OriginsFirst motion picture was exhibited in India, in Bombay (Mumbai), in 1896 by Lumiere Brothers (Workers Leaving the Lumire Factory). First Indian motion picture was The Flower of Persia (Dr. Hira Lal) in 1898.

First full-length feature film Raja Harishchandra (Dr. Dada Saheb Phalke) was made in 1913.

Recently a film (Hraishchandrachi factory) was made on the making of this film and the life of Dada Saheb Phalke.

Song-dance-dramaFirst film with sound Alam Ara (Dr. Ardeshir Irani) was made in 1931.

It had 7 songs and was movie adaptation of a successful play in Parsi Theatre.

Classical Theatre tradition (Natyashastra)

Religious theatre (Ramlila)

Secular Theatre (Parsi)

On average about 200 films were being produced in India by 1930s in eight major languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malyalam and Assamese.

Today on average 1000 films are made every year.

NarrativeMelodrama

Song and dance (ballad)

Family

Love story (Laila-manju troupe)

Early Genres

Mythological cinemaSocial cinemaHistorical cinema

New GenresGangster moviesDiaspora movies