The story
Alam Ara, released on March 14, 1931 at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay (Mumbai), was the first Indian feature film with synchronized sound. Directed by Ardeshir Irani for his Imperial Film Company, it was a costume romance about a prince and a gypsy girl, drawn from a Parsi stage play. It included several songs, among them De de khuda ke naam pe, sung by W. M. Khan and generally called the first song of Indian sound cinema. Shooting took place at night, because the studio sat beside a railway line, and the sound was recorded directly with the action. No complete print is known to survive.
Indian cinema began silent: Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra of 1913 launched a busy industry, and Hollywood's The Jazz Singer in 1927 showed that sound could transform the medium. India's theatrical tradition, in which music, dance and drama were inseparable, made songs a natural fit. Sound spread quickly, and Hindustani, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and other languages each acquired their own cinemas. Songs became the signature of Indian film and a mass music industry in their own right, with playback singers recording what actors lip-synced. Bombay's Hindi cinema, later called Bollywood, and regional industries grew to make well over a thousand films a year, the largest output of any country.
Why it mattered
- Song and dance became standard elements of Indian popular film, setting it apart from Hollywood models.
- Playback singing made singers such as Lata Mangeshkar national stars, and film songs became the dominant popular music of South Asia.
- Regional-language cinemas flourished, as sound let each language group have its own films and stars.
- Indian film became an export, reaching audiences across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the diaspora.
Sources
- Alam Ara Britannica
- Making of Alam Ara: An Interview with Ardeshir Irani Garga Archives
- Raja Harishchandra Britannica
Community notes
Loading notes…