History of Bollywood Essay Example

it is expected for any undertaking to face challenges and Bollywood was not exempted from various manifestations of obstacles. While the Indian film industry is currently portraying a remarkable performance in the worldwide market, its early years were not spared from the usual business trials; it has struggled to fight until it survived and eventually carries on with its present triumphant status. In essence, the significant historical stages or chronicles of Bollywood speak for its glory.

Ultimately, Bollywood and its impact serve the very purpose of imparting to worldwide public the wonder, diversity and importance of the Indian movie industry which earned its fame by being simply known as Bollywood. Bollywood, Behind the Name Before going farther into the roots and accounts of Bollywood, it is practical to learn first what is behind the name. Since Bollywood is signified to be an unusual term, it apparently helped because such condition became a recall tool and made it a well recognized industry.

Beyond the name, however, it is indisputable that Bollywood has proven to achieve a notable spot in the global market. Such is attributed to Bollywood’s efforts to make the industry competitive while at the same time adheres to Indian culture. This is also the reason why Bollywood was able to penetrate the worldwide business of film-making but remained to its inherent civilization. According to Ganti, Bollywood is simply and better identified as Hindi films in Bombay (Ganti 1).

It is, in fact, from the industry’s own progress that the Western movie industry has uncovered Bollywood. For Ganti, Bollywood refers to the tradition or institution of making movies in Bombay, India which

has entertained and continues to offer amusement to practically millions of viewing public worldwide. In short, Bollywood stemmed from a simple way of entertainment in the country many decades ago until its breakthrough around the world (2).

Ganti particularly wrote in the book titled “Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema” that the term Bollywood originated from the combination of Bombay with America’s Hollywood. The author even revealed that the word has reached the English lexicon. The expression Bollywood has also entered or was included in the Oxford English Dictionary ever since 2001 (2). In particular, Ganti provided the viewers with what Bollywood really is. Ganti explained that Bollywood is a “tongue-in-cheek” word made by the Western or English-language media in India in the late part of 1970s.

Since then, the term emerged as the leading worldwide expression which refers to the creative and box-office motivated and influenced Hindi language movie industry primarily situated in Bombay, later renamed Mumbai (2). Beyond the Bollywood name, Ganti further told that the nature of movie business in Bombay is definite to be artistically and ethnically different from that of Hollywood. This is apparently because Bollywood is acknowledged for its original and inventive as well as persistent and universal production and flow of stories and representations (2).

Ganti then emphasized that Bollywood, being the leading media organization or form in the country, signifies that the Bombay movie industry demonstrates a significant function in building identifying dissimilarities such as conventional/contemporary, worldwide/regional and Western/Eastern as well as classifications like “culture,” “nation,” and “Indian” (3). Thus, such contributions pave the way for Bollywood to historically convey its relevance and

eventually its distinct mark in the industry of movie-making around the world.

Bollywood, an Overview It is likewise worthy to take a brief look into the nature of Bollywood in order to follow its historical accounts. In a book written by Joshi, Gulzar and Malcolm titled “Bollywood: Popular Indian Cinema,” it was learned that the culture and cinema industry in India have developed similarly. While the concept came from the Western part of the world, Bollywood attributed its power from en entire collection of Indian culture composed of “myths, legends, folk and theatrical forms” (Joshi, Gulzar & Malcolm 12).

The same authors added that since Bollywood refers to a form of art, the country and its people and eventually the worldwide viewers have internalized the quality and implications of the combined Indian culture and film industry. A noteworthy fact about Bollywood is its distinctiveness which results into its uniqueness in appearance, way of narration, manner of developing conflicts in its story-telling and the style how such films are carried out (12). In the same book, the authors likewise put emphasis on the global appeal of Bollywood.

Citing the popularity of Bollywood, Joshi, Gulzar and Malcolm added that it absolutely holds an amazing mass appeal. The three also acknowledged the criticisms hurled against Bollywood supposedly as a result of harmful stereotyping, the name was also admired by the rapid advancement of other forms of Indian media like its cable television networks worldwide. The widespread growth of Hindi movie-based and chat shows contributed to the popularity of Bollywood (12).

