The history of Bollywood begins in the late 19th century, when, just six months after its invention, the Lumiere brothers bought their technology 'miracle' called cinematography or Cinematographe to India. This new technology enabled moving images to be captured onto celluloid film and, using a high powered light projector (Kinetoscope) invented by Edison, subsequently projected onto a screen for a viewing audience to witness for the very first time. The first opportunity to see watch cinematographe was advertised by the Times of India and took place at the Watson Hotel, Esplanade Mansion, Bombay on July 7th, 1896, 110 years ago! The first film to actually be produced in India was in 1899 when a photographer, Harishchandra Bhatvadekar, (full name Harishchandra Sakharem Bhatvadekar) shot several short films. His first camera cost 21 guinneas and was bought from London, England. The original celluliod needed to be sent to London for processing into film and took several months to return. Bharvadekar's first documentary film was produced in 1901 about an Indian boy student who earned a distinction for maths at Cambridge. Additionall, he filmed the coronation of Edward Viii in 1903 for which he received some recognition. Dhundiraj Govind Phalke emerged as the true inspiration of the Bollywood film making style that we are familiar with today. It was Phalke who mortgaged his life (quite literally with his life insurance) and journeyed to London to purchase the equipment needed to film and produce full length feature films. He established the first Indian based production house and produced Raja Harishchandra in 1913. Raja Harishchandra (1913) was the first silent feature film made in India. His actions were inspired after watching an early film called Life of Christ. The film was an incredible challenge, not in small part to the fact that acting was frowned upon and female actors were not accepted. He therefore cast the lead female role with an effeminate looking young man, how things have changed. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming. By the 1930s, the industry was producing over 200 films per annum. The Indian film industry blossomed until the first talkie appeared on March 14th 1931 at the Majestic Theatre in Bombay. The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara (1931), was a super hit. The 1930s and 1940s were tumultuous times: India was buffeted by the Great Depression, World War II, the Indian independence movement, and the violence of the Partition. Most Bollywood films were unabashedly escapist, but there were also a number of filmmakers who tackled tough social issues, or used the struggle for Indian independence as a backdrop for their plots. There are many stories about the influence the British had on the film industry which quickly became a well used medium for distributing views challenging the British occupancy of India. The British were quick to establish laws preventing politically charged films being being distributed that posed a challenge to British rule. These laws, whilst stiffling the intellectual creativity, created the foundation for the style of Bollywood movies we are familiar with today, those being based around stories of familiar typecast heroes, highly romantisised love and family idealism. Bollywood has since created icons such as Dilip Kumar who's career spanned some 50+ years, just under half the lifespan of the Bollywood film industry itself. The first International Bollywood films were Awaara (1951) and Shri 420 (1955). Incredibly, Awaara made Raj Kapoor a pin up in the USSR and Middle East at the time. In the late 1950s, Bollywood films moved from black-and-white to color. Lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema. Successful actors included Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. In late 1960s and mid 1970s, violent movies's era was started but romantic movies also co-existed and Dharmendra was a major star. In the late 1970s and 1980s, romantic confections made way for gritty, violent, films about gangsters and bandits. Amitabh Bachchan, the star known for his "angry young man" roles, rode the crest of this trend. In the early 1990s, the pendulum swung back towards family-centric romantic musicals with the success of such films as Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). The Indian film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience (see the discussion in Ganti, 2004, cited in references), and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximize box office receipts. However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.
Information from site: http://bollywoodringtones.org/pc/2006/10/history-of-bollywood.html http://wiki.bollywood.tv/wiki/History_of_Bollywood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood
