English-language Indian films

Last updated

English-language Indian films go back to the days of silent film. After the coming of sound, feature films in English almost disappeared.

Contents

History

Silent era

In the 1920s, films directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai, including The Light of Asia and A Throw of Dice , could be considered as English-language films because the titles were in English. With the coming of sound, directors such as Osten and Rai chose Hindi as the language, thus effectively bringing to a close this phase of English-language films made in India.

Crossover films

An attempt to make English talkies in India named Karma failed domestically in 1933.

Indian crossover films appeared in Indian cinema with international productions with Indian themes, starting with Merchant Ivory Productions' first venture, The Householder (1963), which has an India story, setting with an Indian cast, and included Shashi Kapoor, Leela Naidu, and Durga Khote. This was followed by a number of India-themed films largely propelled by Indian-born producer, Ismail Merchant. However, it took a while before an Indian director would commercially take up making films in the English language.

Indian productions

The first such film came at the peak of the Parallel cinema movement, when Aparna Sen directed 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) to critical acclaim. Its lead actress, Jennifer Kendal was even nominated for a BAFTA Award. The genre was able to stand on its own with Dev Benegal's English, August (1994) which was widely accepted by urban audiences and became its first hit, drawing an audience of 20 million. [1]

This paved the way for other directors to look at using English language as a viable medium, like Nagesh Kukunoor who made Hyderabad Blues (1998); Kaizad Gustad, Bombay Boys (1998); Homi Adajania, Being Cyrus (2006); and Rituporno Ghosh, whose The Last Lear (2008), starring Amitabh Bachchan as the lead, won the Best English Feature Award at National Film Award. [1] [2]

In the 2000s, Aparna Sen visited the genre again, and made two successive English features in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) and 15, Park Avenue (2005), which won a string of National Film Awards.

Meanwhile, film directors of Indian descent, such as Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, and Gurinder Chadha, continued to make English-language films on Indian themes to international acclaim; this has opened up the genre further both creatively and commercially. [3]

List of films (partial)

YearTitle
1981 36 Chowringhee Lane
1986 On Wings of Fire
1988 The Perfect Murder
1989 In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones
1992 Electric Moon
Miss Beatty's Children
1994 English, August
1996 Fire
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
The Making of the Mahatma
1998 Hyderabad Blues
Bombay Boys
1999 Split Wide Open
2000 Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
2001 American Desi
Monsoon Wedding
2002 Mitr, My Friend
Leela
Mango Soufflé
2003 Stumble
Freaky Chakra
2003 Five by Four
2004 Hyderabad Blues 2
White Noise
Bride and Prejudice
Morning Raga
2005Sins
Water
2006 Being Cyrus
Mixed doubles
Provoked
2007 Americanizing Shelley
Parzania
2008 Via Darjeeling
2011 Delhi Belly
2012 Divorce Invitation
2014 Finding Fanny
2016 A Death in the Gunj

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hindi cinema</span> Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" and "Hollywood". The industry is a part of the larger Indian cinema, which also includes South Indian cinema and other smaller film industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musical film</span> Film genre

Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers".

Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory. Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their time together, they made 44 films. The films were for the most part produced by Merchant and directed by Ivory, and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013) in some capacity. The films were often based upon novels or short stories, particularly the work of Henry James, E. M. Forster, and Jhabvala herself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ram Gopal Varma</span> Indian film director, screenwriter and producer

Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma, often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television. Varma has directed films across multiple genres, including parallel cinema and docudrama noted for their gritty realism, technical finesse, and craft. Regarded as one of the pioneers of new age Indian cinema, he was featured in the BBC World series Bollywood Bosses in 2004. In 2006, Grady Hendrix of Film Comment, published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center cited Varma as "Bombay's Most Successful Maverick" for his works on experimental films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahesh Bhatt</span> Indian film director, producer and screenwriter

