FLAME SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Transition in Hindi Film Industry

Report presented to: Prof. C. Gopalakrishnan

On March 9,2009

In Partial Fulfillment of the required for

WAC Course in the MBA Programme

By

Abhishek Sheth

Chandramohan Patel

Nakul Bhalakia

Yatharth Tiwari
 PREFACE

The principal objective of this report is to provide the readers a thorough understanding of the
transition in Hindi Film Industry.

After going through many articles, websites, books and publications, we have been able to
enhance knowledge and clear our doubts regarding the transition.

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 DECLARATION

We declare that the material submitted for assessment is our own work except where credit is
explicitly given to others by citation or acknowledgement. This work was performed during the
current academic year except where otherwise stated.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Through this acknowledgement, we express our sincere gratitude to all those who have been
associated with this study.

Firstly, we express our gratitude to all such authors and publishers whose publications and
articles immensely helped us while preparing the report.

We would also like to extend our gratefulness to Ms. Ritu Bhatia (Creative Head), Rose Movies
who gave her precious time to share her views and experience regarding the Hindi Film Industry
which has enriched our study.

Finally, we would like to express our thanks to Prof. C. Gopalakrishnan who gave us this
opportunity to have a detailed study on Hindi Film Industry and thus have a practical knowledge
about Written Analysis and Communication.

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hindi Film Industry is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest in the world. It has
evolved to a great extent after the release of first Indian feature film named “Raja
Harishchandra” in 1913. After that, transition took place continuously at each and every stage
and then changes started taking place with release of first sound film, introduction of colour
technology, lights, shooting outdoor in India and then shooting in foreign countries. Different
styles of dancing were introduced. The definition of character actors have changed completely, it
is not restricted to only certain actors even main stream actors are offered such roles. Funding in
Hindi Film Industry has increased significantly as a result of change from single producer to
multiple production houses and according to sources even underworld plays vital role in
producing films. Attitude of the film makers and audience has also changed over the years.

These transitions took place so quickly one after the other that it created a mental block in minds
of people. They started believing that the movies now a day’s focus lot on activities like
smoking, drinking, doping, exposing by various actresses, crime and violence which will have
adverse effect on children of today’s generation and so they oppose the movies and protest
against its release. People are not able to make out that all these activities they mentioned as
polluted activities were part of Bollywood since 50’s and 60’s. The only change is that the more
number of movies are being made these days and so it feels as if sudden transition took place in
Bollywood and that the industry has started adopting the western culture which should not be
allowed in Bollywood.

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Contents
PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................... 2
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................................................... 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 5
Methodology........................................................................................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 9
TRANSITIONS .................................................................................................................................... 14
Transition in Genre ............................................................................................................................ 14
Transition with respect to the Playback singing .................................................................................. 15
Transition with respect to music and lyrics in the Hindi Film Industry................................................ 15
Change in attitude of film makers and public ..................................................................................... 16
Change in portrayal of women ........................................................................................................... 17
Career in Hindi Film Industry- No longer a man’s world .................................................................... 18
Transition with respect to location ..................................................................................................... 18
Transition in investment .................................................................................................................... 19
Bollywood to Hollywood ................................................................................................................... 19
Transition of stars from silver screen to small screen and vice versa ................................................... 20
Transition with respect to promotion of films ..................................................................................... 21
Transition of apparel and hair in the movies ....................................................................................... 22
Transition in the roles of Character actors .......................................................................................... 23
Transition with respect to technology................................................................................................. 24
• Sound .................................................................................................................................... 24
• Color...................................................................................................................................... 24
• 3D and Animated films .......................................................................................................... 24
• Alternate sources of watching movies..................................................................................... 25
Some Misconceptions regarding the transition in Hindi Film Industry ................................................ 25
Films becoming an advertisement medium for products.................................................................... 26
Insuring the films ............................................................................................................................... 26
KEY LEARNING’S .............................................................................................................................. 27
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 28
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 29

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 METHODOLOGY
As part of our study we had primary as well as secondary research.

Our primary research included interviews taken on one on one basis through questionnaires. The
interviewees targeted by us consisted of people of different age, sex, background etc. We had
also taken interview of Miss Ritu Bhatia and we acknowledge her contribution for giving her
insights regarding Hindi Film Industry.

