Religious and Devotional Indian Films: A Study of the Colonial Period

Abstract

Indian cinema began its journey with a religious film Raja Harishchandra (1913) by Dadasaheb Phalke. This film narrated the story of Raja Harishchandra, who was known for speaking the truth even at the expense of losing one’s wealth, fortune, and family. The trials and tribulations he encountered, do not deter him from following his path of truth and honesty. Later, Dadasaheb Phalke and other filmmakers made several films on religious themes. Another genre that became popular was the Devotional cinema. Devotional films, during the colonial period, were made on saints like Tulsidas, Surdas, Meera, Chandidas, Tukaram, and Kabir. They portray the interface between the past and the present. The emphasis on Swadeshi films by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and other leaders during the colonial period was an issue that related to the portrayal of nationalist and ethical values in religious and devotional cinema. But the colonial censorship machinery was ready to throttle nationalist aspirations with its full might. Group viewings of religious films were open to the women so that they could participate in the bhakti experience leading to increased women's visibility in public life.  In the 1980s and 1990s, the T.V. series Ramayan and Mahabharat became extremely popular and created milestones in their viewership and impact.