Cinema of Bihar

Cinema of Bihar
Bihar Emblem
No. of screens	269 (Bihar)
Produced feature films (2019)
Total	150

Cinemas in the Bhojpuri language are predominantly produced in the Indian state of Bihar. Bihar also has relatively smaller Maithili and Magahi film industries.

History

Cinema in Bihar dates back to the early years of the 20th century, when Jamshedji Framji Madan acquired the Elphinstone Theatre Company of Bombay in 1902 and converted it into the Elphinstone Bioscope Company. The Elphinstone Theatre in Patna became the Elphinstone Cinema, showing silent shorts until the advent of sound films. It still exists with different ownership after the Madan empire's collapse during the 1930s. Another silent-cinema theatre in China Kothi, Patna, closed early in the sound era (1931). The first sound theatre in Patna was in the Babu Bazar in the southwestern part of the city and opened with Veer Abhimanyu in 1933 or 1934. The theatre was destroyed by a fire caused by flammable nitrate film and was never rebuilt.

The first Bihari film was the silent Life Divine or 'Punarjanma' with Arati Devi, Mr. A. K. Prosad B.L., Miss Pratima Devi, and Mr. N. G. Bhattacharya. It was produced by Raja Rana Jagarnnath Prasad Singh. Arati Devi was a Jewish girl and 19 years old when she made the film. She was born Rachel Sofaer in Rangoon, Burma, in 1912 and moved with her parents and siblings to Calcutta, India, c. 1923. She had made only one other film a year before, 1930's A Man Condemned and her career was cut short by marriage in 1933 to Sassoon Jonah. She died in childbirth in April 1948.

Prakash Jha made his feature-film debut with 1984's Hip Hip Hurray, a Hindi film shot in Jharkhand (then part of Bihar) and processed in Bombay. Patang was directed by Goutam Ghose. As of May 2012, more than 150 completed films are awaiting release.

Bhaiyaa, a Magahi-language film, was released in 1961. The first Bhojpuri-language film, Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chhadhaibo, was made in 1962 and released the following year (although Bhojpuri and Maghi were spoken in a few earlier films, such as Gunga Jumna and Nadiya Ke Paar). Films such as Laagi Nahi Chhute Ram and Bideshiya were popular in the Bhojpur district.

Bollywood's Nadiya Ke Paar is one of the best-known Bhojpuri-language films. The first Maithili-language film was 1965's Kanyadan, directed by Phani Majumdar. The film, about a man who decides to learn Maithili because it is his wife's only language, is based on Harimohan Jha's Hari Mohan Jha novel Kanyadaan. Bhauji Maay and Mamta Gaave Geet (directed by C. Parmanand) were also popular; the latter was noted for its music and plot. Sasta Jingi Mahag Senur (directed by Muarli Dhar and released in 1999) was a successful Maithili film, with songs by Md. Aziz, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan and Deepa Narayan.

Another successful Maithili film, Kakhan Harab Dukh Mor, was based on the life of the Maithil poet Vidyapati. Phool Singh played the lead role, with music by Gyaneshwar Dubey. Other Maithili films include Senurak Laaj and Dularua Babu. Ashu-Priya Productions' Aau Piya Hamar Nagari was released in 2000, but was unsuccessful. Murli Dhar directed 90 percent of the film, with Manikant Mishra completing it.

In November 2007 the Maithili film Sindurdan was released but the film was withdrawn from theatres due to sound problems. Senuriya, directed by B.D. Prasad Chaudhary with music by Gyaneshwar Dubey, is dubbed from Tamil into Maithili with Surya and Diva Shree acting in lead roles and Rami Reddy playing the antagonist.

Banner Dev Kala Arts and A. Y. Movies' 2005 Garibak Beti, directed by Manoj Jha and produced by Ajay Yash, was a low-budget Maithili success. Jha's next film was 2010's Mayak Karz, for the same producers. Suhagin and Khurluchchi Two other hit Maithili films were released in 2011: Sajana Ke Anagana Me Solah Singaar (directed by Murli Dhar) and Mukhiya Jee (directed by Vikash Jha). Another successful Maithili movie, An Ideal Lady - Ramaulwali, was released in November 2014, directed by Niraj Yadav and Randhir Singh.