The secondary data was obtained from the following sources:

Paper-based sources like books, journals, newspapers, magazines, periodicals and abstracts,
research reports, Box office reports and internal records of production houses.

Electronic sources like Internet, videos and broadcasts.

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 INTRODUCTION

Hindi Film Industry is the major part of the magnanimous Indian film industry. It is used to refer
the Hindi film industry in India. The term is often misunderstood as the whole of Indian cinema
but it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Hindi Film Industry is the largest film producer in
India and one of the largest in the world. Hindi Film Industry is one the most recognized film
industry in the world with reach in diverse regions like U.S., Britain, Nepal, Japan, China,
Russia, Canada and many other parts of the world.

‘Raja Harishchandra(1913)’ was the first silent film made in India. In 1920’s only around 25 –
30 films were made by Indian filmmakers, while this number jumped to around 200 films in
1930’s. Today in 21st century around 100 films are being made yearly by the Indian filmmakers.
This shows that Hindi Film Industry has come a long way since 1930’s. In 1931 came a huge
transition when first movie with sound was released named ‘Alam Ara’. Then in 1950’s
filmmakers adopted the technology by switching from black and white to colour. This made
films more beautiful and colorful in respect of clothing and location.

The main objective of this report is to have an in-depth study of the Hindi Film Industry and its
evolution over the years. This report also aims at clearing the misconceptions of the youth of
India who believe that sexual exposure, smoking scenes, abusive languages etc. are part of Hindi
movies in present times only.

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 Hindi Film Industry over the decades

Hindi Film Industry has seen enormous evolution over the years. Many great artists have
contributed to the success of the Hindi Film Industry decades by decades. Every decade saw
great and unforgettable films. The major evolution in the Hindi Film Industry started in 1940’s
and 1950’s when sound and colours became essential parts of films in India.

1940’s

Hindi Film Industry saw many great artists like Prithviraj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar during this
period of pre-independent and independent India. The battles against the Britishers during this
era made lots of filmmakers to make patriotic films. The expression against the British Empire
was very much visible in Dilip Kumar’s ‘Shaheed(1944)’, ‘Andaaz’, ‘Jwar Bhata’, ‘Sunhere
Din’ and Jugnu are some of the other significant films released during this period.

1950’s

This era was dominated by great and unforgettable artists like Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Dev
Anand, Nargis, Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar. In the later part of 1950’s Sunil Dutt and
Kishore Kumar dominated the Hindi Film Industry. Rural India was portrayed in this era. The
farmers’ struggle and their uprising against the landlords for social equality was a dominant
factor of this era. During this times humour also started making its way in the Hindi Film
Industry as Kishore Kumar’s ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gadi’ did wonders as the Indian population
wanted to laugh after painful 200 years of freedom struggle. In 1957, ‘Mother India’ became the
foremost Indian film to reach the Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category ‘Hulchul’, ‘Aan’,
’Jagte Raho’, ’Naya Daur’, ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ and ‘Baijuare some masterpiece of this era.

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1960’s

During this decade, Rural India was left in the wake of India being looked upon as a rising
nation. Improvement of law and order in the country was the need of the hour thus films like
‘Kala Bazaar’ and ‘Kanoon’ dealt with this subject. Later in this decade, flashing vintage cars
and multi-coloured attires became integral parts of Hindi films as India was slowly but steadily
entering the world of fashion. ‘Mughal-e-Azam’, ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam’, ‘Guide’, ‘Jewel
Thief’, ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, ‘Aradhna’ and ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’ are some of the most momentous
films of this period.

1970’s

This decade was largely dominated by artists like Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema
Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra and Manoj Kumar. Films like ‘Reshma aur Shera’, ‘Seeta
Aur Geeta’, ‘Abhiman’, ‘Bawarchi’, ‘Aandhi’, ‘Golmaal’, ‘Anand’, ‘Mera Naam Joker, ‘Hare
Krishna Hare Raam’ and Purab Aur Paschim’ are some of the most significant films of this era.
It was in this era that Amitabh Bachchan got the title of ‘Angry Young Man of Indian Cinema’
with some of his great films like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Don’ and ‘Kaala
Pathar’. This era also saw the western influence on the Indian society with films like ‘Hare Rama
Hare Krishna’ and ‘Purab Aur Paschim’.

