At this year's International Film Festival of India in Goa, Google Arts & Culture launched an extraordinary virtual exhibition that is going to make all the film bros cream their pants. Essentially consolidating the entire history of Bollywood, this groundbreaking exhibit features over 7,000 assets, including 5,000 high-resolution images and 1,500 videos, along with 120+ immersive stories curated by experts in collaboration with 20 Indian and global cultural organizations.
Accessible for free on the platform, the exhibit employs cutting-edge technology, including Augmented Reality and Street View, offering an unprecedented journey through the century-long history of Hindi cinema. With contributions from organizations such as Yash Raj Films, Cinemaazi, and LIFE Photo Collection, the exhibit provides an in-depth exploration of the industry's evolution, featuring stories, interactive exhibits, and unseen content.
Led by Google Arts & Culture director Amit Sood, the exhibit not only showcases iconic films and industry legends but also employs technology to enhance the experience. Utilizing Augmented Reality and Street View, it offers a 3D virtual gallery and a Hall of Fame, where users can explore the faces, places, and posters of Bollywood. Street View captures provide a 360-degree tour of Mumbai’s Art Deco theaters, while Augmented Reality enables users to project posters onto walls using smartphones.
The exhibit offers features like a timeline of Bollywood, presenting nearly 2,000 images of Hindi cinema icons categorized by year, A colour-coded archives of posters and stills from Bollywood films based on their colour palette, an insight on films, characters, music & making of the films, crossword and puzzles of iconic Hindi cinema posters, a journey through the 'true golden age of Hindi cinema' (1948-1965), ionic women in the industry, musical maestros that played a giant role in creating the magic of cinematic experience, dancing stars, fashion through the decades, pioneers of filmmaking, the soundtrack of cinema, and the stories behind film studios.
This collective endeavour is a giant reservoir of everything cinema. Transcending mere digitization, it offers a virtual odyssey through the heart and soul of filmmaking paying homage to the visionaries who have shaped the industry, and the intersection of different artforms and narratives that define the cinematic experience. The exhibit is a gift to all us cinephiles who admittedly look to the West in admiration undermining our own film heritage in an often valid disinterest in the kitschy nature of today's Bollywood blockbusters, reminding us of the rich history and cultural impact of one of the biggest film industries in the world.
Check out the exhibit here.
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