Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema: 10 movies that made the difference

This post is little late. On 3rd May 1913, Dadadaheb Phalke released first ever full-length Indian feature film - Raja Harishchandra(1913). I was little late to act and post something on 3rd but better late than never. To commemorate this occasion, I give you 10 films that made difference to the industry, in many ways, to take it where it stands currently. Even though the title says Indian cinema, for this list I will concentrate on Hindi cinema since except for Marathi film Industry, I have no real expertise to judge other regional cinema. That would imply Satyajit Ray won't make an appearance here, though I have no doubt whatsoever about his place and legacy. There also won’t be obvious choices like Raja Harishchandra above or Sant Tukaram(1936), first ever Indian film to be screened at an International Film Festival. Now, making a list on such a broad topic is very subjective. There is no one way to define 'making a difference'. So, this is just my take on it. You may agree on some of them, you may disagree on some but I hope you'll join me in saying that all these movies substantially contributed to the Indian cinema, for better or for worse. Another thing I must mention, this is not the list of my favourite films. I may not even like some of the films on the list. Though it is impossible to completely avoid personal biases seeping in, I have tried to look at it objectively through my limited knowledge of cinema and this list is a result of that. Hopefully, some of you will find some value in it.

In chronological order,

1. Alam Ara(1931): This is a by-default entry in this list on the virtue of being ‘First ever Indian talkie’. Unfortunately, this movie has been long since lost and hence off course I haven’t seen it. Director Ardeshir Irani was just one of many directors trying to make a talking film and gauging its importance, made a conscious effort to finish it as soon as possible. After release, he turned out to be right as the movie turned out to be such a big hit, they needed police to control the crowds. But even in 1931, it wasn’t just talking; it was singing too and was 124 minutes long(Now you know why Indian movies are long or have songs).

2. Neecha Nagar(1946): Directed by Chetan Anand, it is one of the three films being credited for the rise of Parallel Cinema in Hindi film industry. Other two being Nagarik(1952) by Ritwik Ghatak which I have never seen and Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin(1953) which I have already written as an Essential film in Bollywood. So I guess I am giving Neecha Nagar its due credit by including it in this list, after all it is the oldest movie of three and was a winner of Grand Prize at Cannes. All these films also introduced the theme of neo-realism to the industry which became very much prevalent later in a lot of mainstream films as well.

3. Mother India(1957): First Indian movie to be nominated for the Oscar and it probably was the pinnacle of neorealism that Neecha Nagar introduced. The period from ‘40s to some early ‘60s is usually regarded as ‘Golden Age’ of Hindi cinema. Lot of movies which are still held to the highest acclaim were made during that time. As usual, I was trying to spread the wealth as much as possible in this list but this is 4^th film from that period; there is a reason it’s called golden age. Mother India sometimes gets flacked for being too melodramatic and to tell you the truth, I even agree. But what makes it great is the accurate depiction of social and economic conditions in India at that time.

4. Madhumati(1958): If you watch this movie today, I am sure nobody will think world of this movie because, to tell you the truth, there is nothing extraordinary about this movie that you see on screen. What’s extraordinary is its legacy. There are hundreds of trivial things that we take for granted in horror films that were first used in Madhumati like inhibited mansion in the middle of nowhere, suspicious looking caretaker of that house who is the only living soul in miles, even something as trivial as cracking main door or the walking candle. I strongly believe that every single thriller, horror movie made since owes something to Madhumati. 

5. Mughal-E-Azam(1960): In many ways, Mughal-E-Azam is Indian cinema’s Metropolis(1927). There is no connection with the subject matter but the first thing that comes to my mind about it is K. Asif’s epic vision. But that’s not the only similarity. Asif started working on this film in 1944. By the time it released, everything that can be changed about it was changed and it drove Asif to bankruptcy becoming the most expensive film then. However, he always kept his eyes on the target and relentlessly pursued it, to the last detail. He also made sure it never became style over substance. As a result, there are not many films even today that have such an epic scope but still have solid cinematic foundations.

6. Sholay(1975): No list talking about the greatest movies in Bollywood can be complete without the inclusion of probably the most iconic Hindi movie of all time. What the hell! Why do I even need ‘probably’? It is THE most iconic Hindi movie of all time. I really don’t think there are many people who’ll think of that as going too far. Sholay is just that solid. 1975 was a great year for Bollywood. There are few more films that year that left their mark on the industry including Deewaar(1975). In 1975, Deewaar was a bigger hit; it won most of the awards over Sholay as well. But after so many years, I think not only Sholay has endured the test of time better but it has contributed more to the industry to substantiate this place.

