Alam Ara – First Indian movie with Sound : Google Doodle dedicated to the film

Alam Ara, India's first talkie film, celebrates its 80th anniversary




Today’s Google Doodle is dedicated to Alam Ara, the first Indian movie to come out with sound. Today is the 80th anniversary of Alam Ara, is a love story between a prince and a gypsy girl and was based on a Parsi (Paris) play.

Surprisingly, this Google Doodle does not only show up on Google’s Indian search engine (Google.co.in), but also on global homepage as well (Google.com).

However, The sad part, is that as a result of a fire at the National Film Archive of India at Pune in 2003, the last surviving print of Alam Ara was destroyed, and the film is no longer available in its original format.

Here is more on Alam Ara from Wikipedia:

Alam Ara {Hindi: आलमआरा} {Urdu: عالم آراء} (The Light of the World;, directed by Ardeshir Irani, was the Indian sound film.Irani recognized the importance that sound would have on the cinema, and raced to complete before several other contemporary sound films. Alam Ara debuted at the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai (then Bombay) on March 14, 1931. The first Indian talkie was so popular that "police aid had to be summoned to control the crowds.

Significance :

Both the movie and its music were widely successful, including the hit song De de khuda ke naam per, which was also the first song of the Indian cinema, and was sung by actor Wazir Mohammed Khan who played a fakir in the film. As playback singing had yet to start in Indian cinema, it was recorded live with musical accompaniment of a harmonium and a tabla.

The film also marked the beginning of filmi music in the Cinema of India, as noted film director Shyam Benegal said, "It was not just a talkie. It was a talking and singing film with more singing and less talking. It had a number of songs and that actually set the template for the kind of films that were made later"

Production

Ardeshir Irani handled the sound recording department, using the Taran Sound System. It was shot with the Tanar single-system camera, which recorded sound directly onto the film. Since there were no soundproof studios available at the time, the shooting was done mostly at night, to avoid daytime noises, with microphones hidden near the actors. Read more....

Here some Videos of the film:





Alam Ara, Ardeshir Irani, Ardeshir Irani, National Film Archive of India, De De Khuda Ke Naam Par, Majestic Cinema, Indian cinema