Hundred and twenty five long years have passed since cinema first came to India. It was during July 1896, that the Lumiere brothers showcased six films at the Watson Hotel in Mumbai which marked the birth of Indian cinema.

Since then Indian cinema has undergone a dramatic change and now some film critics opine that it must be included in disciplines like humanities and others in universities.

The Lumiere brothers were French cinematographers who had arrived in India after having proved their cinematic excellence in Paris. The screening of the films took place on July 7, 1896 at the Watson Hotel in Mumbai and the ticket was priced at Re one.

The ‘miracle of the century’ as it was tagged publicised that in India, car and horses would run on big screen. Speaking to this correspondent, known film critic Brij Bhushan Chaturvedi said, “India’s first full length film was made by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913.

He is known as the father of Indian cinema. The film was titled Raja Harishchandra and it was a silent film. The roles of females were played by men and the film was a great commercial success and was an inspiration for more such films.” Many more religious and historical silent films came and then began feature film making.

The fees of the film actors and artists which started from few paise reached to multi crores in these 125 years, shares the veteran film reviewer. Indian cinema is a new creative and flourishing field and should be incorporated in the universities in syllabus of humanities and other disciplines suggest the film critics. In his book titled, ‘Why we go to Movies’ national award winner and film critic, Manmohan Chadha said, “Films are made of images and images are understood by human beings more easily than any other written language. In films the language of lens speaks more than the verbal language.”

Sharing the brief history and movements of Indian cinema, Chadha opines that in India, we have given too much significance to the story films which are being released regularly in theatres. Documentaries do not have the place for distribution and exhibition. A fiction film like  Ant-heen (The Endless wait) or films like Damul (Bonded Until Death) based on the story Kaalsootra written by Shaiwal, that highlights the sufferings of bonded labour could receive national and international awards and retrieve the finances spent on their making by being telecast on Doordarshan. But the presentation of non-fiction films in India does not seem to be possible although they portray social realities, said Chadha. Discussing the documentary movies which have their own huge market, co-author of a book on Indian cinema, Sanjeev Sharma said, “In today’s world, every young person can become a documentary film maker.

The youth are increasingly turning towards documentary as a way to understand the realities with new perception of clarity.

They make their own films about real events in a realistic way, even if that form is often rough and this is what is making them popular with social media coming as a handy tool for propagation. So documentaries are here to stay and impact, said Sharma.