The birth of India’s film industry

The centenary celebrations suggest that Indian film production began in 1913, but that is far from the truth. “The history of Indian cinema before 1913 is a fragmentary one, but it is no less interesting for that,” says Luke McKernan, moving image curator at the British Library. Estimates suggest that 99% of Indian silents are lost. But what we do know is that the history of Indian cinema has a little-known prequel. Movies first came to Mumbai on 7 July 1896. The Lumière brothers sent a man named Marius Sestier to screen their short films to a mostly British audience at the swanky Watson hotel. Read more

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