It was the beginning of the 20th century that saw the advent of the talkie in India. Going from strength to strength, it has almost reached world-class levels by the turn of the century.
Though the two most important centers of art and culture in India were Calcutta in the East and Madras in the South, it was Bombay that was the nerve center for the business of entertainment. While Calcutta provided the art and intellectualism, Madras provided the glitter, glamour and noise; it was Bombay that finally benefited from both of these.
The twenties and thirties saw the Himanshu Rai-Devika Rani advantage in Bombay. It was overridden by Sohrab Modi's thunderous histrionics as Rustom and the even more thunderous Sohrab. K L Sehgal with his oily locks and pan dripping lips did the perfect Devdas in Parsi theatre style, the smile never leaving his face. The acting styles were distinctly Parsi theatre while the environment was, if Indian, Bengali and if phirangi, Parsi (or Anglo Indian). The clothes were fashionable in the Calcutta manner.
Come the fifties and slowly the AVM and Gemini started showing their colours. Dancing girls became a part of the scenario, completely dolled up in half-saris and flowers in their hair. The shy, ladylike north Indian demure girl of yesteryears gave away to a fire spewing, fire-flashing-eyed aggressive girl with flowers in her hair. The Madhubala-Nargis factor was a class apart and surely, even Meena Kumari did a Bhabhi (and a Devar) where she was required to wear flowers in her braid and Padmini-style kohl in her eyes. Saris became more golden and eyeliners became more defined while acting styles became very AVM, with a surfeit of hand and eye motions.
The heroes became more thinly mustached and lipsticked. Even a Karan Dewan was trying his best to look like Gemini Ganeshan. It was suddenly OK to be very sensual.
Parsi theatre and its influence on Hindi cinema died a natural death. The days of Devika Rani were over.
But in the sixties, another wave of Bengal-based artists hit the Hindi milieu. They had been around for a while but the surge of South-based finance had effectively sidelined these artists that came from Calcutta in search of greener pastures.
Bimal Roy and Salil Chowdhury represented this generation. They had Hemant Kumar. Manna Dey, even Kishore Kumar for Compatriot Company. These deadly combinations gave a Madhumati its unforgettable lilt, making even Vyjanthimala look like a mountain beauty. Music became soft and under Sachin Deb Burman's magic wand, became something else again. Poetry became more important; direction got the unmistakable stamp of Bimalda while soft silvery voices of Hemantda became a rage. Softness, both in emotions as well as through the lens got its due, even a Lucknowi like Talat Mehmood got his due.
Yes, heroes now wore dhoti and kurtas and were much more doe-eyed and innocent than the damsels. A wide eyed Guru Dutt would apologize for squeaking new shoes while a giggling Waheeda would reprimand yet summon with her eyes. Girls were educated and sophisticated, with handbags and pins in their hair, Dada became a common reference point while unspoken love died natural deaths as the silently enduring Devdas of the sixties, and the eloquent-eyed Dilip Kumar. Fathers became Baba while family stories revolved around cotton-clad matriarchs that silent patriarchs always listened to. It was Calcutta all the way.
In fact only the comparison of the two Devdas could speak for itself.
All this became miraculously
transformed as the seventies dawned and Bombay suddenly realized it was the
center, so why borrow influences?
Modern, flashy and western influences piled up. Cuffs and collars became wide, it was OK to do hash and it was OK for women to smoke. Damsels stopped being coy and soft and started matching the hero in their dance around the trees step for step. They too wore bell-bots and did not hesitate to show off plump cleavages.
By the eighties Disco dances became a part of the film as Johnny Walker used to be earlier. Car chases now involved rented Impalas and the unmistakable stamp of the West was visible more often. Some Calcutta influences still stayed lead by torchbearers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee while some Southern influences also stayed with Dasari Narayana Rao. Jeetendra danced around pots with an Apsara-like Sridevi. Transcultural influences became more pronounced and everyone started coexisting peacefully. Kamal Hasan slowly became a top rated actor across the country while Madhuri Dixit became the heartthrob from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Mangalsutras became a common cultural phenomenon (despite the fact that it is not a symbol of marriage in the North). Sindoor was sported by Rekha every time she could despite the fact that it is not a part of the marriage rituals in the South. We became truly Indian. Indian cinema has come of age - truly, now.
