Reeling with centenaries in the city
28 Aug 2012 3:41 AM IST
With cinema having a larger than life impact on the Indian audience, how could one miss the centenery of what has now come to be known as Bollywood? On Sunday, the PHD Chamber of Commerce celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema, a one day film festival.
As part of the festival, films that made a remarkable contribution to the history of Indian cinema were screened. Some of the movies that were screened include ones which have gone on to win the National Awards. For instance, there was Raja Harishchandra which was made way back in 1913, Mausam in 1975, Umrao Jaan in 1981, Manthan in 1976, I Am in 2010, Lahore in 2010 and Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam in 1962.
Raja Harishchandra is the story about a riteous king who would go to any length of sacrifice to keep the sanctity of his promise to a sage.
Mausam told the story of a man’s penance to his guilt for the woman he loved and how he ultimately rescued the daughter of his lover from a brothel. The complicated issue here is when the daughter falls for her own mother’s lover unaware of the past.
Umrao Jaan is a story of a courtesan based on a novel by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. In Manthan, a veteranary doctor comes to a village to start a milk co-operative society for the welfare of the villagers while the wealthy businessman and the sarpanch try to make life difficult for the doctor. It is how this one individual fights out to make the villagers self reliant.
Likewise, all the movies that were screened had a special message of hope and in all likelyhood a reflection of the many aspects of the Indian society at large.
The screenings started at 8.30 am and post the film, there was a panel to look back with nostalgia and also renew and re-evolve the culture of addressing social issues and concerns in the Indian social milieu.
The panels included the likes of Sharmila Tagore, Shyam Benegal, Farouque Shaikh, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri, who discussed the contemporary world of films to communicate and depict the reality and understanding of society.
Cinema in India in the past 100 years has indeed been embedded into our psyche with time.
As part of the festival, films that made a remarkable contribution to the history of Indian cinema were screened. Some of the movies that were screened include ones which have gone on to win the National Awards. For instance, there was Raja Harishchandra which was made way back in 1913, Mausam in 1975, Umrao Jaan in 1981, Manthan in 1976, I Am in 2010, Lahore in 2010 and Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam in 1962.
Raja Harishchandra is the story about a riteous king who would go to any length of sacrifice to keep the sanctity of his promise to a sage.
Mausam told the story of a man’s penance to his guilt for the woman he loved and how he ultimately rescued the daughter of his lover from a brothel. The complicated issue here is when the daughter falls for her own mother’s lover unaware of the past.
Umrao Jaan is a story of a courtesan based on a novel by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. In Manthan, a veteranary doctor comes to a village to start a milk co-operative society for the welfare of the villagers while the wealthy businessman and the sarpanch try to make life difficult for the doctor. It is how this one individual fights out to make the villagers self reliant.
Likewise, all the movies that were screened had a special message of hope and in all likelyhood a reflection of the many aspects of the Indian society at large.
The screenings started at 8.30 am and post the film, there was a panel to look back with nostalgia and also renew and re-evolve the culture of addressing social issues and concerns in the Indian social milieu.
The panels included the likes of Sharmila Tagore, Shyam Benegal, Farouque Shaikh, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri, who discussed the contemporary world of films to communicate and depict the reality and understanding of society.
Cinema in India in the past 100 years has indeed been embedded into our psyche with time.
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