Editing Hindi cinema (section)

=== Early history (1890s–1930s) ===
In 1897, a film presentation by Professor Stevenson featured a stage show at [[Calcutta]]'s Star Theatre. With Stevenson's encouragement and camera, [[Hiralal Sen]], an Indian photographer, made a film of scenes from that show, ''The Flower of Persia'' (1898).<ref name="Hiralal2">{{cite web |last = McKernan |first = Luke|date = 31 December 1996|url = https://www.victorian-cinema.net/sen.htm|title = Hiralal Sen (copyright British Film Institute)|access-date =1 November 2006}}</ref> ''The Wrestlers'' (1899) by [[H. S. Bhatavdekar]] showed a [[wrestling]] match at the Hanging Gardens in [[Bombay]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Pamela |title=The birth of India's film industry: how the movies came to Mumbai |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/25/birth-indias-film-industry-movies-mumbai |access-date=20 September 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=25 July 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Phalke.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Dadasaheb Phalke, examining a strip of film|Dadasaheb Phalke is considered the father of Indian cinema, including Hindi cinema.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTZnAAAAMAAJ |title= Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema|access-date=17 November 2012|isbn=9788123743196 |last1=Vāṭave |first1=Bāpū |last2=Trust |first2=National Book |year=2004 |publisher= National Book Trust}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Sachin|last=Sharma|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Godhra-forgets-its-days-spent-with-Dadasaheb-Phalke/articleshow/14444404.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419032237/https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-28/vadodara/32456429_1_godhra-dadasaheb-phalke-father-of-indian-cinema |url-status=live |archive-date=19 April 2013 |title=Godhra forgets its days spent with Dadasaheb Phalke |date=28 June 2012 |work=[[The Times of India]] |access-date=17 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Vilanilam|first=J. V.|title=Mass Communication in India: A Sociological Perspective|year=2005|publisher=Sage Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7829-515-2|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBU6pN7toHsC&q=dadasaheb%20phalke%20father%20indian%20cinema&pg=PA128}}</ref>]]

[[Dadasaheb Phalke]]'s [[silent film]] ''[[Raja Harishchandra]]'' (1913) is the first [[Feature film|feature-length film]] made in India.<ref>{{Britannica|1912794|title=Dadasaheb Phalk}}</ref> The film, being silent, had [[English language|English]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], and [[Hindi]]-language [[Intertitle|intertitles]]. By the 1930s, the Indian film industry as a whole was producing over 200 films per year.{{sfn|Gulzar|Nihalani|Chatterjee|2003|p=136-137}} The first Indian sound film, [[Ardeshir Irani]]'s ''[[Alam Ara]]'' (1931), made in [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] language, was commercially successful.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/spectrum/main1.htm |title=Talking Images, 75 Years of Cinema |work=The Tribune |access-date=9 March 2013 |archive-date=23 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423202148/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/spectrum/main1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> With a great demand for talkies and musicals, Hindustani cinema (as Hindi cinema was then known as){{sfn|Gulzar|Nihalani|Chatterjee|2003|p=146}} and the other language film industries quickly switched to sound films.