1980’s

During this decade the concept of ‘Angry Young Man’ continued as lots of films were made
showing one man fighting against the injustices of the society. This era also saw some other
great artists like Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan, Kamala Hassan, Sridevi,
Madhuri Dixit, Vinod Khanna, Meenakshi Shishadri and in the later parts of this decade Salman
Khan made an entry with a huge hit ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. This decade had mixes of comedy,
musical and family oriented films. ‘Namak Halal’, ‘Chasme Baddoor’, ‘Angoor’, ‘Namkeen’,

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‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’, ‘Naukar Biwi Ka’, ‘Chaalbaaz’, ‘The Burning Train’, ‘Disco Dancer’,
‘Mr India’ and ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ are some memorable films of this time.

1990’s
Romance and family oriented films were the flavour of this decade with bits and pieces of
comedy films, war films and films based on life in underworld contributing to the success of
many artists of this decade. Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, Priety Zinta,
Akshay Kumar dominated the Hindi Film Industry in this decade. Shahrukh Khan became the
next super star with his some of the unforgettable romantic films like ‘Dilawalwe Dulhaniya Le
Jayenge’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Mohabattein’ and ‘Pardes’ in this decade.
‘Darr’, ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’, ‘Dil’, ‘Beta’, ’Deewana’, ’Khuda Gawah’, ’Karan Arjun’,
‘Rangeela’, ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ ‘Taal’, ‘Border’, ‘Dil Se’ and
‘Satya’ are some of the prominent films of this period.

2000’s

Dominance of Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwariya Rai, Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam
Kapoor continues as this decade is coming to an end. This decade saw lots of films being made
on issues of terrorism. Films like Monsoon Wedding and Bollywood Hollywood appealed the
NRI audience who are increasing in numbers day by day. Thus a new concept of ‘Hinglish’
cinema became popular among the young generation. Films like ‘Lagaan’, ‘Munaabhai MBBS’,
‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’, ‘Gadar Ek Prem Katha’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Kabhi Khushi
Kabhie Gham’, ‘ Koi Mil Gaya’, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, ‘ Devdas’, ‘Saathiya’, ‘Veer Zaara’, ‘Main
Hoon Na’, ‘Krrish’, ‘Om Shanti Om’, ‘Taare Zameen Par’ ‘Chak De India’, ‘Ghajini’ are some
of the memorable movies of this decade. This is the decade when attitude of the filmmakers and
audience opened and films were made on issues which no one would have considered ten years
ago. This decade would be remembered for A.R. Rehman who received an Oscar in the early
2009.

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SUPERSTARS OF THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY

ACTRESSES ACTORS

NUTAN BEHL RAJ KAPOOR

NARGIS DEV ANAND

MADHUBALA DILIP KUMAR

HEMA MALINI RAJESH KHANNA

REKHA MANOJ KUMAR

MADHURI DIXIT VINOD KHANNA

JUHI CHAWLA AMITABH BACHCHAN

KAJOL DEVGAN SHAH RUKH KHAN

RANI MUKHERJEE AAMIR KHAN

AISHWARYA RAI HRITIK ROSHAN

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 TRANSITIONS
Transition in Genre

The Hindi Film Industry has seen various genres till date. It started with the movies based on
Indian mythology and social themes. During these era movies like ‘Raja Harishchandra’, ‘Nal
Damyanti’, ‘Hari Bhakti’, ‘Garib ki Duniya’ etc. became very popular. Also a number of films
like ‘Duniya Na Mane’, ‘Achyut Kanya’, ‘Aurat’ etc. created a strong impact in opposition to the
social injustices. During 1950-1970, Hindi Film Industry saw the movies based on tragedy,
patriotism and romance. These genres were majorly dominated by superstars like Dilip Kumar
(Tragedy King), Manoj Kumar (Bharat Kumar) and Rajesh Khanna (Kaka) respectively.
Although good romantic and offbeat movies continued 1970’s saw the era of action movies
during which Amitabh Bachchan ‘The Angry Young Man of Indian Cinema’ became a one man
industry. During this genre special scripts were written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind. In
the early 1980’s action movies continued to dominate but its genre soon diminished with the
introduction of musical films and family oriented films like ‘Karz’ and ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. The
genre of family oriented movies continued in 1990’s under the banner of Rajshri Productions
which gave a huge hit of that time- ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’. 1990’s also saw the genre of
romantic and comedy movies during which Shahrukh Khan and Govinda stole all the attention.
Start of 21st century was flooded by horror movies. After 2003 movies based on real life issues
and current affairs were made by number of film makers. Since then it has been noticed that
whatever the genre may be, the viewers have become so intelligent that they give greater
importance to the script rather than the genre which has been prevailing.

