While some contend that cinema in India began in 1913, others suggest that there is a history that extends even farther back, but that many of the silent films that came out of the country pre-1913 have been lost to time. The origin of Indian film begins with English colonialism, in 1896, when the Lumière brothers, the inventors of the moving picture, screened some of their short films to a British audience. Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar was in the audience, and after seeing the films, ordered a camera of his own from England.
Bhatavdekar shot a film of a wrestling match in Mumbai's Hanging Gardens in 1899, and other Indian filmmakers began making their own films. Filmmakers like Hiralal Sen and Jamshedji Madan began making films of their own, praised for being more compelling and exciting than live performance. Additionally, foreign directors began coming to India and shooting their own footage of the country, often in service of the British empire and to document British engagement with the colonies. Because so much Indian filmmaking has been lost, many consider Raja Harishchandra, a 1913 silent film by Dadasaheb Phalke, to be the first full-length Indian film.
Talkies followed, produced by "Tollywood," the nickname for the Bengali film industry. The films both took their lead from the western film industry while also following their own path, oftentimes in ways that mirrored Indian rebellion against colonial rule. For instance, R.S.D. Choudhury's film Wrath, which was produced in the 1930s, was banned by the British Raj at the time of its release because it showed Indian characters as leaders in the Indian independence movement.
The 1940s to the 1960s, during which Satyajit Ray directed The Apu Trilogy of which Pather Panchali is part, is largely considered the "Golden Age of Indian Cinema." Indian films were in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival almost every year of the 1950s and early 60s. Films to come out of their era include Jalsaghar, Aranyer Din Ratri, Baiju Bawra, and Subarnarekha.
