The Popular Melodramas of 1950s and their Engagement with the Nehruvian Politics - Prakash K ray
चवन्नी के पाठकों के लिए प्रकाश के रे का यह लेख.... “..planning does not mean industrialization alone; on the other hand, it embraces the entire national life.” -Nehru (Nehru’s speech at Delhi University, in The Hindustan Times, 15 February, 1939.) It is often argued that the popular melodramas of the 1950s failed to portray the reality of India in an apt manner since the film industry was too busy in projecting the nationalist myths created by the new government under the leadership of Nehru. The Centenary Year of Indian cinema offers an opportune occasion to revisit the cinematic scenario of the Nehruvian era, that is widely considered our cinema's Golden period. Realizing the great potential of mass media, particularly film, the government established various institutions and ordered vast set of rules and regulation. In 1949, the Film Enquiry Committee called upon the film indus...