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Transition with respect to the Playback singing

In the past songs were sung by film actors and actresses themselves. Later playback singing was
introduced and the industry saw the mesmerizing voices of Lata Mangeshkar, R D Burman,
Kishore Kumar, Saigal, Mohd. Rafi. Later on the singers were also allowed to release their own
albums which gave them a chance to sing for their own and not for only movies.

Transition with respect to music and lyrics in the Hindi Film Industry

In the past the music in Hindi Film Industry was mainly classical and folk with very little
inspiration from the west. It has been noticed that over the years the inspiration from western
music has been constantly increasing. Since last few years music directors have started taking
inspiration from not only the western music but also from the Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, Portuguese,
Italian and many other languages.

Remix of the old melodies also contributes to the transition in the Hindi Film Industry with
respect to the music. Although the remixes of the old melodious songs have been highly opposed
by many people they still continue to charm large number of youngsters. Recently it has been
noticed that the music director of the film himself makes the remix versions of the original songs
of his film.

Lyrics of songs in the old Hindi films were melodious and mesmerising. Those days the lyrics
had very intense meaning and were in sync with the ongoing situation in the movie. The most
glaring example of such lyrics is the very famous song from the movie ‘Mugal-e-Azam’ (Jab
pyar kiya toh darna kya) which means that when you are in love; you don’t have to be afraid of
anything. There was a drastic change in the lyrics of recent times. Many critics believe that now
most of the times the lyrics are completely irrelevant to the situation and meaningless. Some of
the lyrics like Ticket to Hollywood-‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’, Dard e Disco- ‘Om Shanti Om’ and
many others are clear examples of the meaningless lyrics of recent times.

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Change in attitude of film makers and public

Hindi Film Industry is changing with the change in the attitude of the film makers and the
audience. Thus the film makers now have started making films with shorter duration rather than
three hour long films. Nagesh Kukunoor, a renowned filmmaker who is known for his offbeat
films feels that dance sequence and songs will remain audience’s favorite but their preference
was changing. According to people, time nowadays is very precious and so they have started
giving preference to the films with shorter duration like ‘Bheja Fry’ and ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’
which were only two hours long and were huge success at the Box-Office. Also with the success
of Hindi Film Industry in the overseas market, many new film makers have started making films
on themes which no one would have thought ten years ago. Films based on homosexuality like
‘Girlfriend’, ‘Dostana’, ‘Straight’ and also films based on relationship of older man and a
teenage girl like ‘Nishabd’ were made by film makers and some of them were successful at the
Box-Office which clearly shows that there was a great change in not only the attitude of the film
makers but also the audience.

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Change in portrayal of women

As the role of women in the Indian society has been changing over the years, similarly the
portrayal of women in the Hindi Film Industry is changing. As put by Lara Dutta, former beauty
queen turned female actor “A perceptible change has happened in the approach about picking up
the female actors. Roles are being built around them,”

The role of Aishwariya Rai in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Jodha Akbar is the perfect case of how the
portrayal of women in Hindi films have changed in today’s times. Aishwarya Rai played the
character of ‘Jodha Bai’ who without leaving the values of her religion showed strength in
becoming a Muslim queen. Also Chak De! India girls showed how girls in India are no less than
boys in playing sports. No filmmaker would have thought to make a film on such theme even ten
years ago. Recent films like ‘Laaga Chunri Mein Daag’ and ‘Aaja Nachle’ showcased the female
lead as a protagonist and were different from the monotonous Hero dominated films, which were
made on large scale in the past.

