Fifty Years of Indian Films

Films are the most effective medium og communication. The history of films began with Raja Harishchandra, silent movie in 1913. Since then a large number of films have been made in India. On average, more than 800 films are made per year in almost all Indian languages. The nature of films and film making have gone under transformation. Film industry has become the most glorious industry. The purpose of films is to portray the social reality along with entertainment and its commercial value. In the process the social responsibility of film has been relegated into background.

In the beginning films used to be silent before Alam Ara, the first talkie film made in 1931. During those days it was difficult for actors as well as film makers to perform and make film respectable due to less developed technologies. Earlier good moves were made with presentation of social reality and themes like nationalism, communal and social harmony, class conflicts, poverty, etc. Godan, Achoot Kanya, Do Bigha Zameen, Mother India, Awara were some of the movies with strong social concerns. The aesthetic sense was beautifully presented. The tole of music has been of additional importance in enriching the quality of films. The song of old films being melodious are really soothing. It touches our hearts. We find nudity almost absent in old films. The source used to be either history or good novels of writers.

From 60’s and 70’s the trend shifter away from social realities. It was more of a profit making exercise. Entertainment got an upper hand over the ideal issues facing the country. Box-office Hits and Flops became the measuring rod to judge a film. Films started following a set formula of story having love, hatred, songs, dances and happy ending. In 70’s we started experiencing violence in Indian films. Janjeer, Deevar and Sholay set a trend for violence. It was Amitabh Bachchan phenomenon. Sholay was a perfect film from every angle and that is why it created all records. Then nudigy also entered the films. Sex became a permanent feature of films. Sex and violence became the guiding principle for any film.

80’s and 90’s has been the worst phase of deteriorating standards of Indian films. The degeneration of values in society too has helped the film-makers to go for cheap entertainment movies. The only motive is to make money and see its commercial value. The social problems are hardly touched these days in films. The women are treated like commodities. There is heavy exposure of body and erotic dance scenes. Rape scenes are common where it is not even required. The fault also lies with the public. There is rush at such movies, film-makers have ready made market for such films. Moreover, there is also a view among the public that they go to see movies only for entertainment, to relax and not to get tense with serious themes.

There is also a positive side to today’s films. If good movies are made, it breaks all records. `Hum Apke Hain Kaun’ and `Dilwale Dulhaniyan Le Jayenge’ were based on family themes and they were superhits. Light comedies also do good. The problem with recent films is that not many good films are made and people have no choice or limited choice. The recent trens is also towards films with strong love story and terrorism like Raja, history like 1942 A Love Story, communal problem like Bombay, etc. Some of the current problems are being touched and that is what the films should do. Films should highlight the current problems and suggest solutions in a balanced manner.

There was a time when lot of Art movies were made, e.g. Akrosh, Arth, Katha, Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyon Aya Hai. Now it is on the verge of extinction due to very limited viewership.  Also film making has become very costly profession due to highly sophisticated technology. Those are movies have positive features as they highlight current social problems related to poverty, low status of women. Our regional languages movies and rich in quality, e.g., Malayali, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Manipuri. They have strong regional culture and that gets reflected in movies. That is why sometimes, regional language movies get dubbed into Hindi or similar themes are made use of on Hindi films.

The songs and music found in recent films have also gone under serious changes. They are melodious but not of class. They lyrics are not so serious and thought provoking as it used to be in old films. The music has western influences. Pop music is on increase. It hardly touches the heart. It moves the body. Indian music has to improve to give effective meaning to films.

Whatever may be the reasons for deterioration in films, films still continue to influence the minds of young people. So steps should be taken to stop making bad and stereotyped films. The emphasis should be on good films. It is the responsibility of the film makers to make films based on current social problems. There are lot of social problems in India like low status of women, population explosion, corruption, poverty, dowry, etc. Strong awareness and education can follow if balanced presentation is done along with entertainment. It should be presented in an interesting manner. It will have definitely strong impact on the audience. At the same time the quality of songs and music too have to go up in order to make films really gripping serving some purpose.