Juanita09O at 06:29, 13 March 2026

2026-03-13T06:29:41Z

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{{Short description|English-language film industry in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}

'''English-language Indian films''' date back to the [[silent film]] era. After the advent of [[Sound film|sound]], feature films in English almost disappeared.
[[File:India film clapperboard (variant).svg|thumb|upright]]

== History ==

===Silent era===
In the 1920s, films directed by [[Franz Osten]] and [[Himansu Rai]], including ''[[The Light of Asia (film)|The Light of Asia]]'' and ''[[A Throw of Dice]]'', could be considered English-language films because the intertitles were in English. With the advent 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===

An attempt to make English talkies in India named [[Karma (1933 film)|''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===
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 for Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTA Award]]. The genre was able to stand on its own with [[Dev Benegal]]'s ''[[English, August (film)|English, August]]'' (1994) which was widely accepted by urban audiences and became its first hit, drawing an audience of 20 million.<ref name=guar/>

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 (India)|National Film Award]].<ref name=guar>[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/oct/17/bollywood-english English is recast in Indian films] [[The Guardian]], 24 October 2008.</ref><ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/18767508.cms Move over Bollywood, Indian films in English are here] IANS, [[The Times of India]], 11 August 2002.</ref>

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 Award (India)|National Film Award]]s.

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 further opened up the genre, both creatively and commercially.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLb33fhgsjcC&dq=English+language+Indian+films&pg=PA196 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''.</ref>

==List of films (partial)==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"|Year
! scope="col"|Title
|-
| 1981
| ''[[36 Chowringhee Lane]]''
|-
| 1986
| ''[[On Wings of Fire]]''
|-
| 1988
| ''[[The Perfect Murder (1988 film)|The Perfect Murder]]''
|-
|1989
| ''[[In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones]]''
|-
|rowspan="2" |1992
|''[[Electric Moon]]''
|-
|''[[Miss Beatty's Children]]''
|-
|1994
|''[[English, August (film)|English, August]]''
|-
|rowspan="3" |1996
|''[[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]''
|-
|''[[Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love]]''
|-
|''[[The Making of the Mahatma]]''
|-
|rowspan="2" |1998
|''[[Hyderabad Blues]]''
|-
|''[[Bombay Boys]]''
|-
|rowspan="2"|1999
|''[[Split Wide Open]]''
|-
|''[[Rockford (film)|Rockford]]''
|-
|2000
| ''[[Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (film)|Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar]]''
|-
|rowspan="2" |2001
|''[[American Desi]]''
|-
|''[[Monsoon Wedding]]''
|-
|rowspan="4" |2002
|''[[Mitr, My Friend]]''
|-
| ''[[Mr. and Mrs. Iyer]]''
|-
|''[[Leela (2002 film)|Leela]]''
|-
|''[[Mango Soufflé]]''
|-
|rowspan="2" |2003
|''[[Stumble (film)|Stumble]]''
|-
|''[[Freaky Chakra (film)|Freaky Chakra]]''
|-
|2003
|''[[Five by Four]]''
|-
|rowspan="4" |2004
|''[[Hyderabad Blues 2]]''
|-
|''White Noise''
|-
|''[[Bride and Prejudice]]''
|-
|''[[Morning Raga]]''
|-
|rowspan="3" |2005
| ''[[15 Park Avenue]]''
|-
|''Sins''
|-
|''[[Water (2005 film)|Water]]''
|-
|rowspan="3" |2006
|''[[Being Cyrus]]''
|-
|''[[Mixed Doubles (2006 film)|Mixed doubles]]''
|-
|''[[Provoked (film)|Provoked]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" |2007
|''[[Americanizing Shelley]]''
|-
|''[[Parzania]]''
|-
|2008
|''[[Via Darjeeling]]''
|-
|2011
|''[[Delhi Belly (film)|Delhi Belly]]''
|-
|2012
|''[[Divorce Invitation]]''
|-
|2014
|''[[Finding Fanny]]''
|-
|2015
|[[My Choice (film)|''My Choice (2015 film)'']]
|-
|2016
| ''[[A Death in the Gunj]]''
|-
|2022
|''[[Wonder Women (2022 film)|Wonder Women]]''
|}

==See also==
* [[National Film Award for Best English Feature Film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cinema of India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:English Language Indian Films}}
[[Category:English-language Indian films| ]]

English-language Indian films - Revision history

Juanita09O at 06:29, 13 March 2026