Mahesh Bhatt is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is Saaransh (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. It became India's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year. The 1986 film Naam was his first piece of commercial cinema. In 1987, he turned producer with the film Kabzaa under the banner, "Vishesh Films", with his brother Mukesh Bhatt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aparna Sen</span> Indian filmmaker, script writer and actress

Aparna Sen is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has received several accolades as an actress and filmmaker, including nine National Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards East and thirteen Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. For her contribution in the field of arts, the Government of India honoured her with Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rituparno Ghosh</span> Indian film director, actor, writer, and lyricist

Rituparno Ghosh was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his second feature film Unishe April which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Having won 19 National Awards, along with his contemporaries Aparna Sen and Goutam Ghose, Rituparno heralded contemporary Bengali cinema to greater heights. Ghosh died on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata after a heart attack. Ghosh was also one of the openly homosexual personalities in Indian cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahul Bose</span> Indian film actor and politician

Rahul Bose is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, social activist, and athlete. Bose is the President of Indian Rugby Football Union.

<i>Mr. and Mrs. Iyer</i> 2002 film by Aparna Sen

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is a 2002 Indian English-language drama film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by N. Venkatesan. The film features Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma as Meenakshi Iyer, a Tamil Iyer Brahmin who is a Hindu. Rahul Bose portrays the character of Raja Chowdhury, a Bengali Muslim wildlife photographer. The story revolves around these two lead characters during a fateful bus journey amidst the carnages of a communal strife in India. Zakir Hussain, an Indian tabla maestro, composed the background score and music for the film; Goutam Ghose, a film director himself, was the cinematographer.

Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia. However, in countries like the United States, it is often used to refer only to the cinema of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle Eastern cinema, along with the cinema of Egypt. The cinema of Central Asia is often grouped with the Middle East or, in the past, the cinema of the Soviet Union during the Soviet Central Asia era. North Asia is dominated by Siberian Russian cinema, and is thus considered part of European cinema.

<i>Omkara</i> (2006 film) 2006 film by Vishal Bhardwaj

Omkara is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello, co-written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. It stars an ensemble cast of Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vivek Oberoi and Bipasha Basu in lead roles. The director Vishal Bhardwaj himself composed the entire music for the film, including the background score, with lyrics by Gulzar. The film is set in Meerut, a city in Uttar Pradesh. It is the second film in Bhardwaj's trilogy of Shakespeare adaptations, which began with Maqbool (2003) and was completed with Haider (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konkona Sen Sharma</span> Indian actress

Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works primarily in Hindi and Bengali films and a few English films. She has received several awards including two National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards, a Filmfare Award East and a Filmfare OTT Award. The daughter of filmmaker–actress Aparna Sen, She appears primarily in arthouse independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.

<i>36 Chowringhee Lane</i> 1981 Indian film

36 Chowringhee Lane is a 1981 film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by Shashi Kapoor. It marked the directorial debut of Sen, who had until then been known as a leading actress of Bengali cinema. The film was very well received upon release. It stars Jennifer Kendal in a critically acclaimed role, along with Dhritiman Chatterjee and Debashree Roy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Asian cinema</span> Cinema of South Asian countries

South Asian cinema refers to the cinema of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The broader terms Asian cinema, Eastern cinema and Oriental cinema in common usage often encompass South Asia as well as East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Parallel cinema or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prosenjit Chatterjee</span> Indian film actor and producer

Prosenjit Chatterjee is an Indian actor and producer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading actors in modern Bengali cinema. He predominantly works in Bengali cinema. He is the son of veteran Bollywood actor Biswajit Chatterjee. He began his acting career as a child actor in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chotto Jigyasa, for which he won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Most Outstanding Work of the Year Award. Following this he appeared in other films as a child actor. But unable to concentrate on his studies, Prosenjit took a break from acting and returned after completing his graduation from Xavier's University and his first leading role came through Bimal Roy's Duti Pata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marathi cinema</span> Marathi language film industry in India