As far as Bollywood’s movie production, Ganti corrected a recurring mistake made by foreign

and even Indian media that the movie industry creates around 800 to 1,000 films per year. This is because in reality, Bollywood produces approximately up to 200 movies in one year. The author added that the typical characteristic of well-known Bollywood films consist of “song and dance, melodrama, lavish production values, emphasis upon stars and spectacle” (Ganti 3). Despite the said descriptions and qualities typical only of Bollywood, such kind of movie industry successfully paralleled itself with the magic of Hollywood.

Thus the images which Bollywood invoke to worldwide audience appear to be similar to the expected vibrant or colorful settings as well as song and dance production numbers of global movie outfits. Since Bollywood is likely the answer of India and its culture to Hollywood and other international film industries, it is truly worthwhile to trace its origin wherein realization of the value and significant effects of Bollywood is achieved (Raznik 1). Bollywood, the Early Times In order to achieve a chronological and comprehensive presentation of the history of Bollywood, it will be practical to discuss its past according to four major parts.

That is, Bollywood’s history will be divided into categories starting with its early times, the World War II Era, post World War II and the present day. It was in the later part of 1800s, when India was beset by major transformations in its political and social aspects that a fresh form of entertainment emerged the nation’s cinema structure. The film industry in India in the early times appears to have a comparative term or life span with its counterpart, the Western films.

Hence, with the introduction of

technological advancements, Western films were easily incorporated into Indian culture through the business of film-making (Ganti 6). Photography became the instant pioneer of Bollywood’s then motion picture high-tech equipment. While photography was first utilized in Indian films in 1840, its people exploited such technology only on photography studios. However, the most significant impact of photography was that it allowed people to own their respective photo business which paved the way for its full use in a motion picture some four decades after (6).

India’s initial exposure to movie industry specifically happened on July 7, 1896. This was the year when the Paris-based Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe, through its representative Marius Sestier, made around six soundless cinematographic presentations in one of Bombay’s prestigious locations, the Watson Hotel. Thereafter, the country’s first exposure of celluloid in photographic camera happened three years following the birth of Indian’ movie industry (“History of Bollywood,” n. d. ).

The early years of Bollywood also saw the materialization of projecting kinetoscope and the subsequent short film productions in 1900. This was followed by foreign short films in 1912 and India’s initial and fully-original silent movie called “Raja Harischandra” which was made possible by film maker popularly knows as Dada Saheb Phalke (“History of Bollywood,” n. d. ). Phalke was noted for the creation of Indian films’ native form which became effective through the introduction of mass appeal (Joshi, Gulzar & Malcolm 15).

Historians chronicled that it is at this specific developmental period that significantly proclaimed the dawn of the Indian movie business now known as Bollywood. Starting from the first decade of 1900s, the early Bollywood also saw the emergence

of first feature movies which had their titles both in Hindi and English. Thereafter, the industry flourished with the coming of a number of new film organizations or productions as well as movie makers (production personnel) and movie personalities.

Hence, the first quarter of 1900s paved the way for the arrival of famous movie makers and their respective films such as Dhiren Ganguly, Baburai Painter, Suchet Singh, Chandulal Shah, Ardershir Israni and V. Santharam (“History of Bollywood,” n. d. ). Next to silent films was the onset of sound pictures years before the World War II. Most famous among these sound movies was the “Alam Ara” (1931). This film also gave birth to the arrival of motion pictures dedicated to present social unrest and protest.

Hence, while just before the beginning of 1940s and the production of the first color film (“Kisan Kanya”) around 1937, movies in India served as vehicles for several manifestations of public complaints (Raznik 1). Bollywood during World War II The confused political and social stages of India in the 1940s are likely to have been aggravated by protest-motivated movies. This situation continued until the beginning of World War II. In fact, historians claimed that conflicts were imminent even before many countries involved in WW II fought each others.

