Indian cinema was at the peak of its glamour from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. It is now seen as the ‘glory years’. A number of Indian films from this era are often included among the greatest films of all time in various critics and directors polls.
The directors like Mehboob, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor entered the film industry during the 1930s and `40s, which were traumatic years for the Indian people. The fight for independence, famines, changing social mores, global fight against fascism all contributed to the ethos in which the directors grew up. However, the 50`s saw the rise of these great directors, who changed the fate of Indian cinema.
Following India’s independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s are regarded by film historians as the ‘Golden Age’ of Indian cinema. Some of the most critically acclaimed Indian films of all time were produced during this period. In commercial Hindi cinema, examples of famous films at the time include the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and the Raj Kapoor films Awaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955).
Hindi cinema gained popularity in between 1950-1970. Successful actors of that time are Guru Dutt, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. The popular actresses were Mala Sinha, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Nutan, Madhubala, and Waheeda Rehman. They gave such powerful and mind blowing performances that we remember them for their work till date.
These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life. Some of the most famous epic films of Hindi cinema were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and K. Asif’s Mughal-e-Azam (1960). V. Shantaram’s Do Aankhen Barah Haath(1957) is believed to have inspired the Hollywood film.
With time in the 70’s Bollywood stars like Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, and Vinod Khanna came into the scene and captured the hearts of millions. Female stars who were making their mark are Hema Malini, Rekha, Jaya Bachchan, and Zeenat Aman.
During the late 80’s the film fraternity saw a new brigade of stars rising they were the three Khans. Also popular among the masses and carving a niche for themselves were Akshay Kumar and Govinda with their unique acting abilities.
In the contemporary times India can be easily hailed as the largest movie producing country in the world. Indian movies are gaining popularity. The world of Indian movies is a very fascinating one that has mesmerized every person, on a global platform.
While mainstream films were thriving commercially, the time was also ripe for parallel cinema to rise. Films by directors like Shyam Benegal, Mani Kaul, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihlani, Kumar Shahani and Vijaya Mehta were also being noticed as a separate intellectual genre. Chetan Anand’s Film Neecha Nagar (1946) had won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and paved the way for art (parallel) filmmakers. Many of the films made during this time find themselves listed among the best films in the world in lists created by the AFI (American Film Institute), BFI (British Film Institute) and even the prestigious lists by The Time Magazine plus Sight and Sound (Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) tied at #160).
The time between 1951 and 1965 was indeed the golden era in the history of Indian cinema for both commercial and parallel ventures. But nothing remains the same for a long time in a diverse and ever changing country like India and soon it was time for another era to begin. The era of expensive films, adventurous plots, romantic themes and super hit songs with glamorous stars was about to begin.
