May 3rd 1913, Coronation Cinema, Bombay…The release of Dadasaheb Phalke’s ‘Raja Harishchandra’ India’s first fully indigenous silent feature film. This heralded the birth of the Indian film industry.
The journey from then on has been long, but eventful. Classics like ‘Mother India’, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, ‘Pather Panchali’ have moved audiences world over, while masterpieces like ‘Lagaan’, which was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film, ‘Devdas’ which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the eternal masterpiece ‘Sholay’ continue to inspire the world.
The world remembers and honours wizards like Satyajit Ray, who was awarded the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement; Shekhar Kapur who’s ‘Elizabeth’ shot to global fame and won seven Oscar nominations including picking up an Oscar for Best Makeup; Amitabh Bachchan who was named ‘Superstar of the Millennium’ by the BBC. Legends like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Rakesh Roshan, Mani Ratnam, Ramesh Sippy have woven their magic and touched millions of hearts with their storytelling.
The new breed of directors like Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Rituparno Ghosh, Ashutosh Gowarikar represent the new wave of Indian Cinema. Reinventing and redefining Indian Cinema, their fresh, youthful approach to filmmaking has seen them deliver blockbusters like Dil Chahta Hain, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge, Chokher Bali and Lagaan. Indian Cinema is on a roll – Lagaan was nominated for the Oscars, Devdas was screened at Cannes, various films have been screened at the Locarno Film Festival and the Moscow International Film Festival. Retrospectives of prominent artistes’ works have been held at the Deauville Film Festival and the Marrakech Film Festival. Movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham have been featured in the UK Top Ten. The Selfridges Festival in London focused on Indian Cinema. The world has realized that Indian Cinema is a force to reckon with. ‘Bombay Dreams’, a collaboration between A R Rahman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Shekhar Kapoor and Farah Khan truly heralds the globalisation of Indian Cinema. Stars like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Grover, Aishwarya Rai have captured prominent roles in Hollywood films, as well as in the hearts of international audiences.
Besides being renowned as global superstars, Indian stars are also recognized internationally as the faces of some of the biggest consumer and lifestyle brands the world has to offer.
The number of movies produced in India is the largest in the world. In 2003, the Indian film industry produced 877 films. Approximately twenty-three million Indians go to see a film every day. According to a survey done by Ernst & Young, more than 70% of the industry believed that the film business is expected to grow by more than 15%1 in the next five years. The total revenues of the industry in 2003 are an estimated $ 1,000 mn.1 Going forward, with improvement in distribution, exhibition infrastructure, advent of digital cinema and better exploitation of films, the industry is likely to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 18% to gross $ 2,244 mn by 2008.
The overseas market has become increasingly lucrative for Indian producers with most films realizing 15-20% of their income from overseas.1 2003 was the best year for the overseas market in the last 5 years with 5 films crossing the $2 million mark in gross collections from USA and the UK. 1 Facts, which would leave anybody baffled. Such is the reach and prowess of Indian Cinema. Indeed, for Indian Cinema, the world is a playground.