This is because in India alone, censorship remained to plague the nation’s movie industry (Joshi, Gulzar & Malcolm 17). In fact, it is safe to state that censorship of Indian’s movie industry triggered the war or combative inclination of the nation and its people. This is because it was unfortunate for the industry to achieve a short-lived glory period

only to be censored by foreign intervention which particularly came from the British. By accounts of history, the pre-war censorship ignited the commitment of the country to be free from any foreign ruling.

The international censorship, which apparently prevented India and its movie industry from stirring up its patriotism, only worsen the situation and induced the combative quality of the country and its film business thereby allowed for WW II to manifest a relevant occurrence and implication in India (17). This was affirmed by Raznik who claimed that the turbulent WW II period in India has only strengthened conviction within the movie industry as well as among film-makers and movie stars to provide the people with motion pictures that illustrated their firm protest against any form of censorship or foreign intervention.

Thus, during the time that the several countries in the world are faced with their second armed conflicts, India and its film industry likewise portrayed a strong objection against interference which came from other country such as Great Britain (Raznik 1). Some of the notable censorship-motivated films were produced and shown year before and during WW II. Chronicles of history prove that even with the attainment of the Indian independence just before the decade of 1950s, Indian’s movie industry has not slowed down and even enhanced the progress of the business of producing and creating Bollywood films.

Notably, it was the period of WW II that a number of Indian movies were regarded as fundamental classics of Bollywood. In short, released during this period were timeless motion pictures with clear and firm manifestation of the country’s opposition to any kind of

intimidation such as censorship (1). Post-War Bollywood Raznik described Bollywod after Word War II as the period of “neorealism. ” This is because it is during this time that India and its film-making industry was first offered to the attention or doorstep of foreign film industry.

This was particularly proven with the occurrence and holding of the first International Film Festival of the country in 1952. Thereafter or exactly three years after, a world-acclaimed Bollywood movie titled “Pather Panchali” won for the country its first Cannes recognition particularly as Best Human Documentary (1). The same Raznik article further accounted that the post-war period of Bollywood was a decade when movies companies started co-producing or making films with foreign movie outfits.

Likewise, the era saw even the undertaking of Indian movie companies for outside the country film locations and shootings (1). History noted this particular development as a significant sign for Bollywood film industry’s progressive improvement and deviation from the traditional film-making by embracing outside movie production methods. This essentially adhered to Bollywood’s conviction that allowed for the industry’s distinction.

Two decades after or during the 1950s up to 1960s, Bollywood created an inclination to what is called the “escapist” form of entertainment. This, in turn, resulted into the industry’s dependence to its actors and actress. Post-war Bollywood became also obvious with its concern or attribution of the box-office trend which, history told us, led to the everlasting modification of Bollywood image (Raznik 2). It was sort of a realization for the film business not only to produce or make serious motion pictures but those which were aimed at making it big in

the market.

This is the period when producers’ business side became evident as they were significant for Bollywood’s intensified preference for non-conventional movie entertainment and most importantly, the box-office fate of Indian films. Hence, the industry’s reliance to its movie stars was justified because the popularity, aside from the personalities, of Bollywood stars allowed for the achievement of such run away and box-office intentions. Another notable change in this period was Bollywood’s regional or localized focus on native languages.

It was during the 1960s that Bollywood films were intentionally obtained from both national and local literary works. The film-making industry after WW II generally manifested a period of experimentation and the improvement of a number of movie approaches. In effect, Bollywood films widened and created other genres. It was noted in history as a phenomenon when the industry experienced diversified improvements and this happened at extensive speed in a span of two decades from the 1950s up to just before 1980s (Raznik 2).

Bollywood in the Present Day and Beyond India’s Bollywood is only the world’s biggest national movie industry and is the only one considered to pose a serious challenge and threat to the worldwide control of Hollywood. This is proven by the industry’s many popular Bollywood films and millions of audience around the world. The passion, development and implications it created since it started in 1896 are undeniable realities of the contemporary world (Chapman 322).