English-language Indian films

English-language film industry in India

Indian cinema

* Assamese (Jollywood)
* Badaga
* Bengali (Tollywood)
* Bhojpuri (Bhojwood)
* Bihari
* Bodo
* Chhattisgarhi (Chhollywood)
* Deccani (Dollywood)
* Dogri (Pahariwood)
* English
* Gujarati (Gollywood)
* Haryanvi
* Hindi (Bollywood)
* Jharkhandi
* Kannada (Sandalwood)
* Kashmiri
* Khasi
* Khortha
* Kokborok
* Konkani
* Kutchi
* Malayalam (Mollywood)
* Manipuri
* Marathi
* Meitei
* Nagpuri
* Nepali
* Odia (Ollywood)
* Punjabi
* Rajasthani
* Sambalpuri
* Sanskrit
* Santali (Sollywood)
* Sindhi
* Tamil (Kollywood)
* Telugu (Tollywood)
* Tulu (Coastalwood)
* Urdu

English-language Indian films go back to the days of silent film. After the coming of sound, feature films in English almost disappeared.

## History

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### Silent era

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In the 1920s, films directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai, including The Light of Asia and A Throw of Dice, could be considered as English-language films because the titles were in English. With the coming of sound, directors such as Osten and Rai chose Hindi as the language, thus effectively bringing to a close this phase of English-language films made in India.

### Crossover films

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An attempt to make English talkies in India named Karma failed domestically in 1933.

Indian crossover films appeared in Indian cinema with international productions with Indian themes, starting with Merchant Ivory Productions' first venture, The Householder (1963), which has an India story, setting with an Indian cast, and included Shashi Kapoor, Leela Naidu, and Durga Khote. This was followed by a number of India-themed films largely propelled by Indian-born producer, Ismail Merchant. However, it took a while before an Indian director would commercially take up making films in the English language.

### Indian productions

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The first such film came at the peak of the Parallel cinema movement, when Aparna Sen directed 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) to critical acclaim. Its lead actress, Jennifer Kendal was even nominated for a BAFTA Award. The genre was able to stand on its own with Dev Benegal's English, August (1994) which was widely accepted by urban audiences and became its first hit, drawing an audience of 20 million.[1]

This paved the way for other directors to look at using English language as a viable medium, like Nagesh Kukunoor who made Hyderabad Blues (1998); Kaizad Gustad, Bombay Boys (1998); Homi Adajania, Being Cyrus (2006); and Rituporno Ghosh, whose The Last Lear (2008), starring Amitabh Bachchan as the lead, won the Best English Feature Award at National Film Award.[1][2]

In the 2000s, Aparna Sen visited the genre again, and made two successive English features in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002) and 15, Park Avenue (2005), which won a string of National Film Awards.

Meanwhile, film directors of Indian descent, such as Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, and Gurinder Chadha, continued to make English-language films on Indian themes to international acclaim; this has opened up the genre further both creatively and commercially.[3]

## List of films (partial)

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Year  | Title

|

1981  | 36 Chowringhee Lane
1986  | On Wings of Fire
1988  | The Perfect Murder
1989  | In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones
1992  | Electric Moon
Miss Beatty's Children
1994  | English, August
1996  | Fire
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love
The Making of the Mahatma
1998  | Hyderabad Blues
Bombay Boys
1999  | Split Wide Open
Rockford
2000  | Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
2001  | American Desi
Monsoon Wedding
2002  | Mitr, My Friend
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
Leela
Mango Soufflé
2003  | Stumble
Freaky Chakra
2003  | Five by Four
2004  | Hyderabad Blues 2
White Noise
Bride and Prejudice
Morning Raga
2005  | 15 Park Avenue
Sins
Water
2006  | Being Cyrus
Mixed doubles
Provoked
2007  | Americanizing Shelley
Parzania
2008  | Via Darjeeling
2011  | Delhi Belly
2012  | Divorce Invitation
2014  | Finding Fanny
2016  | A Death in the Gunj
2022  | Wonder Women

## See also

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* National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English

## References

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1. ^ a b English is recast in Indian films The Guardian, 24 October 2008.
2. ^ Move over Bollywood, Indian films in English are here IANS, The Times of India, 11 August 2002.
3. ^ New Wave Cinema Beyond Bollywood: the cultural politics of South Asian diasporic film by Jigna Desai. Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0-415-96684-1. 195-6.

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Cinema of India

Industries|

* Assamese
* Badaga
* Bengali
* Bhojpuri
* Bihari
* Bodo
* Chhattisgarhi
* Deccani
* Dogri
* English
* Gujarati
* Haryanvi
* Hindi
* Jharkhandi
* Kannada
* Kashmiri
* Khasi
* Khortha
* Kokborok
* Konkani
* Kutchi
* Malayalam
* Manipuri
* Marathi
* Meitei
* Nagpuri
* Nepali
* Odia
* Punjabi
* Rajasthani
* Sambalpuri
* Sanskrit
* Santali
* Sindhi
* Tamil
* Telugu
* Tulu
* Urdu

Other topics|

* International Film Festival of India
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* Winners and nominees of the British Academy Film Awards
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* Most expensive films
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