7. Mr. India(1987): Of all the films on this list, this is probably the least expected film to appear on such list but I think it is worth that honour. Despite being a very mainstream film with every aspect of a typical ‘Masala’ film present, this is probably the only example Sci-Fi film done right in the industry. Yes, I called it a sci-fi film. Well, the man disappears! So, if Hollow Man(2000) is sci-fi, so is Mr. India. I can think of many other movies that attempted this genre but in my opinion almost every single one of them fails miserably. The fact that Shekhar Kapur at least successfully entertains you in Mr. India is enough for me to put it in this list. Add on one of the most iconic villain and Hawa-Hawai to it and I am sold.

8. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge(1995): Since '90s, a typical Bollywood movie can be summed up as a ‘Family-centric Romantic Musical’. I know that is lot of genres together but on an average, any Hindi film fits into about 5 genres. So bear with me. In my opinion, success of DDLJ played an instrumental role in shifting the pendulum towards it. In the intro, I said that these movies changed the industry, for better or for worse. In the hindsight I think what followed it was for worse but I am not about to blame this movie for incompetence of those who tried to cash-on its success. It does have its weaknesses, I won’t deny that but if you want to watch a typical Bollywood masala movie, why not go for the best? That’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge for you.

9. Satya(1998): There aren’t many movies that can boast something Satya can – it made it necessary to introduce whole another genre in the industry. Mumbai Noir. Ramgopal Verma’s Satya is first gangster movie made in Hindi. This legacy alone guarantees it a spot on many lists, executing it as well as it does was just an added advantage to solidify its position in the history of Hindi cinema. Genre made popular by the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese came to India in the form of Satya and I don’t know if it reflects positively or negatively on the industry but despite many other movies made since, it still remains to be ‘the best’.

10. 3 Idiots(2009): This movie is Bollywood equivalent of Fight Club(1999) for me because I might be one of 7 people on this earth who have seen this film and does not think that it is the greatest thing in the world. In my opinion it goes way too over the top too many times to take it seriously. But at the same time I cannot deny the fact that this is the highest grossing movie of all time, first one to cross INR 1 billion mark and the reason it’s on the list – to open many overseas markets for Indian movies. It’s not the first time Indian movies have had success overseas; Karan Johar has been making movies exclusively for that market since late ‘90s but none did the business like this one did and I believe 3 Idiots is an important reason why there have been film festivals going on in Japan or regular releases of Hindi movies in many other markets of East Asia.

Bollywood Essentials: Sholay(1975)

Couple of weeks ago, on Labor Day, I spent my entire day sitting in front of TV watching all the three movies in Dollar trilogy. I had not seen first of the three, A Fistful of Dollars(1964) before. So, after that I can cross one of the most popular trilogies of my list. I still stuck around for For a Few Dollars More(1965) despite of having seen it and despite I could remember it vividly just for the hack of it and then I wanted to see The Good, the Bad and the Ugly(1966) because even though I have most certainly seen this one before, that was a long ago and there were big chunks of it that I could not remember. However, since then I have Westerns stuck in my head. Last month, I did one post about Bollywood Essentials where I discussed one of my favorite Hindi movies Satya(1998). I started with Satya mainly because over at the LAMB, Steve decided to go with 'Modern Bollywood' as the theme of Foreign Chops. I would have loved to start with a little more Classic movie. With this western theme stuck in my head right now, this was the perfect time for me to introduce another essential of Hindi Cinema and one of the very very few real Westerns of Indian Cinema, Sholay(1975).

