The first 50 years of Indian cinema, largely ignored in the Centenary celebrations, subtly contributed to a cultural awakening.
Even as India is celebrating the Centenary of Indian
Cinema, the general focus and fanfare are about the second half of the
century. Obviously because the audience is more familiar with the stars
of this period and the first 50 years are almost forgotten.
In a brief sketch, it is impossible to list out everyone who had made
their mark or every film that was important. One has to be choosy. The
criteria I have chosen is to see who, and which films, made a
significant social impact.
Among all the Afro-Asian
nations which were European colonies, an organised film industry was
born only in India. The rest were dependent on films imported from
America, England or France. In my opinion, Indian Cinema contributed to
Indian nationalism in the first place, by just being Indian. This
happened in two ways:
First, from the silent cinema
era onwards, our films projected anecdotes from the Hindu mythology,
glorifying ancient Indian themes, resurrecting in the memory of a
people, their glorious past and tradition. Everyone knows that Dadasaheb
Phalke’s ‘Raja Harischandra’ (1913) was the first Indian feature film
and it set this trend.
The Second element of Indian
Cinema having a national identity came with the arrival of Sound.
Inheriting the tradition of the ancient Sanskrit Theatre, which was an
amalgam of drama, opera and ballet, the Indian Cinema also became an
amalgam of songs, dance and dialogue. The tradition of the Sanskrit
theatre, which suffered in the medieval period, was kept alive by folk
theatre in different parts of India with local names such as
‘Therukoothu’ in Tamil Nadu, Jatra in Bengal, ojapali in Assam, Leela in
Orissa, Swang in Punjab, and Jashn in Kashmir.
When
the Indian Talkie was born, it absorbed on the one hand, the technology
of cinema from the west, and the aesthetic form of India’s folk theatre
on the other. Thus the Indian film became unique as songs and dances
were an integral part of it, unlike cinema anywhere else in the world.
Released in 1931, Ardeshir Irani’s ‘Alam Ara’ – the first Indian talkie –
faithfully established the formula.
In these and
other subliminal ways, Indian cinema contributed to the cultural
awakening of India irrespective of whether aesthetic or technical
quality of individual films were good, bad or indifferent.
Challenging orthodoxy
When
Indian films began to portray contemporary Indian life, they came to be
known as Social Films as against the mythological ones or the folklore.
Although most of these films dealt with boy-meets-girl stories or the
drama of perennial conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,
they were daring as they questioned orthodoxy and provoked change.
After
the passing of the Sarada Act in 1929 (which prohibited child
marriage), a new member was introduced to the Indian family – the ‘adult
unmarried daughter’. This was a major watershed of social change.
Indian cinema contributed to this revolutionary change in its own way.
While the majority of films were escapist entertainment, without any
conscious social message, they subliminally contributed to social
change.
Let us look at some important films, made
with a conscious effort to communicate social and political messages to
the people of pre-Independent India. Himanshu Rai’s ‘Acchut Kanya’
(1939) under the banner of Bombay Talkies, featuring the glamorous
Devika Rani and newcomer Ashok Kumar, was a love story between a Harijan
girl and a high caste boy. It became a huge box office hit. Master
Vinayak’s ‘Brandy ki Bottle,’ propagated Gandhiji’s ideals of
prohibition in a dramatic manner. Rama Brahmam’s ‘Riatu Bidda’ (Telugu)
earnestly advocated the leftist ideology, with the hero forming an
agricultural cooperative society and opposing the Zamindari system. B.
N. Reddy’s ‘Sumangali’ (Telugu) boldly advocated widow remarriage. B. N.
Sircar of New Theatres used Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’ (later chosen as
the national anthem) as the title song for his ‘Udhayar Pathey’
(Bengali).
Because of strict political censorship,
filmmakers avoided direct nationalist themes, but often showed their
inclination incidentally and subtly. For instance, some filmmakers
showed their affiliation to the national struggle by showing the
portraits of Gandhi, Nehru, Rajaji or Netaji and occasionally Karl Marx
hanging in the living rooms of the ‘heroes’. There was ‘Dooor Hato Hai
Duniyawale, Hindustan Hamara Hai,’ the famous song in the film ‘Kismat’
(1942).
Sometimes even folklore, historical and
mythological films had the message of freedom struggle implanted in
them. For instance, in J.B.H. Wadia’s ‘Amar Raj’ showed the hero
dethroning a tyrannical king and declaring ‘democracy’ although he could
have taken over the throne as the winner. Sohrab Modi’s ‘Sikandar’ on
Alexander’s invasion of India, featuring Sohrab Modi and Prithviraj
Kapoor, evoked passionate nationalist sentiments. Prabhat’s devotional,
biographical film on the saint, ‘Eknath’ propagated the Gandhian ideals
of abolishing ‘untouchables’. Interestingly, the British censors
objected to the original title of this film, which was ‘Mahatma,’ and
the producers were obliged to change it to ‘Dharmatma.’
Between
1936 and 1942, K. Subrahmanyam made some of the most socially
significant Tamil films. His ‘Balayogini’ chastised Brahmin orthodoxy
and portrayed the sufferings of widows. His ‘Seva Sadhanam’ (in which M.
S. Subbulakshmi was introduced) poignantly dealt with the tragedy of a
teenage girl marrying an old man. His ‘Bhaktha Chetha’ portrayed a
Harijan getting God-realization. His celebrated film ‘Thyagaboomi’
(1939) was important in several ways. It was banned by the British
Government for propagating nationalist sentiment and promoting the
Indian National Congress. It was also a landmark of Indian cinema in its
advocacy of woman’s freedom – a film in which the wife becomes
successful after being driven away from the husband’s home, and later
comes forward to offer alimony to him in the courtroom!
The
1940s saw two very politically important films. Kwaja Ahmed Abbas made
‘Dharti ke Lal’ – the story of the Bengal famine with a unique style of
mixing actual footage of the famine in Bengal with his recreated scenes.
Abbas wrote the screenplay for another immortal film, directed by V.
Shantaram. ‘Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani’ dealt with the real story of an
Indian doctor who served in China during the world war in response to a
call from Jawaharlal Nehru.
More often than not,
films produced after independence reflecting the glory of heroism of a
people during the freedom movement are classified in popular perception
as films of the freedom struggle. They are no doubt, important. But when
you celebrate the centenary of Indian cinema, it is even more important
to salute those brave hearts of the first half of the century. For, in a
real sense, they were participants in the freedom struggle by making
the kind of films they did.
(The writer is a
documentary and television filmmaker and a recipient of the Padmashri
Award. He is the co-author, along with Prof. Erik Barnouw, of Indian
Film - Columbia University Press & Oxford University Press- widely
considered the pioneering authentic study of Indian Cinema.)
Courtesy- the hindu
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