The Evolution of Hindi Cinema Post Independence

By Parivesh Maheshwari

As the famous phrase by John Keating says , the human race is filled with Passion, and Medicine,Law, Business, Engineering these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life, but poetry,art,romance,love these are what we are alive for.

If Art and Culture is the body then Cinema is at the heart of it. Indian Cinema has paved a path of education, integrity, culture and presently commercialisation at the next level in the country.

From films like Neecha Nagar (1946) contrasting rich and poor society to Raj Kapoor’s classic Awaara(1951) displaying the first ever dream sequence, the imagination power of the storytellers has only integrated. Hindi cinema and its contributors had been ahead of its time, the epitome of this has been Sivaji Ganeshan who in his film played 9 characters in , whose record was surpassed by Kamal Hassan in Dasavathaaram (as the name suggests 10 avatars).

The burning issue of poverty was prevalent in the 70’s and film audiences could identify with the on-screen protagonists whose lives reminded them of their own. Acting legends like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra,Rajesh Khanna became household names and the commercialisation of a film was sometimes even decided through these brand names. “Kaagaz ke Phool”, “Mother India”, “Padosan” were some golden movies of this golden era.

Then came the 80’s where it was all about action and its heroes. Female actors were subsided and the story revolved around the struggles and manhood of males. Action stars like Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol also integrated muscular physique as mandatory to be leads, the pattern which is still continued and looked upon. Villains like Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan are just enhanced as counterparts of these heroes.

The 90’s and 2000’s was a mixed bag of emotions and fertility for the cinema, the drama,the romance, the music, the artists and singers , everything grew more and more rich to its effects. From Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, to Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to Dil To Pagal Hai, to Maine Pyaar Kia, indian streets were flocked by romeos and stylish haircuts inspired from three Khans of Bollywood. Movies were family oriented, rich families started foreign trips for their vacations. There were no OTTs or social media like today, so people waited in long lines to get a ticket.

Now with the coming up of the concept “entertainment, anywhere and everywhere” the cinema has transformed into individual choices as consumers became the king. There are several genres and hundreds of movies based on them, available over the internet. Cinema still remains a hush and crowd space but the audience is more selective with their likings. With over 800 films and web series’ being produced over a year , the industry is only looking ahead towards glory.