Like most of the Westerns I know, Sholay basically is the story of revenge where at the heart of which is Thakur Baldev Singh and pair of petty thieves Jai and Veeru. Thakur used to be a Police Officer in his prime, and that is where he has seen the duo of Jai and Veeru. He knows that despite being petty thieves who can swindle even their own families for money, they both have big heart and are capable of doing almost anything given the right amount of money. His assessment of Jai and Veeru is based on sole encounter with them where they not only helped him fight against the whole gang of dacoits trying to rob the train they were on, they also saved his life when he got injured. Thakur has something specific in mind for them and despite being told that they both are completely useless, he believes that they are perfect for what he has in mind and hence is looking for them. After some hilarious encounters and some bad-ass fights, both Jai and Veeru arrive at Ramgadh to meet Thakur at his house. Thakur tells them that he wants them to capture in-famous dacoit Gabbar Singh. There is a prize of 50,000 on his name. Not only they will get that prize, Thakur will also pay them on top of it. There is only 1 condition - they will not kill Gabbar. They will only capture him as Thakur wants to kill him by his own hands. Even though it is a lot of money, Gabbar Singh and his notoriety goes far beyond that and hence both Jay and Veeru are little cautious. However, what seals the deal for them is when they understand the real reason why Thakur hired them for the job. During his days in Police force, Thakur was one of the best and most dynamic officers wearing that uniform. One of his most important and famous achievements was he put Gabbar Singh behind the bars. Gabbar Singh certainly is not the one to forget. Soon enough, some of his associates breaks him out and first thing he wants to do after getting out is get his revenge. And when he does, he does it in a worst possible way. After Thakur finds it out what Gabbar has done, he flips out, walks right into Gabbar's den and gets both his hands cut.

Anyone who has seen any westerns will not really find anything extraordinary in this story. Even I sometimes wonder how would I have felt had Sholay wasn't Sholay. To understand what I am trying to say, you have to know a little background about it's place in the Indian cinema. Let me assure you that last sentence was first and last time I will be using word 'Little'. There is nothing 'little' about Sholay anymore, everything is hyperbolic. When it opened in 1975, supposedly it opened to a lukewarm reception for first few weeks but then it picked up gears and went on to become the most successful movie in the history of Hindi cinema. Every single commercial record you can imagine, this film not only broke them but held it's position at the top for almost 20 years. By any measure imaginable, Sholay is 'The MOST POPULAR Indian Movie' ever. I remember I saw this movie for the first time when I was around 10, more than 20 years after its release. It was either 15th August(Indian Independence Day) or 26th January(Republic Day). Being a national holiday, everything was close anyways but during it's run-time, there was not a single soul to be seen anywhere - inside my building, on the roads anywhere and this is 20 years after its release. I remember reading somewhere that if G.P. Sippy, producer of this movie, decides to re-release it today without making any change in it at all, it will do more business than every single movie released on that day and to tell you the truth, I have to agree with it. Even though I have seen it dozen times by now, I am still ready to pay any amount of money just to see this on the big screen. Greatness of this movie lies in the fact that this movie is the most popular, most respected piece of work in career of every single person associated with it and there are quite a few legends of Indian cinema in that list.

So, now that I am almost done with my fan-boy banter, let me try objectively to explain what makes it great? Two things - first and foremost Amjad Khan who played Gabbar Singh to perfection and secondly Screenplay written by Salim-Javed. There are some pretty obvious influences, spaghetti westerns like Dollar trilogy and Seven Samurai(1954) being most prominent but this script takes some elements from them, puts them into Indian background and adds pinch of humor, romance and comedy to it and molds it into something original. They also have to be credited for making the character of Gabbar Singh what it is - easily the best character in cinema. He is known for his ruthless, notorious and fearsome demeanor. Amjad Khan doesn't have that intimidating physical presence but he makes it up with his body language and reminds you of his terrors with every single word he utters, every single action and every single movement - imagine Ramone or Indio but much much worse. Amjad Khan in his very first role on screen owns Gabbar Singh. It is a very definition of perfection. One more thing I can credit duo of Salim-Javed for is despite such a strong villain, they made other characters equally strong like Thakur and is played with an amazing determination by Sanjeev Kumar, one of the most versatile actors of industry. Dialogues are iconic, infused with a lot of humor and are so ingrained in pop-culture that when I sat down for the first time to watch it, I already knew 80% dialogues due to countless parodies, homages and tributes. I can hardly remember a movie with so eclectic side characters like Surma Bhopali, Sambha, Kaalia, Asrani's Jailor or A.K. Hangal's Imaam who leave their stamp in a single scene space.

You have to realise that I have rambled on for last 2 paragraphs about what makes Sholay great without even mentioning the 2 leading pairs. Not to undermine their importance, but it is a kind of movie where there is so much to talk about. Combined with beautiful cinematography and set designs to create that look and feel of typical western, great editing, good music especially title track makes it a bare essential that no one with any interest in Hindi movies should miss out.

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