Indian Cinema

Indian Firsts in Film History

 

1. Raja Harishchandra (1913) 

First Silent Film and First Full-length Indian Feature Film to be made by Dadasaheb Phalke

2. Alam Ara (1931)

First Sound Film, directed by Ardeshir Irani
First Talkie Actress:Zubeida
De de khuda ke naam per - The first song of the Indian cinema

 

3. Kisan Kanya (1937)

First Colour film directed by Moti B. Gidvani
Film made entirely in India, was processed and printed in Germany

 

4. Neecha Nagar (1946)

First Indian cinema to get Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival
Directed by Chetan Anand

 

5. Shyamchi Aai (1953)

First Indian cinema to get Golden Lotus Award for Best Film at the National Film Awards in 1954.
Shyamchi Aai is a Marathi film , directed by P.K.Atre.

 

6. Pather Panchali (1955)

First Film to win highest number of international awards 11 awards, including Cannes.

Oscar for Lifetime Achievement: Director Satyajit Ray (1992)

Films to be considered as All-Time 100 best movies: Apu Trilogy (Pather Panchali, Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar(1959)) by Satyajit Ray

 

7. Mother India (1957)

First Oscar Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film

The film ranks among the all-time Indian box office hits and has been described as "an all-time Indian blockbuster" and "perhaps India's most revered film".

 

8. Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)

First 75 mm Cinema scope film
India's equivalent of "Sunset Boulevard"

 

9. Mughal-E-Azam (1960)

First Colorized film: Mughal-e-Azam in 2004 (the original black-and-white version was released in 1960)

During the re-release the film ran for 25 weeks and probably there is no other example of any film running for 25 weeks in its re-release.

 

10. Yaadein (1964)

Guinness Book of World Records in the category Fewest actors in a narrative film: Yaadein (1964) directed and acted by Sunil Dutt

 

11. Gandhi (1982)

First Oscar for Best Costume Design: Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design

 

12. Padayottam (1982)

First Indian 70 mm film: A Malayalam film

 

13. Hum Log (1984)

Sponsored Hindi TV serial, started on July 7, 1984, was also the first soap opera of India, ran for 156 episodes

 

14. My Dear Kuttichaathan (1984)

First 3-D film: A Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan.

 

15. Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)

First Hindi film screened at the United Nations on 10 November 2006

 

16. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Music director to win an Oscar and first double Oscar winner-Mr. A. R. Rahman

 

17. Dasavatharam (2008)

Kamal Hasan An actor to enact 10 roles