Indian Cinema Through The Century

In its journey of hundred years, Indian cinema has witnessed many changes and always touched the pulse of masses. Transcending the boundaries of language, region and religion, Indian cinema has reflected the anguish and joy of every heart.

These hundred years have also witnessed diverse experiments in content, dialogues, lyrics, music, dance and all other aspects of cinematography. Today, cinema has emerged as the most powerful and universal medium of artistic expression.

This book contains aspirations views and concerns of cine-world's reputed personalities and eminent journalists.

Gulzar. Mahesh Bhatt, Muzaffar Ali, N. Chandra, Ramesh Sippy, Jahnu Barua, Khayyam, Deepti Naval, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, prasoon Joshi, Kailash kher, Gurvir Singh Grewal, Kaushik Ganguly, Dineshlal Yadav 'Nirahua' etc. have contributed exclusively for this book, enriching the multifaceted dimension of Indian cinema.

These are the thoughts of some renowned names from the film fraternity, who dream film, think film, make film and turn their dreams into films and present before us. They present these films to thousands and thousands of audience for whom the films are an intoxication, a dream seen through open eyes, which they would like to continue seeing.

Indian Cinema is indeed an intoxication which is used as an entertainment by the Indian audience. Though, in an over populated country like India, there are doubts about the ability to understand cinema, yet entertainment cannot be the only aim for the cinema. It would be relevant to cite the apprehensions and worries expressed by some renowned senior film makers. According to Gulzar "the subject of cinema should be social and relevant". Whereas Mahesh Bhatt says "going to cinema in India is like visiting a circus where all types of stories are made and sold". Muzaffar Ali expresses his displeasure that the history of our country is not fully known to the world. N.Chandra is of the view that we have to preserve our cinematic heritage. He very clearly states that we are yet to achieve higher echelon of the cinematic world. Ramesh Sippy accepts that we have achieved higher levels, yet much needs to be achieved. Dr. Chandra Prakash

Dwivedi is of the view that our films have gone astray from mythological and historical point of view. Deepti Naval admires the period she worked in the film industry.

However, the new generation of film makers see it from a different perspective. Tigmanshu Dhulia sees new cinema as the future cinema. Kbayyam describes his times as the most memorable one while Prasoon Joshi considers songs as the mirror of the times. A. K. Bir sees cinema from the point of view of different periods. Santosh Sivan vehemently believes that Hollywood can never compete with the songs and dances of Indian Cinema.

In a country like India with varied social, cultural and historical background, regional cinemas cannot be ignored. According to Jahnu Barua it is painful and dangerous to divide cinema on the basis of language.

Despite all the variations, the Indian Cinema has always had a momentum in its journey. Hundred Years is quite a long period for any medium to grow and prosper, and Indian Cinema has no doubt reached an admirable platform after this time cycle. The Indian Cinema has witnessed quite many periods and ups and downs. In this book, we have made an effort to project the Indian Cinema in its journey through the inputs from directors, writers, lyricists, music composers, cameramen, dancers etc. who could be the best judge of the India Cinema. We have also been able to get the ideas and thinking of critics and journalists. We have also sought suggestions from them so that cinema grows as a better medium and prospers.

In this compilation we have tried to include articles and interviews with a number of film makers. Sometimes we were successful but could not succeed always. Those who could not contribute for this compilation, we are of the opinion that their views were very important and this effort seems halfway.

To begin with, when we got the article from Mahesh Bhatt first, no doubt it was a great inspiration for us. Soon Gulzar was ready to give an interview and our telephonic talk further strengthened the belief that we can bring out the book in a way we wanted. Prasoon Joshi found time even while in Italy to write the article for us. We are thankful to all the film makers who gave their precious time for the interviews or articles which has resulted in the making of this book. In this book we have tried to include the articles and interviews of those film makers who have been the architects of Indian Cinema and have given an identity and trend to the world of cinema. However, whether our effort has borne fruit or not this is for the readers to judge. We are grateful to Kiran Juneja, Harish Sharma, Sudipt Biswas, Pradeep Sardana and Avinash Vachaspati for all their cooperation.

The book originally conceived and brought out in Hindi, was later translated into English. The credit of bringing out this book goes to three people-----Deputy Director, Rajendra Bhatt for suggesting the subject, the then Director, Editorial, Rajesh Jha for taking it further and the then Additional Director General, Publications Division Ira Joshi for accepting the proposal and giving the green signal.