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Career in Hindi Film Industry- No longer a man’s world

Women in the past were restricted only to acting as a career when they wanted to join Hindi Film
Industry. This has changed totally as women have started making mark in many aspects of Hindi
Film Industry. Women have become directors, Farah Khan ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti
Om’, Zoya Akhtar ‘Luck By Chance’ are few women directors who made their names as
directors. Women have also started producing movies like Juhi Chawla produced ‘Main Hoon
Na’ under the banner of Red Chilies Entertainment, Hiru Johar has produced many movies
under the banner of Dharma Productions and there are many other women producers who are
minting huge amount of money. Not only have women made their names in such popular aspects
of the films but have also taken active participation in assisting for the films and editing the
films.

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Transition with respect to location

During 1930’s to 1940’s the major portion of any film was shot in small studio set. Location
plays an important role in Film Making. Thus later on outdoor shooting started taking place but
they were restricted to certain location because of lack of financial aid. The preferred locations
were Kashmir, Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Ooty, Mussoorie etc. The first Film to be shot out of
India was ‘Naaz’ at locations like Cairo and London. Slowly and gradually with the entry big
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producers and production houses with flaunting budget outdoor shooting (foreign) became more
frequent. Sangam produced by Raj Kapoor was shot in three different locations Venice, Paris
and Switzerland. This was followed by Monaj Kumar’s (Bharat Kumar) ‘Purab Aur Paschim’,
Shakti Samanta’s ‘An Evening In Paris’. Due to the success of these films lots of producers and
directors started getting attracted to foreign locations. As a result of transition big producers and
directors like Yash Chopra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Gupta and many more have started shooting
more than 90% of the film in the foreign location depending on the script.

Transition in investment

Over the years it has been noticed that the film makers made movies because of their passion for
cinema and patriotism for the country. Now revenue generation seems to be the prime motive of
the film makers for making films. Earlier there used to be only one producer for one film but
now concept of production houses has taken the role of single producer. Recently it has been
seen that foreign productions houses like Columbia pictures, Warner brothers and many more
have started investing in Hindi Film Industry. With the use of latest technology and stars being
paid more the overall investment in the Hindi films has increased by leaps and bounds over the
years. Contrary to the past, it is also believed that investments in Hindi films are also made by
parallel economy (Mafia money) and Banks.

Bollywood to Hollywood
According to the recent trend various Hindi Film Industry Actors are offered Hollywood projects
and same is the case with the Hollywood actors. The first actor to receive this offer from Hindi
film industry was Aishwarya Rai for ‘Pink Panther’ then it was followed by Mallika Sherawat
(The Myth), Irfan Khan (A mighty Heart) and Shilpa Shetty. From the other end many
Hollywood actors are also offered roles in Hindi films. To name a few Tania Zaetta (Salaam
Namaste), Sylvester Stallon (Kambakht Ishq), Denise Richards (Kambakht Ishq), Kylie
Minoge(Blues).

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Transition of stars from silver screen to small screen and vice versa

SHAHRUKH KHAN -- Kya Aap Pachvi

Pass Se Tez Hai
AMITABH BACHCHAN -- Kaun
HINDI FILM INDUSTRY to Banega Crorepati
INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY SALMAN KHAN -- Dus Ka Dum
SHILPA SHETTY -- Big Boss

RAJEEV KHANDELWAL -- Aamir

AMNA SHERIF -- Aloo Chat INDIAN TELEVISION INDUSTRY
AMAR UPADHYAY -- Wah Wah Ramji to HINDI FILM INDUSTRY
ROHIT ROY -- Shootout at Lokhandwala

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Transition with respect to promotion of films

In the initial days of Hindi cinema films were largely promoted using hand painted billboards
and posters. In fact the well known painter M F Hussain started his career by painting film
posters only. In today’s times these hand painted posters have been replaced by huge posters that
are created by computer- printed vinyl. Filmmakers have started using internet on a large scale
for promoting their films. Some of the huge budget films even have their own websites where
viewers can see trailers of the films and even download the songs. The actor or actress of the
film and many a times both have started making an appearances in a movie hall during the
interview or in a cricket match or in some restaurant or café to promote their films. Also
filmmakers have started promoting their films in many innovative ways. Recently Amir Khan
well known actor-producer promoted his film ‘Ghajini’ in the most innovative way ever done by
any film makers, he had collaborated with large number of multiplexes and restaurants across
India to give the ticket sellers and the waiters the popular Amir haircut which he had in the film.
Rakesh Roshan promoted ‘Krrish’ by distribution of merchandise of the film.

