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Raja Harishchandra
The first feature film made in India, but was without sound. -
Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara
The first Indian feature film with sound was released. Was a huge success in the industry and became the beginning of what would be an integral part of India's culture and what they are known for. This movie was an important milestone in the creation of Indian culture. -
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The Golden Age of Hindi Cinema
Many critically acclaimed films were produced between 1940 and 1960, leading it to be labelled the golden age of hindi cinema. -
Parallel Cinema Movement
An alternative to Bollywood Cinemas was created in parallel. Films borrowed heavily from Indian literature and were in competition with popular Bollywood films from across the country. -
Pyaasa
The film Pyaasa was produced and contributed to Bollywood fame and was one of the films that made the time period known as the golden age. -
Mehboob Khan's Mother India
This movie, released in 1957, was very important to Indian film culture as it was widely recognized not just in India, but around the world. Mother India was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. -
The Term 'Bollywood' was Coined
The emergence of Bollywood was what gave it it's iconic name, giving it worldwide recognition. -
The emergence of the masala film genre
The masala film genre involves the combining of many one dimensional genres to create a very diverse film. Genres such as romance, action, comedy and drama are brought together. -
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Bollywood Gains Attention
In the 1970s to 1980s, Bollywood began to be noticed by people from different countries and cultures. Grittier films began to emerge, peaking interest from Western societies. -
Salaam Bombay!
Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! was an internationally acclaimed Bollywood film from 1988. This was an important film as it helped Bollywood on it's journey to becoming internationally viewed, accepted, and enjoyed. This helped to shape the culture of the Indian film scene, and help people from other cultures become exposed to their films. -
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New Bollywood
Bollywood from 1990s and onwards has been coined as New Bollywood due to it's reestablished atmosphere of movies that mimic trends from Western society. -
Culture Changes
Movies begin to possess English titles with more Western themed plots. This genre is targeted at a younger audience that, due to advancements in technology, can now see the popular North American blockbusters that were previously unavailable. -
Amitabh Bachchan
Considered one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. Contributed a great deal to the development of Indian film.
