Cinema in India before 1913
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Indeed, [http://www.thestatesman.net/news/39419-tuneful-tales-from-stage-to-screen.html The Statesman] records a view that Hiralal made his first film in 1898 | Indeed, [http://www.thestatesman.net/news/39419-tuneful-tales-from-stage-to-screen.html The Statesman] records a view that Hiralal made his first film in 1898 | ||
| − | Why are no prints of the | + | Why are no prints of any of the films available? Because, in 1917, after Sen's death, a fire destroyed all the films that he had ever made. That no prints of Sen's films exist is no reason to consider him the pioneer of Indian cinema. After all, there are no extant prints of ''Alam Ara'' either. |
A song Aay bandi tui Begum hobi is said to have been added to Sen’s '' Ali Baba,'' after the arrival of sound, well after Sen's death. People in Bengal still sing the song. That '' Ali Baba'' | A song Aay bandi tui Begum hobi is said to have been added to Sen’s '' Ali Baba,'' after the arrival of sound, well after Sen's death. People in Bengal still sing the song. That '' Ali Baba'' | ||
Revision as of 21:19, 27 March 2014
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Cinema in India before 1913
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Brief history of Indian cinema By UrooJ, aligarians.com, Mid-2000 Aligarians
History of Indian Cinema Bollywoodvillage
1886
In 1886 the Lumiere Brothers Cinematographe unveiled six soundless short films at Bombay's Watson's Hotel. Soon after, Hiralal Sen and H.S. Bhatavdekar started making films in Calcutta and Bombay, respectively. Like Lumiere Brothers Bhatavdekar made India's first actuality films in 1899. Though there were efforts at filming stage plays earlier India's first feature film Raja Harishchandra was made in 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke who is known as the Father of Indian Cinema.
1907
1907 : J.F. Madan opens the Elphinstone Picture Palace in Calcutta, the first of his cinema chain. Pathe establishes office in India.
1908 : Abdulallay Esoofally, a South Asian and Singaporean traveling showman starts exhibiting in India.
1910
1910 : Dadasaheb Phalke attends a screening of The Life of Christ at P.B. Mehta’s American - Indian Cinema and decides to become a filmmaker himself.
1911 : Anandi Bose, Debi Bose and others start the Aurora Cinema Co. showing films in tents as part of a variety bill. The Coronation Durbar of King George V held in Delhi is filmed by several Indians. (S.N. Patankar, Hiralal Sen, Madan Theatres)
1912 : Two amateurs N.G. Chitre and R.G. Torney attempt a narrative film, about 1500 feet long, of a play - Pundalik.
The legend of Hiralal Sen
In Calcutta there is a legend (and persistent belief) that between roughly 1903 and 1913 photographer Hiralal Sen had made six or seven or even more feature films. If this is correct then the history of Indian cinema needs to be re-written. This will make Sen, and not Phalke, the father of Indian cinema.
According to this legend, Sen released a two-hour screen version of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in 1903—a full ten years before Raja Harishchandra, currently considered India’s first feature film.
Indeed, The Statesman records a view that Hiralal made his first film in 1898
Why are no prints of any of the films available? Because, in 1917, after Sen's death, a fire destroyed all the films that he had ever made. That no prints of Sen's films exist is no reason to consider him the pioneer of Indian cinema. After all, there are no extant prints of Alam Ara either.
A song Aay bandi tui Begum hobi is said to have been added to Sen’s Ali Baba, after the arrival of sound, well after Sen's death. People in Bengal still sing the song. That Ali Baba was a very popular stage musical of that era is certain. That this song is from one of the stage versions is also beyond doubt. the only question is: was it later added to Sen's film? If, yes, then when? Alam Ara, India's first talkie, released in 1931, whereas Sen's films were destroyed in 1917. So, when was this song added to Sen's film version?
Whether there is any truth in this legend can be easily verified by going through the Calcutta newspapers of 1903, of the period between 1903 and 1917 and, especially newspaper coverage of that fateful fire of 1917. Is there any mention of Sen’s feature films?
See also
Indian cinema: historical outline Covers the era before the first Indian feature film
CinemaScope and 70mm films Mainly about the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
70mm films in India/ South Asia I.e. Part 2 of this article. Mainly about the 1960s and 1970s.
Cinerama theatres in India, Pakistan, Sri LankaMainly about the 1960s.
Colour films in South Asia: 1—South Asia as a whole.
Colour films in South Asia: 2 (Indian Cinema)—India as a whole.
Colour films in South Asia: 3-- Hindi-Urdu films. Mainly about the 1950s and 1960s.
See all articles on South Asian cinema in the alphabetical indexes of
by clicking these links here, or at the bottom of this page.