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Transition of apparel and hair in the movies
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Hindi films have seen great change with respect to the apparels worn by the artists in the movies.
In olden days the artists of the films usually worn their own clothes or the directors and the
artists used to decide among themselves and finalize the clothes. Times have changed; huge
investments are being made in the apparels of the artists. Designers like Manish Malhotra, Rocky
S, Rohit Bal and lot of others are the ones who decide on the apparels of the artists in the films
now. Also great change has been seen in the style and the fashion of the clothes being worn by
the actors and the actresses.

Not only in terms of apparels but also in terms of the hairstyle of the actors and the actresses of
the films, Hindi Film Industry has seen an enormous evolution over the years. In the 1940’s and
1950’s the actresses’ sported long and thick hairs giving them the true ‘Bhartiya Nari’ look.
Surprisingly, a female artist sporting a short crop hair would typically be either a vamp or a club
dancer. Then came the fashion of ‘buffont’ hairstyles in the 1960’s and 1970’s. In the late 1960’s
‘Sandhna Cut’ became very famous because of the Sadhna, the famous actress of that time. In
the 1980’s the actresses sported short cropped hair or long tresses. In 1990’s and after that
actresses had their own hair dressers who were trained in the art of hair dressing and lots of new
hair styles were created specially Priety Zinta’s hairstyle in ‘Armaan’ became very famous. The
hairstyles of not only the actresses but also the actors have changed over the years. Actors like
Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and others of their time sported the sober hairstyle of a gentle man.

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Then Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna influenced the youngsters of 1970’s and 1980’s
with their big side locks and long hairs. Also during this time Shashi Kapoor’s hairstyle was very
famous. Since a decade Aamir Khan with his experiments in hairstyles in his every new film is
influencing the youngsters of present generation to sport a hairstyle like him.

Transition in the roles of Character actors

Film Industry has seen a change with the mainstream actors taking the roles of character actors.
Character actors like Pran, Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri and some others have always been used
as synonyms for villainous roles in the Hindi films till late 1990’s. Superstar Shahrukh Khan
started this trend with a villainous role in ‘Baazigar’. Also Kajol, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay
Kumar were among many others who played negative characters in their movies ‘Gupt’,
‘Aankhein’ and ‘Aflaatoon’ respectively. Same was the case for comedy actors were only
Jonny Walker, Keshto Mukherjee, Mahmood, Jonny Lever and some others were looked upon as
comedians. This had changed as Govida, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and a bunch
of mainstream actors started playing comedy roles. Stars like Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini and
Kiron Kher have changed the definition of role of mothers as in today’s movies mothers are no
longer weak and melodramatic but are portrayed as strong, independent and free from family
bondages. There was a time when doing an item number was looked down upon by the actresses
and it was only Helen who could pull off an item song in the past. Now the times have changed
big names in the industry like Shahrukh Khan (Krazzy 4), Aishwarya Rai (Bunty Aur Babli),
Abhishek Bachchan(Mission Istanbul) and Hrithik Roshan(Krazzy 4) are some of the prominent
names who have started doing item songs in the films.

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Transition with respect to technology

• Sound-- Sound has been an essential part of the Hindi film industry starting from the
movie Alam Ara (1931) which was the first talking movie. Major transition has been
witnessed over the years with respect to sound. Until 1960’s the films used sync sound
technology i.e. the dialogues were recorded on the location itself. Post 1960 new
technology was introduced of dubbing the sound i.e. the actors recite their lines as their
images appear on-screen in the studio in the process known as "looping in the sound”.
This system was accepted by the industry but it had some loop holes like sometimes the
sound in such films usually occurred a frame or two earlier or later than the mouth
movements or gestures. The actors had to act twice, on-location as well in the studio. It
becomes very difficult to deliver emotional scenes again in studio. The system of sync
sound came back to Hindi Film Industry through film ‘Lagaan (2001)’. Now a day’s sync
sound system is being used in many films.

