The World’s Greatest Film Nation: Indian Cinema and Its Global Stars

By the ULTIMATE Mumbai Editorial Team

From Phalke to the Oscars

In 1913 Dadasaheb Phalke made Raja Harishchandra, the first Indian feature film, and in 1931 Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara gave Bombay its first talkie, with songs that set the pattern for the musicals to come. The 1950s were a golden age: Raj Kapoor’s romances, Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa and Mehboob Khan’s Mother India, the first Indian nominee for the foreign-language Oscar.

In Calcutta, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) was honoured at Cannes as the best human document, and in 1992 Ray received an honorary Oscar. The 1970s belonged to Amitabh Bachchan and the blockbuster Sholay. Today the cinemas of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and Bengal stand beside Hindi film, and in 2023 the Telugu epic RRR won the Oscar for its song Naatu Naatu.

Must-watch films

To understand Indian cinema, start with these.

• Pather Panchali (1955): Satyajit Ray’s first film, the story of a village boy, Apu, and the start of a famous trilogy.
• Mother India (1957): Mehboob Khan’s epic of a mother’s courage, with Nargis in the role of her life.
• Pyaasa (1957): Guru Dutt’s poetic drama of an unrecognised poet in Calcutta.
• Sholay (1975): the great Hindi action film, with Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra.
• Lagaan (2001): Aamir Khan’s village cricket epic, nominated for the Oscar.
• All We Imagine as Light (2024): Payal Kapadia’s portrait of two Mumbai nurses, winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes.

The stars

India’s stars are among the most famous people on earth.

• Raj Kapoor (1924–1988): actor and director, the beloved tramp of Awaara and Shree 420.
• Nargis (1929–1981) and Madhubala (1933–1969): the great heroines of the 1950s.
• Dilip Kumar (1922–2021): the “tragedy king”, the model for generations of actors.
• Amitabh Bachchan: the “angry young man” of the 1970s and still a star.
• Shah Rukh Khan: the king of romance, from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to Jawan.
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas: from Miss World to Cannes and Hollywood.

Where to watch in Mumbai

Mumbai still goes to the pictures in style: the Art Deco Regal at Colaba, the restored Eros, now an IMAX, and Maratha Mandir, where Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has played since 1995. The National Museum of Indian Cinema on Pedder Road tells the whole story, and the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, which paused in 2025, is being revamped by a new team.

Our advice: see a new Hindi film on its opening weekend, when the audience cheers the hero’s entrance, and visit the museum by day.

National Museum of Indian Cinema →   Regal Cinema →   Maratha Mandir →   Cinema in Mumbai: Art Deco picture palaces and a love story since 1995 →   Bollywood and Yash Raj Films →

Hidden on the silver screen: international productions filmed in Mumbai

Mumbai’s streets, stations and sea front have given international film-makers some of their most vivid scenes.

• Salaam Bombay! (1988): Mira Nair’s story of a street child, winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes and nominated for the Oscar.
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Dharavi, Juhu and CSMT: Danny Boyle’s winner of eight Oscars ends with a dance at the great Victorian station.
• The Lunchbox (2013): Ritesh Batra’s love story told through Mumbai’s famous lunch deliveries, winner of the Critics’ Week audience prize at Cannes.

India in Hollywood and beyond

Indian talent has long reached the world. Bhanu Athaiya won India’s first Oscar, for the costumes of Gandhi; A. R. Rahman won two for Slumdog Millionaire; and Mira Nair won the Golden Lion in Venice for Monsoon Wedding. Irrfan Khan (1967–2020) moved between Mumbai and Hollywood, from Life of Pi to Jurassic World, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Dev Patel lead Hollywood films today.

Questions and answers