8 films and print media in india

media and mass communication

1. Films and Print media in India

2. Cinema of India: Pre-historic Era The seeds for early Indian cinema were sown as soon the first ‘cinematographic exhibitions’ of Lumiere Brothers were held in Bombay on July 7, 1896 at Hotel Watson . The Times of India hailed it as ‘marvel of the century’. Lumiere Operator Maurice Sestier on his way to Australia presented to public comprising Westernized Indians and the British citizens the first reels of ever shot of a real film. The first films shown were: Arrivee ’ d’ un Train a’ la Gare de la Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at the Ciotat Station) La Sortie de l’Usine Lumière à Lyon” (“Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”)

3. The newcomer who created one of the biggest excitements in the earliest wave of movies was the French magician Georges Méliès . Méliès began incorporating special effects through his use of editing based on his stage illusions. The magician was the first filmmaker to bring fantasy, science fiction, horror and dark comedy to the cinema , as well as one of the first to begin writing skits with actors, bypassing the idea of shooting actualities.

4. He was the founder of several innovative techniques that are still used in modern filmmaking, leaping from the documentary-style of the Lumières into a new narrative style . His most famous work was the 30-scene 1902 fantasy masterpiece, “Le Voyage dans la lune ” (“A Trip to the Moon”), in which he combined fantasy, humor and social criticism with an armful of truly never-before-seen visual tricks.

5. Méliès still approached filmmaking as a play and his films remain thoroughly theatrical , as if they were performed on a stage. Most films leading up to 1900 reflected the turn-of-the-century fascination with transportation and travel, spawning countless train films. Parades, vaudeville (comic stage) acts, world’s fairs, funerals, theatrical recreations of the life of Christ and boxing matches most often filled the movie theaters

6. After viewing Méliès ’ “Le Voyage dans la lune ” (“A Trip to the Moon”), projectionist Edwin S. Porter learned that a film could continue from one scene to the next, telling a story with continuity . As the success of Méliès ’ “A Trip to the Moon” held au- diences captive in 1902, Porter released his two most important films in 1903. “The Life of an American Fireman” is considered the first film to exhibit a different form of temporal continuity . It is a mixture of actuality and fiction footage that depicts a fire station as a wagon answers the call for a rescue.

7. As of 1902, the Lumère Brothers had declared that “cinema was an invention without a future” (Burns). In later 1903, Porter released “The Great Train Robbery.” This film is often credited for establishing the Western genre, the “story” film, and for the commercial success of motion pic- tures in general. “The Great Train Robbery” confirmed the medium’s ability to place the viewer directly into the scene and into the middle of the action.

8. Harischandra S Bhatvadekar alias Save Dada-the first film maker (silent movie) in India Harischandra S Bhatvadekar produced the first ever news reel in India . He ordered for a moving camera and the projector from London. He shot the much live ‘wrestling match’-titled as ‘Two Wrestlers’. Soon he produced another film on R.P. Paranjpe , an Indian student who had won honours in Mathematics at Cambridge, London . Title of the film: Return of Wragler Paranjpe Another film he produced was: Man and his Monkey

9. A Wave of Film Production by Enthusiastic Film makers The arrival of motion picture attracted a number of business people, artists and craftsmen into film production and exhibition in India. Early such films were: Poona Races, Train Arriving at Bombay Station Tilak’s Visit to Calcutta Bathing Ghats at Benaras Great Bengal Partition Movement Terrible Hyderabad Floods

10. Stage Production into Film- Pundalik the first one On May 18, 1912 RG Torney , together with Nanabhai Govind Chitre , and PR Tipnis , Filmed a Marathi stage play Pundalik white it was being acted out . Pundalik is a Maharashtrian Sain who worshipped Panduranga as God at Pandaripur . RG Torney’s screen version of Pundalik was the first feature film in India . However, there is a dispute over this. Some noted film historians argue that Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harischandra , which was made a year later, as the first feature film.

11. Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (1870-1944) alias Dadasaheb Phalke-Father of Indian Cinema Irrespective of the dispute who produced the first feature film in India, the critiques agree that Dadasaheb Phalke’s first feature film- Rajaharischandra (released on April 21, 1913) was undoubtedly unique in its defining characteristics of a ‘genre ’. They considered it as a multi-faceted full feature film first ever produced . Above all Dadasaheb Phalke was a great patriot and an advocate of freedom to India in those days of freedom struggle . Being a Maharashtrian traditional Brahmin, his early film was produced in Sanskrit language though he later switched over to colloquial language of Marathi in his films.

12. Phalke –first to employ man as woman actors in his film -Bhamasur Mohini Phalke was first to use man as woman character in Bhamasur Mohini - another mythological genre. This film was a phenomenal success and went into 20 versions . The young man whom Phalke selected to play the woman in his film was –A Salunke , a restaurant cook with- ‘slender features and hands ’ Phalke not only produced best mythological popular films but also produced a book for the future film makers-How films are prepared? (1917) based on his experiences in the production of Rajaharischandra .

13. The first newspaper printed in India was- Hicky's Bengal Gazette—was started in 1780 under the British Raj by James Augustus Hicky . Other newspapers such as The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette, The Madras Courier (1785), and The Bombay Herald(1789) soon followed

14. Currently India publishes about 1,000 Hindi Dailies that have a total circulation of about 80 million copies. English , the second language in terms of number of daily newspapers, has about 250 dailies with a circulation of about 40 million copies. The prominent Hindi newspapers are Dainik Jagran , Dainik Bhaskar , Amar Ujala , Navbharat Times, Hindustan Dainik , Prabhat Khabar , Rajasthan Patrika ,

15. In terms of readership, Dainik Jagran is the most popular Hindi daily with a total readership The prominent English newspapers are The Times of India, founded in 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, a colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian conglomerate The main regional newspapers of India include the Marathi language Lokmat , the Gujarati Language Gujarat Samachar , the Malayalam language Malayala Manorama , the Tamil language Daily Thanthi , the Telugu language Eenadu , the Kannada language Vijaya Karnataka and the Bengali language Anandabazar Patrika .

16. Hindi magazines Pratiyogita Darpan India Today Saras Salil Grihshobha Meri Saheli Sarita English magazines India Today Pratiyogita Darpan General Knowledge Today The Sportstar Competition Success Review Outlook Reader's Digest Filmfare