Cinema first stepped foot in India in 1913 with Dadasaheb Phalke’s “Harishchandrachi Factory”, a Marathi full-length feature film, which left the entire country in amazement and astonishment, of the fact that an Indian could make this magic happen, especially under the oppressive and suppressing British Raj. But this phenomenal piece of Art, which marked the shift from the theatre to the screen, lacked in one of the most important elements of Modern day cinema: sound.
In January of 1929, Fox introduced the Movietone camera, a camera with the ability to record sound. Bustling streets of Mumbai during the 90s were shot, with live audio recording of crowds, laundry workers, busy vendors, foot-tapping horses and a lot more, as seen in the video.
This marvelous documentary above, captured the buzzing and so truly “Bumbai” life, symbolizing the coming of sound films in the Indian field. With no commentary, in-between slates, the original sounds recorded, portrayed the life of an everyday common with such simplicity. The face of realism being so true with the hustle and bustle in the lanes, vendors shouting, people chattering amongst themselves, this Movietone influenced a revolutionary change in the sphere of India cinema.
Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara in 1931, a fabulous musical, which began the era of talkies in India, was an inspiration from the same technology. All the dialogues, music, was shot live, sometimes at night to avoid the noises.
Watch this beautiful piece of history, which turned out to be a game changer for the Indian cinematographers.
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