Marathi cinema is a film industry of Marathi-language of Maharashtra. It is based in Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry of India and one of the leader in Filmmaking in India's film industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinema of West Bengal</span> Indian Bengali language film industry based in West Bengal

Cinema of West Bengal, also known as Tollywood or Bengali cinema, is an Indian film industry of Bengali-language motion pictures. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932. It was a historically important film industry, at one time the centre of Indian film production. The Bengali film industry is known for producing many of Indian cinema's most critically acclaimed global Parallel Cinema and art films, with several of its filmmakers gaining prominence at the Indian National Film Awards as well as international acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranjan Ghosh</span>

Ranjan Ghosh is a Bengali filmmaker based out of Kolkata, India. He had risen to prominence with the release of Aparna Sen's Bengali feature film Iti Mrinalini, by becoming the first and the only screenwriter, the acclaimed actor-director had collaborated with in her illustrious career till date. With this film, Ghosh had made his screenwriting debut. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the critically acclaimed Hrid Majharey, a Bengali feature film starring Abir Chatterjee and Raima Sen. Inspired by certain iconic plays of William Shakespeare, it was the first film in the Bengali language based on the works of the Bard and was presented as a tribute on his 450th Birth Anniversary. His second film Rongberonger Korhi was an anthology of four short films woven around the theme of money and its relationship with human beings. It featured National Award-winning actor Rituparna Sengupta, veteran cine star Chiranjeet Chakraborty, critically acclaimed actors Ritwick Chakraborty, Soham Chakraborty, Kharaj Mukherjee, Arunima Ghosh, Arjun Chakrabarty and others. It became a widely acclaimed film on release in 2018, before doing the festival rounds in Dubai, Dhaka, London, and nationally at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad. In 2019, Ghosh released his third feature film, the hugely successful Ahaa Re featuring Bangladeshi actor Arifin Shuvoo, Rituparna Sengupta, Amrita Chattopadhyay, Paran Bandopadhyay, Deepankar De, Shakuntala Barua, Bangladeshi Cinema film actor Alamgir in a special appearance as a restaurant owner. The film made it to a coveted list of 25 all-time great Asian films about food, compiled by international film web magazine Asian Movie Pulse. Ghosh's fourth feature film Mahishasur Marddini - A Night to Remember featuring his muse Rituparna Sengupta along with Saswata Chatterjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and a bunch of young theatre actors, released in 2022 and is touted as his boldest work till date in which he experiments with form and style, combining the elements of theatre and cinema. The film was screened at the Film and Television Institute of India, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, University of Hyderabad, English and Foreign Languages University, University of Kerala, IIT Bombay, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, SNDT Women's University, and Pondicherry University. The Indian People's Theatre Association, Kollam District Committee, Kerala, screened the film at a short film festival organized by them in August 2023. Earlier Mahishasur Marddini - A Night to Remember became the first Indian feature film to screen at any theatre festival when it played at the 21st Habitat Theatre Festival, 2022, organized by the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is an annual festival based in Melbourne founded in 2010. It was previously funded by Victoria State Government. It is presented by Film Victoria, and the provider is chosen through a tender process. The current tender provider is Mind Blowing Films, run by Mitu Bhowmick Lange who is the Festival Director of IFFM. The festival has currently been provided with State Government funding until 2018. The goal of the film festival is to showcase Indian cinema to the Australian audience. The festival has streamed Bollywood films, Indie movies, documentaries, regional cinema from India etc. It also organizes short film competitions, dance competitions and a flag hoisting ceremony since it is during the time of Indian Independence day celebrations in Melbourne.

References

  1. 1 2 English is recast in Indian films The Guardian, 24 October 2008.
  2. Move over Bollywood, Indian films in English are here IANS, The Times of India, 11 August 2002.
  3. New Wave Cinema Beyond Bollywood: the cultural politics of South Asian diasporic film by Jigna Desai. Routledge, 2004. ISBN   0-415-96684-1. 195-6.