In October 2019, Maithili film Gamak Ghar premiered at 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2019, becoming the first Maithili film to be selected for the festival. Cited as the first art-house film from the region, the film received a warm reception both at the festival and online release on the streaming platform Mubi.

Film Festivals

Main articles: Patna Film Festival and Bodhisattava International Film Festival

The Patna Film Festival is an international film festival with participants from Iran, Canada, China, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Russia, U.S. and India.Begun in 2006, it is organized by of Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the National Film Archive of India, the Federation of Film Societies of India and the state government.

Mini-film festivals were organized regularly by Patna's Cine-Society during the summer and winter from 1973 to 1989; the last festival featured Charlie Chaplin films for the worldwide celebration of his centenary. Cine-Society aided the Government of India and cultural organizations, such as the Bihar Art Theater. Facing competition from video, broadcast and satellite television, the society is smaller but screens about twelve feature and four documentary films from around the world each month, organizes film-appreciation workshops and discussions, publishes a monthly newsletter and continues assisting governmental and non-governmental groups organize one or two mini-film festivals annually.

Film City

• Rajgir Film City
• Valmikinagar Film City

Cinema by language

Breakdown by languages

2021 Indian feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification by languages. Note: This table indicates the number of films certified by the CBFC's regional offices in nine cities. The actual number of films produced may be less.
Language	No. of films
Bhojpuri	104
Maithili	35
Magahi	0
Total	139

Bhojpuri

Main article: Bhojpuri cinema

Bhojpuri language films predominantly cater to residents of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh and also have a large audience in Delhi and Mumbai due to migration of Bhojpuri speakers to these cities. Besides India, markets for these films developed in other Bhojpuri speaking countries of the West Indies, Oceania and South America.

Bhojpuri film history begins with Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo (Mother Ganges, I will offer you a yellow sari, 1962, Kundan Kumar). Throughout the following decades, few films were produced. Films such as Bidesiya (Foreigner, 1963, S. N. Tripathi) and Ganga (Ganges, 1965, Kumar) were profitable and popular, but in general Bhojpuri films were not common in the 1960s and 1970s.

The industry experienced a revival in 2001 with the hit Saiyyan Hamar (My Sweetheart, Mohan Prasad), which shot Ravi Kissan to superstardom. This was followed by several other successes, including Panditji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi (Priest, tell me when I will marry, 2005, Prasad), and Sasura Bada Paisa Wala (My father-in-law, the rich guy, 2005). Both did much better business in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar than mainstream Bollywood hits, and both earned more than ten times their production costs. Although smaller than other Indian film industries, these successes increased Bhojpuri cinema's visibility, leading to an awards show and a trade magazine, Bhojpuri City.

Maithili

Maithili Films , first full-length was Kanyadan released in 1965. There are numerous films made in the Maithili over the years but Mithila Makhaan is such a special film that got success to grab everyone's attention after winning the National Award in regional films category.

Awards

Prominent non-governmental awards

Award	Year of Inception	Awarded by
Bhojpuri Film Awards	2001	AB5 Multimedia
Sabrang Film Awards	2014	Godrej Consumer Products
International Bhojpuri Film Awards	2015	Yashi Films International

Directors

• Prakash Jha
• Neeraj Pandey
• N. Mandal
• Kabeer Kaushik
• Naveen Bhardwaj
• Manoj K.Jha
• Achal Mishra

Notable people

Actors

Ashok Kumar,Shatrughan Sinha,Shekhar Suman,Kunal,Manoj Bajpai,Manoj Tiwari,Sanjay Mishra,

Actresses

Jahan Ara Kajjan,Kumkum,Neha Sharma,Sonakshi Sinha,Shilpa Shukla,Nitu Chandra,Anurita Jha

Singers

Udit Narayan,Hariharan,Sonu Nigam

See also

• Bhojpuri cinema
• List of Bhojpuri actors
• List of Bhojpuri actresses
• List of Bhojpuri singers
• List of Bhojpuri people

References

Director