• Color -- Colors were introduced in the beautiful world of cinema in late 30’s with the
release of the movie ‘Kisan Kanya’ by adopting the technology of switching from black
and white to color. This transition made the film more beautiful and colorful in respect of
clothing and location. As a result the number of viewers watching the films in 1950’s and
1960’s rose drastically. Earlier Eastman color was used to make color films which were
replaced by Techni color and now digitally enhanced color techniques are used.

• 3D and Animated films -- Hindi film industry tried their luck at making 3D movies with
the movie ‘Chhota Chetan’ which was released in 1984 and was huge hit at box office
and earned around 60 crores. Later in 1998 it was re-released with and the version also
included Urmila Matondkar and this time also it was huge hit earning 50 crores. With the
success of this film another film ‘Chhota Jadugar (2003)’ was released and was also hit at
box office.

24
 Recently Hindi Film Industry has taken a major step by entering into the world of
animation. The first animated movie ‘Hanuman’ was released in 2005 by Sahara India
Parivar it was a very successful movie and a huge hit. With the success of mythological
film ‘Hanuman’ another animated film based on mythology named ‘Ramayan’ was
released which was also a huge success. These films mainly targeted kids and teenagers
but this perception changed with films like ‘Hanuman Returns (2007)’ and ‘Ghatothkach:
Master of Magic (2008)’ which was enjoyed by elders too.

• Alternate sources of watching movies-- Transition with respect to watching movies also
changed with the latest technology coming into place. Alternate source of watching
movies started with Video Cassette Recorders (VCR) which was believed to be a status
symbol in the Indian society. It was then replaced by Video Compact Disc (VCD) which
was replaced by Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and the latest Blu-ray disc which replaced
DVD’s. This gave audience a complete new experience to watch movies at home. Quite a
few households preferred to watch movies at home rather than going to theaters as it
saved money and movies can be watched at their own convenience.

Some Misconceptions regarding the transition in Hindi Film Industry

Lots of youth in today’s generation believe that the western culture has influenced the Hindi
films in recent times. There was a great hype when Mallika Sherawat had seventeen kissing
scenes in ‘Khwaish’. Infact the longest kissing scene was shot way back in 1933 in the film
‘Karma’ between Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai. Also people and censor board create lots of
hype over exposure shown in the films nowadays. In 1978 Zeenath Aman had exposed a lot in
the film ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and Dimple Kapadia had exposed in the film ‘Saagar’ in
1985. Recently since last five years the Censor Board of India has made a compulsion for
deleting smoking scenes from the films. In reality such scenes were always there in the Hindi
films since the past and no hype was created in the olden times.

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Films becoming an advertisement medium for products

In the last one decade many companies started advertising their products through films. Brands
like Coke and Pass Pass mouth freshener were largely promoted in the film ‘Yaadein’. ‘Koi Mil
Gaya’ a huge hit among children promoted Bournvita and Atlas Cycles. Even banks were
promoted in the films like ICICI bank was promoted in ‘Baghban’. Cars like Ford Mondeo and
Hyundai Santro were also promoted on a large scale in the films ‘Baghban’ and ‘Phir Bhi Dil
Hai Hindustani’. Lots of movies also promoted TV News channels like Aaj Tak, Headlines
today, NDTV and Zee News. Such advertising through films was not prevalent in the past.

Insuring the films

The concept of insuring the film started with ‘Taal’ directed by Subhash Ghai and ‘United India
Insurance’ was the first company that insured the film. This was followed by many other films
being insured in the Hindi Film Industry as lots of foreign insurance companies also started
showing interest in insuring Indian films. This was not prevalent in the past.

