Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema

The encyclopedia was published by Oxford University Press in association with National Film Archive of India in the year 1998. It provides an overview of the history and evolution of Indian cinema from its inception till the year 1995. The authors of the encyclopedia are Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen.With film factories in Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore and Hyderabad, the Indian film industry is considered the world’s largest national film industry. Beginning with the silent film era from 1912, this reference book highlights films such as Pundalik (1912) and Raja Harishchandra (1913). The transition to sound in the 1930s brought significant changes, with landmark films like Alam Ara marking the advent of talkies and revolutionizing the filmmaking process. Dhoop Chaon in 1935 established playback singing as a standard practice, the encyclopedia adds. It also profiles influential personalities and lists all major movies produced till 1995. As the films are chronologically listed, it is easy to ascertain cinematic trends and their historical contexts. The Indian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of influential directors like Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, and Raj Kapoor, who created classics such as Pather Panchali (1955), Mother India (1957), and Mughal-e-Azam (1960)...