Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema 1912-1934

Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema, 1912- 1934 in its new avatar celebrates the centenary of Indian cinema and the release of Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra in1913. It provides a close-up view of the nascent days of Indian filmmaking and the first steps that led to the crest where the Indian movie industry rests today. Extensively researched and updated data, archival records, new essays by celebrated film historians and commentators, crisp reproductions of silent film stills, photos of emerging movie moghuls, journal covers, colour posters of films and quaint publicity material of the times–unearthed and restored by the National Film Archive of India–lend that unique, extra edge to this story of intellectual pursuit coupled with romantic vision. Along this journey of discovery, invention, technological wizardry and imagination, Indian silent cinema transformed myth and illusion into reality with magical ease for its viewers, involving the subtle interplay of light and shade, black and white, romance and betrayal, fact and fantasy. This book is a tribute to the Indian silent film era—cradle to the century-old exciting, pulsating and burgeoning Indian silver screen world of the 21st century.