English-language Indian films
English-language Indian films go back to the days of silent film. After the coming of sound, feature films in English almost disappeared.
History
Silent era
In the 1920s, films directed by
Crossover films
An attempt to make English talkies in India named Karma failed domestically in 1933.
Indian crossover films appeared in
Indian productions
The first such film came at the peak of the Parallel cinema movement, when Aparna Sen directed 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) to critical acclaim. Its lead actress, Jennifer Kendal was even nominated for a BAFTA Award. The genre was able to stand on its own with Dev Benegal's English, August (1994) which was widely accepted by urban audiences and became its first hit, drawing an audience of 20 million.[1]
This paved the way for other directors to look at using English language as a viable medium, like
In the 2000s, Aparna Sen visited the genre again, and made two successive English features in
Meanwhile, film directors of Indian descent, such as Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, and Gurinder Chadha, continued to make English-language films on Indian themes to international acclaim; this has opened up the genre further both creatively and commercially.[3]
List of films (partial)
Year | Title |
---|---|
1981 | 36 Chowringhee Lane |
1986 | On Wings of Fire |
1988 | The Perfect Murder |
1989 | In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones |
1992 | Electric Moon |
Miss Beatty's Children | |
1994 | English, August |
1996 | Fire |
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love | |
The Making of the Mahatma | |
1998 | Hyderabad Blues |
Bombay Boys | |
1999 | Split Wide Open |
2000 | Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar |
2001 | American Desi |
Monsoon Wedding | |
2002 | Mitr, My Friend |
Leela | |
Mango Soufflé | |
2003 | Stumble |
Freaky Chakra
| |
2003 | Five by Four |
2004 | Hyderabad Blues 2 |
White Noise | |
Bride and Prejudice | |
Morning Raga | |
2005 | Sins |
Water | |
2006 | Being Cyrus |
Mixed doubles | |
Provoked | |
2007 | Americanizing Shelley |
Parzania | |
2008 | Via Darjeeling |
2011 | Delhi Belly |
2012 | Divorce Invitation |
2014 | Finding Fanny |
2016 | A Death in the Gunj |
See also
References
- ^ a b English is recast in Indian films The Guardian, 24 October 2008.
- ^ Move over Bollywood, Indian films in English are here IANS, The Times of India, 11 August 2002.
- ISBN 0-415-96684-1. 195-6.