India's greatest films in 100 Years


When Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian Cinema, released his epochal feature film Raja Harishchandra on 3rd May 1913, it is unlikely that either the exhibitors or the pioneer film maker realized they were unleashing a mass entertainment medium that would hold millions in sway for the next hundred years. 

Indian cinema, despite all its peculiarities, has been a reflection of the socio-economic, political and cultural changes that took place in the country. Here's hoping that Indian movies continue to entertain us the way they've been doing since 10 decades.

1. Raja Harishchandra(1913)
Language: Silent
Director: Dadasaheb Phalke
Cast: D D Dobke, Anna Salunke, G V Sane

The film that started it all was based on the legend of a king who sacrifices his kingdom and his family to keep his promise to the sage Vishwamitra. Raja Harishchandra was a hit, and successfully moved audiences from stage to screen. In the absence of actresses, the role of queen Taramati was played by male actor Anna Salunke.



2. Achhut Kanya (1936)
Language: Hindi
Director: Franz Osten
Cast: Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar

A masterpiece of the social reformist era, Achhut Kanya dealt with love across caste boundaries and the social status of Dalit women.

3.Sant Tukaram (1936)
Language: Marathi
Director: V G Damle
Cast: Vishupant Pagnis, Gauri, B Nandrekar

One of the earliest Indian films to receive international acclaim, Sant Tukaram was a biopic of Bhakti saint and poet Tukaram. The blockbuster film was the first to run in a single theatre for over a year. At the Venice Film Festival, Sant Tukaram was picked as one of the three best films.

4. Neecha Nagar (1946)
Language: Hindi
Director: Chetan Anand
Cast: Kamini Kaushal, Uma Anand, Zohra Sehgal
One of the earliest films of the parallel cinema movement, Neecha Nagar examined social and economic divides in society between the rich and the poor. The film marked the debuts of actress Kamini Kaushal and of Pandit Ravi Shankar as a music director. It shared the Best Film award at the Cannes Film Festival, the first Indian film to receive an international prize.

5. Do Bigha Zameen (1953, Hindi), directed by Bimal Roy


Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Murad, Jagdeep, Nana Palsikar

This is a tragic drama about a small farmer who is compelled by indebtedness to relocate to the big city and become a rickshaw-puller. Do Bigha Zameen, which exposes the vice-like grip that ruthless zamindars/moneylenders have on agriculture in this country, is generally regarded as one of the earliest and finest examples of "neo-realism" in Indian cinema.

It, however, employs several of Hindi cinema's principal conventions - songs and melodrama, for instance. The film draws much its power from lead actor Balraj Sahni's outstanding performance.


6. Pather Panchali (1955, Bengali), directed by Satyajit Ray


Cast: Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Subir Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Chunibala Devi

Satyajit Ray's superb adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Banerjee's novel put Indian cinema on the world map.

Even as the film focussed on a poverty-stricken family in rural Bengal, it underscored the invincibility of the human spirit and the magical beauty of the landscape juxtaposed against the misery of the characters that populate it.


7. Devdas (1955)
Language: Hindi
Director: Bimal Roy
Cast: Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Vyjayanthimala

Bengali author Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's much-filmed novel of the drunken lovelorn zamindar's son consumed by love for his childhood sweetheart was made memorable by Bimal Roy's realistic touch. Dilip Kumar's portrayal of the tormented Devdas was matched by Suchitra Sen's dewy Paro and Vyjayanthimala's feisty Chandramukhi, the courtesan Devdas claims to despise but leans on for moral support.

8.Pyaasa (1957)
Language: Hindi
Director: Guru Dutt
Cast: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha

The story of a struggling poet also deals with the loss of love and identity. Guru Dutt was forced to give the film a happy ending on the insistence of his distributors. Pyaasa is noted for being Waheeda Rehman's first major role, and S D Burman's melodious score.


9.Mother India (1957, Hindi), directed by Mehboob Khan
Cast: Nargis, Raaj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar

One of the greatest films ever made in this country, Mother India rightly enjoys the status of a timeless epic. In its grand narrative, it captures aspects of Nehruvian India that are both positive and negative.
As she inaugurates a new irrigation canal, an elderly village woman Radha (Nargis) recalls her past. She bears much pain and hardship to steer her family through severe financial crisis even as she ward off the unwanted attentions of the moneylender.
One of her two surviving sons turns a rebel to settle scores with his family's tormentors, and the mother, an epitome of rectitude, is compelled to shoot him dead.
The film was a powerful allegory for a nation rebuilding itself after centuries of oppression.

