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The first
Indian talkie film was Alam Ara
(The Light of the World), which
was released on March
14, 1931 at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay. It was produced by the Imperial
Film Company and directed by
Ardeshir Marwan Irani. The film, which was based on a Parsi play written by
Joseph David, was a love story between a prince and a gypsy
 girl. Alam Ara was a
trend-setter in Indian cinema and opened up new possibilities that were hitherto
unexplored in Indian cinema. The
film also introduced singing in Indian cinema, when actor Wazir Mohammed Khan (W.M.Khan)
gave his voice to the first song of Indian cinema,
De De Khuda Ke Naam Par.
As playback singing had not started in Indian cinema, it was recorded
live with musical accompaniment of a harmonium and a tabla.
The film’s cast included Prithviraj Kapoor, L.V. Prasad, W.M.
Khan, Master Vithal and Zubeida. The
film’s popular Hindustani dialogues and seven songs made it a big hit.
March 14, 2011 marked the 80th anniversary of
Alam Ara - the first Indian film with
sound. Unfortunately, currently no
original print of the film is available as a result of a fire at the National
Film Archive of India at Pune in 2003.
Ghar Ki Lakshmi
(1931) was the second talkie of Mumbai, which was followed by an improvised film
Shirin Farhad produced by Madan
Theatre, featuring Jahan Ara Kajjan and Master Nissar, the popular singing pair
of the Urdu Stage. The first talkie film in Bengali was
Jamai Sashti.
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