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 KEY LEARNING’S

• As very few films were produced in a year the audience were eager to see films of different
genres but as time passed the number of films that were being produced in a year increased
and it became monotonous for people as the most of the films revolved around similar
storyline. As result today’s audience give utmost importance to script or storyline rather than
cast or director.
• The olden tradition of the songs being sung by actors and actresses themselves is returning in
Hindi Film Industry. Lot of actors like Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan,
Abhishek Bachchan and many more have sung songs in their movies.
• One of the important learning is that every artist if capable, than he/she can act as any
character in the film. Thus artists are not being restricted to particular category of roles as it
was in olden times.
• The audience now a today’s have become quite open minded and so they appreciate films
which are based on social issues and also issues which were considered to be taboo in the
society.
• In 21st century women are not portrayed as they used to be in 19th and 20th century. Lots of
films are being made based on women. Male domination is deteriorating from Hindi Film
Industry. Women are portrayed to be strong and capable of facing all sorts of difficulties.
• Western music is becoming past. The musicians have started adopting Arabic, Urdu, Spanish,
Portuguese, Italian music.
• Acting is not restricted to only a particular star family. Now even the small screen actors get
chance to work in Hindi Film Industry and not as a role of character actors or in friendly
appearance but as main lead and same is the case with Hindi Film Industry actors.
• From the report we have learnt that finance is not required for just making the film but
handsome amount of money is required for pre release promotions. As a result lot of actors
travel to various cities or even countries just to promote their films.
• As a result of Globalization Indian actors have started getting acclamation in Hollywood and
thus many Hindi Film Industry actors are offered roles in Hollywood films.

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 CONCLUSION

The transition in Hindi Film Industry had started long back. Transition was noticed in all of the
above aspects but there are some misconceptions in the minds of people regarding certain issues
like smoking, drinking, doping, exposing by various actresses, crime and violence which they
feel to have adverse impact on the younger generation. Reality is something which most of the
people are not aware of. It is very important for people to clear their misconceptions that sexual
content, kissing scenes, abusive languages, exposure by actresses etc. are not the result of the
transition but they were part of olden movies also, although at a low scale.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.culturopedia.com/Cinema/earlyera.html 15:30 (14th March 2009)

http://www.amazines.com/Art_and_Culture/article_darticleid=36760 15:35 (14th March

2009)

http://www.realbollywood.com/news/20/bollywood-indian-women.html 16:15 (14th March

2009)

www.indianetzone.com 16:30 (14th March 2009)

http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.ph.page=1 14:30 (15th March 2009)

http://bollywood.celebden.com/?p=5397 14:49 (15th March 2009)

http://www.andhranews.net/Entertainment/2008/June/12-Indian-film-distributors-
49138.asp 15:15 (15th March 2009)

http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Flops_In_Bollywood_Hit_Distributors_Big_Time_&articl
eid=421223 15:30 (15th March 2009)

http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit09192005/index.asp 10:05 (16th March 2009)

http://www.bolly-wood.in/bollywood-history.php 10:40 (16th March 2009)

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=9750 11:00 (16th March

2009)

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=9750 11:00 (16th March

2009)

29
http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/interesting-facts/cinema/first-indian-3D-movie.html 11:17
(16th march 2009)

http://india60year.blogspot.com/2007/08/hindi-cinema-from-eternity-to.html 11:30 (16th

march 2009)

‘Film Industry Survey’ by Vanita Kohli Khandekar 08:08 (22nd March, 2009)

‘A New Cultural Lexicon’ by Sunil Khilnani 09:07 (22nd March, 2009)

‘Internationalisation of the Indian Film Industry’ by Janina Gomes 09:35 (22nd March, 2009)

‘Films – An Advertising Medium to Captivate Consumers’ by Seema Agarwal and Joel Sarosh
Thandamalla 00:16 (22nd March, 2009)

‘Films Insurance and Financing in India’ by A Mukund 18:07 (23rd March, 2009)

TV Show – Page 3 (Zoom TV)

Screen, Filmfare and Star Dust magazines

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 APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE: Transition in Hindi film Industry

Name:
School:
Age:

1. Are you interested in watching Hindi movies?

o Yes
o No

2. On an average how many movies do you see in a week?

o 1-2
o 3-4
o More than 4

3. What is your favourite genre?

o Romance
o Action
o Comedy
o Suspense/Thriller
o Other

4. According to you what are the effects of present day Hindi Movie? Why.
o Positive

o Negative

5. What changes do you want in the Hindi movie?

31