The centenary of Indian cinema has got a lot of people quite excited. Magazines have brought out special issues on “100 years of Bollywood”, which is a misnomer in several ways — for one thing, there was no Bollywood for most part of that period and, secondly, we should not forget non-Hindi cinema. But then those kinds of headlines sell. “The best 100 films of all time,” is another one of those attention-grabbing tactics. A bit of Wikipedia, some Google search and a few phone calls are all one needs to put together a list like that. Since such lists are subjective, who is to contest it? So out come the usual suspects — Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan from the past, and Yash Chopra et al from the present — and voila, it is done.
Various government departments have put together seminars and film shows but much of this effort has been in Delhi, hardly a film capital. It would have been a good idea to set up film festivals in third-tier towns to showcase the best of what India has produced over the decades.
Coming to the Mumbai film industry — our own Bollywood, which is now touted as a global brand — its sole contribution seems to be Bombay Talkies, in which four contemporary filmmakers have made a short film each. Cleverly, the four — Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar — have pulled in all the top stars to play either small parts or participate in a song sequence, thus making it somewhat representative of the industry. Of the other film production centres, one has not heard of any initiative.
By all accounts, this seems inadequate to mark this historic occasion. Bollywood is now an integral part of our lives, the stars invading our consciousness in every possible way. Apart from acting in the movies, they endorse goods and services, dabble in other businesses like fashion and even participate in the political process. They are on television along with commentators offering their two bits on every issue under the sun. There is no escaping Bollywood today. Why is it that when it comes to their own industry, they have not been able to come up with ideas to celebrate its 100th anniversary with the same pomp and show as the many awards functions that take place every other week?
Could it be the money that award show organisers give? But getting sponsors should not have been that difficult and, for once, they could have done something for free. Perhaps there is lack of unity in the industry and this prevents everyone from getting together and putting up a joint show. This is possible, since even for Bombay Talkies, there are reports of some star or the other refusing to take part if their rival is in it. But that could have been easily solved — a group of respected industry elders could have sent out word to everyone and those who did not join in would have felt embarrassed. Indeed, there ought to have been a show of solidarity with the Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and other regional film centres to come up with a gigantic, year-long celebration in keeping with the size and clout of Indian cinema. This is an opportunity missed.
Clearly, the Indian film industry has no sense of its own history and its own legacy. It is often embarrassing to hear otherwise smart film denizens talk about their own industry’s hoary past — after dropping names such as Dadasaheb Phalke, Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor or “oohing” and “aahing” over the beauty of Madhubala, they pretty much run out of things to say. Their nostalgia barely goes beyond the surface and is little more than a jumble of their own personal memories and clichéd reference points. The current craze for remaking films of the 1970s is because that is what they remember the most (and because many current filmmakers have run out of ideas). I recall once talking to one of the more intelligent and well-read directors about his father’s long film career and he professed almost total ignorance about it. Consider also that no film company has ever bothered to bring out a proper book about itself or the oft-heard complaint of researchers that hardly any producer has a comprehensive archival record of even publicity material, let alone negatives or materials like props and costumes. For years there has been talk of setting up a film museum, one that will not just be a tribute to Bollywood in all its kitschy glory but to Indian cinema in all its myriad hues; now one hears the government, not the industry, is planning to create one.
In such circumstances, it would be too much to expect our film folk, with their eye on the next box office hit, to come up with anything substantive to commemorate this centenary.
And yet, this is a moment not merely worth recording but also observing with great fanfare. Indian cinema — commercial, parallel, arthouse and in every language and dialect — has contributed much to the Indian nation, from the earliest days during British rule to the immediate post-Independence period to the six and half decades that have followed. We have laughed, cried, danced and sung as the actors on the screen enacted our stories and gave voice to our concerns, hopes, dreams and aspirations. The film industry continues to be a symbol of our national integration, allowing in everyone regardless of caste, creed, religion and even nationality. Katrina Kaif is the biggest female star of Hindi cinema today. But right from the early days, heroines, directors, technicians from outside India have been part of the Indian film business. Its themes — family, parental love and, of course, romance — are universal in nature, which is why Hindi cinema is popular in different parts of the world. Often we mock it, joke about it and make ironical digs at it, and yes, Bollywood has become a cheap caricature of itself, with its pastiche of gaudy song and dance. It is a guilty pleasure of sorts for those of a more refined sensibility. But at the same time innovative stories are being told — in many tongues — in an innovative way. In short, the Indian film industry has much to feel proud of. Even if it is not done in any formal way, that should not stop all of us — the audience — to hail the occasion and remember all the wonderful moments we have enjoyed over the years, watching all those films in the darkened halls. That is the best way to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema.

The writer can be contacted at sidharth01@gmail.com