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100 Years of Indian Cinema

First in 100 Years of Indian Cinema - 1913-2013

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First Woman Producer and Director - Fatima Begum

03 May 2013

500

Early Indian cinema was dominated by men, and women were considered only for roles in front of the camera. But in 1926, actress Fatma Begum became the first woman to take an important role behind the camera by establishing her own production company, Fatima films, and directing Bulbul-e-Parastan.

First Technicolour Film - Jhansi ki Rani

03 May 2013

500

Director and producer Sohrab Modi flew in technicians from Hollywood to execute the first technicolour film Jhansi ki Rani (1953) featuring Mehtab. Despite its stirring performance and appealing shots, the movie failed to make a mark on the box office.

First Talkie Film - Alam Ara

03 May 2013

500

The film that gave the medium of cinema a voice was a period fantasy about an ageing king and his two rival queens. Alam Ara (1931) opened a whole new chapter for Indian cinema, breaking the silence. The film took months to make because of hazardous recording conditions and the secrecy surrounding the project. With the introduction of sound came music and songs. Alam Ara contained seven songs composed by the first music directors of the film industry, Pirojshah Mistry and B Irani. Also, De De Khuda Ke Naam Par Pyare became the first ever song recorded for a film.

First National Award for the Best Film - Shyamchi Aai

03 May 2013

500

Shyamchi Aai (1953) is a Marathi film, directed by P.K. Atre. It is based on the book Shyamchi Aai written by Sane Guruji in Marathi. The film was acclaimed upon release. It stars Damuanna Joshi, Vanamala and Madhav Vaze. Shyamchi Aai won the Golden Lotus award for Best Film at the National Film Awards in 1954. (President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film)

First Movie with Flashback - Roop Lekha

03 May 2013

500

Flashbacks have always been an important part in the telling of cinematic stories and the first movie to use the technique was P.C. Barua's 1934 film Roop Lekha.

First Indian to win Oscar for Lifetime Achievement - Satyajit Ray

03 May 2013

500

This institution of film making won the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in the year 1992 just a few weeks before his death. Satyajit Ray was indeed a boon to the country. The stalwart directed films like 'Teen Kanya', 'Aparajito', 'Charulata', 'Sonar Kella' that spoke volumes about his caliber and his way of story telling. His film 'Pather Panchali' released in 1955 won eleven international awards while his 'Apu Triology' (1955), 'Aparajito' (1956) and 'Apur Sansar' (1959) are among the All-time 100 best movies.

First Indian to win an Oscar Award - Bhanu Athaiya

03 May 2013

500

This veteran costume designer was the first Indian to win the prestigious Academy Award for the film 'Gandhi' released in 1982. She has been working in the industry since the 1950s and has been associated with a number of classic films that include 'CID', 'Pyaasa', 'Chaudhvin Ka Chand', 'Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam' to name a few. She had also designed the costumes for Aamir Khan's 'Lagaan' that had also been nominated to the Oscars in the best film category.

First Indian Film to be nominated for an Oscar - Mother India

03 May 2013

500

One of the most expensive films of the time, Mother India (1957) finally took Indian cinema to the Oscars. The story of a rural woman who sacrificed all her life to raise her children and finally kills her criminal son was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category and became a definitive classic. Mother India lost to the Italian film Le notti di Cabiria.

First Indian Cinemascope Film - Kaagaz Ke Phool

03 May 2013

500

Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) is a classic in more than one ways. Apart from its realistic take on the vagaries of the Indian film industry and Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rahman's impeccable acting, the movie was also the first cinemascopic film made in India. The movie had some of the most breathtaking images ever seen in Indian cinema.

First Golden Jubilee Film - Sant Tukaram

03 May 2013

500

Marathi film Sant Tukarat (1936) became the first ever film to run in a single theatre for more than a year. The film also won a citation at the Venice Film Festival.

First film to incorporate the 4K resolution technology - Sivaji - The Boss

03 May 2013

500

When it comes to technology, the South film industry has often led the way. Rajnikanth's blockbuster film Sivaji - The Boss (2007) was the first Indian movie to incorporate the latest 4K resolution technology that it used only in big-budget Hollywood films. In India, 2K resolution has been the set standard.

First Film Maker - Dadasaheb Phalke

03 May 2013

500

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke popularly knowon as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 - 16 February 1944) was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as the father of Indian cinema. Starting with his debut film, Raja Harishchandra in 1913, now known as India's first full-length feature, he made 95 movies and 26 short films in his career spanning 19 years, till 1937, including his most noted works - Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919).