As India celebrates 75 years of independence, it is time to recap our cinema milestones.
This is the story of the evolution of Hindi cinema, how it was born and grew into a magnificent obsession. Some of the details were narrated to us by our ancestors, some documented by the historians and some, witnessed by cinema buffs like you, me and now the younger generation.
The dream began in 1895 some say 1896 when French cameraman Marius Sestier screened the first motion picture at Bombay’s Watson Hotel on 7 July and the audience willingly paid one rupee per head to watch the magic unfold on the big screen. It was not an Indian film but it was the first screening in India and unknown to most at that time.