Social Resurgence

Hindi cinema’s so-called Golden Age, from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, was a resurgent period of film production across the Indian subcontinent after independence from colonial rule in 1947. The era’s films possessed quality and quantity in equal measure. They resonated with the hope, enthusiasm, and collective commitment to nation building based on the newfound sense of freedom that had beaten the spectre of oppressive colonial censorship. Many of the film directors and practitioners who pushed the industry towards its new heights were dedicated followers of India’s anticolonial movements and struggle for independence. The emergence of a modern, post-colonial India with nationalist aspirations galvanized their work, despite the harsh reality of grappling with a dwindling economy after 150 years of British exploitation. The fervor bled into regional film industries, which centred on local language film-works with distinctive provincial character. The technological means and sonic methods adapted in regional and state cinemas across the country were often similar to those used in Bombay’s large-scale industry, making the case for a legitimately subcontinent-wide national cinema that could be called ‘Indian Cinema’.

Several popular Hindi-language classics such as Mother India (Khan, 1957), Pyaasa (‘Thirsty’, Dutt, 1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (‘Paper Flowers’, Dutt, 1959), Awara (‘The Vagabond’, Kapoor, 1951), Shree 420 (‘Mr. 420’, Kapoor, 1955), and Mughal-E-Azam (‘The Great Mughal’, Asif, 1960) come from this period. Global lists, forums, festivals, and screenings regularly featured some of these films as representative of Indian cinema. Indeed, these films influenced the development of a distinctive cinematic language on the subcontinent for decades to come.