Innovations in Indian Film Industry - Part III

6. One actor movie: Yaadein (meaning "Memories" in Hindi) is a 1964 B&W Hindi film directed and produced by Sunil Dutt starring himself. The only other actor in the film is Nargis Dutt that too in a silhouette in the final scene^.

This film is first-ever Indian and one of kind films in world cinema as it features only a single actor and hence has found an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records in the category of fewest actors in a narrative film.

Film narrative progresses through dialogues and background music composed by Vasant Desai, who also gave a song, Dekha hai sapna koi  was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

7. One day movie: Suyamvaram is a 1999 Tamil comedy-drama film starring an ensemble cast from actors in the Tamil film industry and shot by a large technical team from the industry. The film was planned by Giridharilal Nagpal and brought together 14 associate directors, 19 cinematographers and over thirty leading actors in the Tamil film industry.

The film also holds the Guinness World Record for casting the most stars in a film and also for being the quickest ever full feature length film made, with filming being completed in 23 hours and 58 minutes. The film released on July 16, 1999 to positive reviews from critics, praising the intentions of the makers.

8. Mixing cricket with movies:  There are two things that fascinate Indians. The two things are movies and cricket. Both cricket and movies are viewed as competitors and it is quite common to see many movies getting delayed because of cricket matches. But it took creative geniuses like Aamir Khan and the director Ashutosh Gowariker,to combine the two things and make a blockbuster film called Lagaan.

Brilliantly conceptualized Lagaan is the tale of poor village simpletons who overcome the British Empire. The villagers are pitted against the might of the Britishers in a game of cricket. Defying all odds the villagers come out as winners. Critically acclaimed as one the best movies that portray situational leadership Lagaan, was the Indian entry for the Oscars. It could not win an Oscar due to its extra ordinary running time.  Americans could not get a grip about the game called cricket. Lagaan remains as the only Indian movie that has entered the category of “100 movies to see become one dies”.

Out of eight innovations discussed 3 are from Tamil film industry, 3 are from Telugu film industry and 2 are from Hindi movies. Kamal Haasan is the hero in three movies Pushpak, Apoorva Sahodharargal and Dasavathaaram. Without doubt the south Indian film industry is way ahead of the Hindi movies industry in the field of movie innovations.