The marvelous National Museum of Indian cinema

When I visited Mumbai in 2019, the hosts decided, among other things, to show me the newly opened National Museum of Indian Cinema. It was truly the ultimate experience.

The museum was set up to mark the anniversary of the first feature film Raj Harishchandr, shot in 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke in Mumbai. It is spread over two buildings, in the historic 19th century Gulshan Mahal and the new museum building, within the Film Department campus.

GulshanMahal building – National Museum of Indian Cinema, Photo: Adria.fun

The museum is designed to take visitors on an exciting journey through a century of Indian cinema with the help of visuals, graphics, films, advertising materials, artifacts, interactive exhibits, and multimedia displays. The entire set of the museum consists of nine units. Walking through the museum is like walking through the history of Indian cinema.

As is well known, the film was patented by the Lumiere brothers in 1895, and just a year later, delegates from the famous French held a demonstration of the film’s capabilities at Watson’s Hotel in Mumbai. It was the spark that ignited the whole of India and which still has a strong influence on this populous country.

National Museum of Indian Cinema, Photo: Adria.fun

When the sound film came to India in the 1930s, a little late compared to other countries, it started a real film revolution. Besides the human voice could be heard, music could be inserted into the film and it was this discovery that determined the course of development of Indian cinema until today. Numerous musical numbers accompanied by dance have become an inevitable part of Indian films, and the success of the film often depends on the choice of music.

Indians love movies, and one estimate says that 15 million watch them every day. India is also the country whose cinematography makes the most films in the world every year, up to 2000.

The National Museum of Indian Cinema, for all movie lovers, is an unforgettable and unmissable experience that I recommend to everyone.