Renowned film historian and curator Amrit Gangar delves into the significance of India’s first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’. Gangar highlights the irony that while Indian cinema largely exists in collective memory and the movies themselves, the extensive repertoire of songs serves as an oral and aural archive shaping this memory into a work-in-progress history. ‘Alam Ara’ was first screened at Bombay’s Majestic Theatre in the Girgaon area, near the Imperial Film Company’s studio, where it was produced. Despite being established in 1926 by Ardeshir Irani, the prints of ‘Alam Ara’ did not survive. Gangar recounts his conversation with P.K. Nair, former director of the National Film Archive of India, who failed to retrieve any prints from Irani’s studio. Released in 1931, ‘Alam Ara’ marked the dawn of Indian talkies, revolutionizing filmmaking with its use of music, song, and dance. However, it’s notable that the film’s lead, Master Vithal, remained silent throughout, underscoring the transformative impact of sound on cinematic storytelling strategies.‘Alam Ara’ lives only in memories now
Renowned film historian and curator Amrit Gangar delves into the significance of India’s first talkie, ‘Alam Ara’. Gangar highlights the irony that while Indian cinema largely exists in collective memory and the movies themselves, the extensive repertoire of songs serves as an oral and aural archive shaping this memory into a work-in-progress history. ‘Alam Ara’ was first screened at Bombay’s Majestic Theatre in the Girgaon area, near the Imperial Film Company’s studio, where it was produced. Despite being established in 1926 by Ardeshir Irani, the prints of ‘Alam Ara’ did not survive. Gangar recounts his conversation with P.K. Nair, former director of the National Film Archive of India, who failed to retrieve any prints from Irani’s studio. Released in 1931, ‘Alam Ara’ marked the dawn of Indian talkies, revolutionizing filmmaking with its use of music, song, and dance. However, it’s notable that the film’s lead, Master Vithal, remained silent throughout, underscoring the transformative impact of sound on cinematic storytelling strategies.