huge success and inspired many creative and skilled people to make their own movies. The advent of talkies in Bollywood cinema was with Alam Ara in 1931, which was followed by the first Hindi color film, titled Kisan Kanya.
The World War II period (1939-1945) coincided with the tumult of the Indian independence movement, so Bollywood movies during this time were often escapist fares to cheer up audiences in those troubled times. But there were also films on social issues, such as Achhut Kanya, a revolutionary film that tackled the sensitive issue of caste, as well as the making and release of patriotic films like Shaheed.
The poverty of the rural masses and enduring family values were depicted with unflinching realism in Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957). It was during the same period that Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor made some of their best films and displayed their wonderful directorial and acting talents in films like Pyaasa, Awara and Shree 420. Mughal-E-Azam (1960) was a period piece. which brought Mughal history on the big screen with great realism.
Movie stars like Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Madhubala and Nargis became very popular, and the music of SD Burman and OP Nayyar captivated the entire country. Singers like Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar won the hearts of millions of listeners during the 1950s and 1960s with their melodious songs.
Shammi Kapoor, Bollywood’s answer to Elvis Presley, danced her way to stardom in the rockers of the ’60s. The ’70s saw the rise of Amitabh Bachchan with his characters involved in a fight against social and political injustice. The action genre continued in the 1980s, until the national release of Qayamat se Qayamat Tak in 1988 and since then, romantic movies have been popular in Bollywood and can even be seen in the latest Bollywood movies. However, today Bollywood movies are much more sophisticated and have created a global audience.
