Hindi Cinema
Histories of Film-making
Sourced from the private collection of renowned author and documentary film-maker Nasreen Munni Kabir, this resource features unedited interviews with leading Indian film personalities who contributed to the shaping of the ‘Golden Age’ of Hindi cinema and beyond.
These engaging and unfiltered interviews originate from the groundbreaking 1980s TV series on Hindi Cinema, Movie Mahal, and subsequent TV programmes produced by Kabir. This material marks the first time that a significant number of Indian film practitioners were filmed for a British broadcaster. Their rich insights are a window into the industry and the wider social and cultural context of Hindi cinema. Other collection highlights include behind-the-scenes photographs from film sets and popular Indian film posters from the British Film Institute (BFI).
Contextual essays situate the interviews within their historical context and highlight their importance, while demonstrating how the material can be used for the study of Hindi Cinema and Indian history.
Highlights
- Interviews with stars from several decades of Hindi film, include Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore, and directors like Manmohan Desai, Ramesh Sippy and Mani Kaul
- Material exploring gender roles within Hindi Cinema and the role of women from the perspective of star actresses and directors such as Shabna Azmi, Nadira, Bindu and Tanuja Chandra
- Rare insights into key film-making practices such as choreography, with celebrated choreographers such as Vaibhavi Merchant discussing her training and the difficulties faced by women in her industry during the early years of her career
- Narratives of the creative process from famous Hindi lyricists and composers, such as Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Naushad Ali, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and AR Rahman offering a glimpse into the artistic journey and inspiration behind the lyrics and compositions for landmark Hindi films
- Interview rushes from a series of BBC and Channel 4 TV programmes, including How to Make it Big in Bollywood (1999), behind-the-scenes photographs from film sets, and popular Indian film posters from the BFI
- Film historian and founding director of the National Film Archives of India, PK Nair, tracing the history of popular Indian cinema, starting with the use of song, the mythological film, and the key themes and characters
Included in
Key data
Period covered
Source archives
- British Film Institute (BFI)
- Personal collection of Nasreen Kabir
- The evolution of Hindi cinema
- Insights into film-making
- Life and careers and major Indian film-makers
- Music, lyrics, dance and choreography
- Relationships between the stars of Hindi Cinema
- Women and gender
- Assorted audiovisual material
- Film posters
- Photographs
- Video interviews
- Ulka Anjaria, Brandies University
- Ashvin Devasundaram, Queen Mary University
- Tejaswini Ganti, NYU
- Shohini Ghosh, Jamia Millia Islamia
- Sangita Gopal, University of Oregon
- Lalitha Gopalan, University of Texas at Austin
- Usha Iyer, Stanford University
- Ranjani Mazumdar, Jawaharlal Nehru University