Alam Ara celebrates its 80 years

The very first Indian takkie film, Alam Ara celebrates its 80th anniversary year. The film marks as the arrival of sound to Hindi Cinema. The film also includes the very first songs of Hindi Cinema, which portrays the cultural traditions of India.

The film in total had seven songs composed by Ferozshah M. Mistru and B. Irani. The song, 'De de Khuda ke naam par' was on-screen performed by actor Wazir Mohammed Khan. That era of film making was before the days of lip-syncing tp playback tracks.

The film, which was directed by Ardeshir Irani, was a love story between a prince and a gypsy girl. It featured master Vithal, Zubeida, LV Prasad and Prithviraj Kapoor. The film was mostly shot during the nights in-order to avoid capturing the noises of the day. Alam Ara used microphones for sound recording, which was hidden from the camera's views while shooting. The film was two hours and four minutes long and used a Tanar Sound System to record the dialogues.

However, the celebration reminds us of the sad news that the very last prints of the film were destroyed in a fire at the Pune National Film Archives in 2003. A search was conducted through out the country, but in vain all, no prints of the historic film was available. In 2008, Information and Broadcasting ministry officials confirmed that the film has been lost for ever. India's first Takkie movie Alam Ara now just remains in our memories.

Google Doodle, celebrates the 80 years of Alam Ara and the arrival of sound to the Hindi Cinema.