Among all the entertainment channels in India, films occupy prime position. It is not exaggerating to say that India lives on movies. As the largest producer of movies (over 800 per year) it is quite interesting to learn about the entertainment craving side of India. This article traces Indian Film Industry from its origin, evolution, current status and the bottlenecks, and also suggests a plausible course of action to take in the future.
The Indian movie industry is the largest in the world, producing on an average over 800 films a year in 32 different languages. 1 The movies are technically much improved and polished than those of the previous eras. Innovation in content and technique has helped movies get wider audiences. The Union Government of India gave industry status to the movie business in the year 1999. 2 As a result, there has been a greater involvement of the corporates in producing and financing movies.
The year 1896 4 saw the advent of motion pictures in India. The Lumière Brothers' Chinematographe produced six soundless short films in Bombay. This was just one year after the Lumière brothers (inventors of cinematography) had set up their company in Paris. The first Indian to make a movie was Sakharam Bhatvadekar (nickname: Save Dada). He made one short film on a wrestling match at the Hanging Gardens in Bombay, and another on the playfulness of monkeys.
Many of the niche movies are released in urban multiplexes. Very recently the success of the movies like Bollywood Calling, Joggers Park have proved that if the audience is given something different even without a great starcast, the movies can be successful. It would have been difficult to release such movies earlier. Even if released people would not be even aware of the same. Trends have changed thanks to the multiplexes. Another important trend has been the usage of television channels as delivery channels. |
