Alam Ara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Alam Ara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alam Ara (Hindi: , Urdu: ,

translation: The Ornament of the World) is a 1931 film
directed by Ardeshir Irani. It was the first Indian sound
film.[1][2]

Alam Ara

Irani recognised the importance that sound would have

on the cinema, and raced to complete Alam Ara before
several contemporary sound films. Alam Ara debuted at
the Majestic Cinema in Mumbai (then Bombay) on 14
March 1931. The first Indian talkie was so popular that
"police aid had to be summoned to control the
crowds."[3]
The film has long been lost and was not available as far
back as 1967 according to the National Film Archive of
India, Pune.[4]
Theatrical release poster

Contents
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Significance
4 Production
5 Influences
6 Soundtrack
7 Legacy
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Directed by

Ardeshir Irani

Produced by

Imperial Movietone

Written by

Joseph David
Munshi Zaheer (Urdu)

Starring

Master Vithal
Zubeida
Jilloo
Sushila
Prithviraj Kapoor

Music by

Ferozshah M. Mistri
B. Irani

Cinematography Wilford Deming

Adi M. Irani

Plot

Edited by

Ezra Mir

Release dates

14 March 1931

The film is a love

124 mins
Running time
story between a
India
Country
prince and a gypsy
Urdu
girl, based on a Parsi Language
play written by
390 million (US$5.7 million)
Budget
Joseph David. David
(Adjusted)
later served as a
2.89 billion (US$43 million)
Box office
writer at Irani's film
(Adjusted)
company. The story
Alam Ara still
centres on an
imaginary, historical royal family in the kingdom of Kumarpur. The
main characters are the king and his two warring wives, Dilbahar and Naubahar. Their rivalry escalates
when a fakir predicts that Navbahar will bear the king's heir.

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Dilbahar, in a fit, attempts to have an affair with the kingdom's chief

minister, General Adil (Prithviraj Kapoor). The affair goes sour and a
vengeful Dilbahar imprisons him and exiles his daughter, Alam Ara
(Zubeida). In exile, Alam Ara is brought up by Gypsies. Upon returning
to the palace at Kumarpur, Alam Ara meets and falls in love with the
charming young prince (Master Vithal). In the end, Adil is released,
Dilbahar is punished and the lovers marry.

Cast

Newspaper advertisement for

Alam Ara, 1931

Master Vithal
Zubeida as Alam Ara
Jillo

Significance

A scene from Alam Ara

Both the movie and its music were widely

successful,[5] including the hit song "De de
khuda ke naam per", which was also the
first song of the Indian cinema. It was sung
by actor Wazir Mohammed Khan who
played a fakir in the film.[5][6] As playback
singing had yet to start in Indian cinema, it
was recorded live with musical
accompaniment of a harmonium and a
tabla.[7]

Master Vithal and

Zubeida in Alam Ara,
1931.

The film 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".[8] In fact, the 1932 film Indrasabha had an overwhelming 71 songs in it.[9]

Production
Ardeshir Irani handled the sound recording department, using the Tanar 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.[5]

Influences
The film was inspired by the first movie version of Jerome Kern's Show Boat (1929), released by Universal
Pictures. There is no known copy of the film today. The National Archives of India says that they do not
possess a print and couldn't locate one as far back as 1967.[4] It was incorrectly reported that the last known
prints, in Punes film archives, were damaged by a fire in 2003 when in fact no copy was ever possessed by
the film archive. According to P.K. Nair, founder director of the National Film Archives of India (NFAI),
Pune, The report that Alam Ara print was destroyed at the NFAI is incorrect."[1]

Soundtrack
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The film had music by Ferozshah M. Mistri and B. Irani, and had seven songs:
"De de khuda ke naam pe", Wazir Mohammed Khan
"Badla Dilwayega Ya Rabb", Zubeida[10]
"Rutha Hai Asman gum ho gaya mahatab", Jillu
"Teri Kaatil nigahon ne mara"
"De dil ko aaram aye saki gulfam"
"Bhar bhar ke jam pila ja sagar ke chalane bala"
"Daras bina mare hai tarse naina pyare"

Legacy
Google celebrated 80th anniversary of the film's release by means of Google
Doodle[11] on 14 March 2011.

Ardeshir Irani recording

Alam Ara, 1931

See also
Dena Paona
Kalidas (film)
List of lost films

References
1. Goddard, John. "Missouri Masala Fear not, St. Louisans: You don't need to go to Bombay to get your Bollywood
fix" Riverfront Times, St. Louis, Missouri, 30 July 2003, Music section.
2. Gokulsing, K.; Wimal Dissanayake (2004). Indian popular cinema: a narrative of cultural change. Trentham
Books. p. 24. ISBN 1-85856-329-1.
3. Quoted in Chatterji (1999), "The History of Sound."
4. Alam Ara long lost, was never with NFAI: founder-director (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/alam-ara-longlost-was-never-with-nfai-founderdirector/763632/) Indian Express, 17 March 2011, Retrieved:2013-04-26
5. Talking images, 75 years of cinema (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/spectrum/main1.htm) The
Tribune, 26 March 2006, Retrieved:2008-08-04
6. "Preview: Indian cinemas first talkie completes 80 years". Ticket Please News Desk. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
7. Alam Ara, first song (http://www.saregama.com/magezine_html/Issue1/ourArchives-Alam.htm) Archives,
www.saregama.com
8. "India's first talkie lost in silence". IBN Live. 15 June 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
9. http://www.bollywood.com/node/495
10. Alam Ara (http://mazhar.dk/film/history/40s/1947.htm) Film History.
11. "Google Doodle : Alam Ara". Retrieved 25 March 2012.

External links
Alam Ara (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021594/) at the
Internet Movie Database

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Alam Ara
(1931 film).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org

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Categories: 1931 films Indian films Indian black-and-white films Hindi-language films
Urdu-language films Films directed by Ardeshir Irani Lost films Indian epic films

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