10. Apur Sansar (1959, Bengali), directed by Satyajit Ray

Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore
The third part of the famed Apu trilogy, Apur Sansar launched the career of Sharmila Tagore. She played the newly-married wife of an adult Apu, Soumitra Chatterjee, who went on to work in 13 more Ray films.
A superbly crafted, expertly modulated human drama, the film tracks the voyage of a boy turning into a man in a tough environment and it does so with unmatched empathy and perspicuity.
Taken together, Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Apur Sansar constitute one of the greatest cinematic achievements the world has ever seen. 



11. Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960, Bengali), directed by Ritwik Ghatak

Cast: Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Bijon Bhattacharya, Geeta Dey

Ritwik Ghatak's most complex melodrama narrates the story of a self-sacrificing woman who puts her wedding on hold because she is the sole breadwinner of a refugee family that barely ekes out a living in Calcutta.

The references to the mythical Durga and Menaka, the innovative use of sound effects and the tempered projection of emotions takes the narrative beyond the story and into terrains of comprehension that are usually beyond the ken of melodramas.

12. Mughal-e-Azam (1960, Urdu), directed by K Asif


Cast: Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Durga Khote

Mughal-e-Azam is a blockbuster to beat all blockbusters, blending style, panache and substance. This historical romance tells the apocryphal love story of Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar) and commoner Anarkali (Madhubala). They face opposition from all quarters, including Emperor Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor), and Anarkali dies to save the prince.

Mughal-e-Azam is remembered to this day for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) song sequence shot in colour in an otherwise black and white film. Also noteworthy were Kamal Amrohi's dialogues, Naushad's musical score and RD Mathur's cinematography.

13. Anuradha (film)
Anuradha (Hindi: अनुराधा; English: Love of Anuradha) is a 1960 Hindi-language film produced and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Balraj Sahni, Leela Naidu in lead roles along with Asit Sen and Mukri. The film is noted for being Miss India Naidu's debut film.
The film's music was composed by Pandit Ravi Shankar, in one of his rare forays into Hindi cinema.[1][2] The film was based on a short story written by Sachin Bhowmick, first published in the Bengali monthly magazine Desh and according to his autobiography, it was inspired by Madame Bovary, a novel by Gustave Flaubert.
The film went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival in 1961.

14.Bandini (1963)
Language: Hindi
Director: Bimal Roy
Cast: Nutan, Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra
In a career-best performance, Nutan plays an imprisoned murderess torn between two men. Bandini was one of the earliest female-centric movies, and was the last film Bimal Roy made.

15. Charulata (1964, Bengali), directed by Satyajit Ray

Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Sailen Mukherjee
Among Ray's most accomplished cinematic essays, Charulata is a loose adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's Noshto Neer, set against the backdrop of the reform movement in 19th century Bengal.
This tale of loneliness, loss, betrayal and final reconciliation is narrated with wonderful cinematic flourishes.
Among all his films, Charulata was Ray's personal favourite.


16. Bhuvan Shome (1969, Hindi), directed by Mrinal Sen

Cast: Utpal Dutt, Suhasini Mulay, Sadhu Meher, Shekhar Chatterjee
This small Film Finance Corporation-funded satire was Mrinal Sen's big national-level break. Many also regard it as the film that marked the beginning of the New Indian Cinema movement.
Bhuvan Shome is set in the early years of Independence. An upright Bengali railway official sacks a corrupt ticket collector and then sets off for a holiday in Gujarat. In the dunes of Saurashtra, he meets a young village woman who turns out to be the wife of the man he dismissed from employment. He has a long encounter with her.
The girl's uncomplicated ways disarm the railway officer and by the time he is ready to return, he is man who has begun to see life just a tad differently.


17. Anand (1970, Hindi), directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee


Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo, Johnny Walker, Dara Singh
A terminally ill hero is determined to make the most of the remaining months of his life. In one of his early starring roles, Amitabh Bachchan played a Bengali doctor who develops a deep emotional connect with the dying man.
The director added deft touches to the narrative through cameos played by comedian Johnny Walker and wrestler-turned-actor Dara Singh to drive home the central message of the film: life should be big in terms of impact rather than in terms of mere length.
The film gave the career of the then reigning superstar a huge fillip.


18. Pakeezah (1972)
Language: Hindi
Director: Kamal Amrohi
Cast: Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar, Ashok Kumar
Meena Kumari's swan song is a brave and beautiful tale of a courtesan seeking legitimacy. The making of Pakeezah was a rocky road, with a long gap in filming when Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi's marriage ended. Composer Ghulam Mohammed died midway through filming and Meena Kumari herself died just a few weeks after the film released, having been so ill on shoots that most scenes showed her lying down.



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