10 facts that prove 1970s was indeed the golden era of Indian Hindi Cinema

Many of us have been energised by latest gangster & crime films like Pan Singh Tomar(2012), Sarkar(2005), Ganster(2006), Vastav(1999) and Shootout at Lokhandwala( 2007). The whole concept of crime movies got popular through four main movies- Don, Shollay and Amar Akhbar Antony. Apart from being the pathfinders of crime movies in India, these three movies are still unmatched in respect of mix of drama, concept, action and crime scenes. All these three movies date back to 1970s.

Again for romantic parties where one wishes to sit and enjoy wine, the 1970s has the ideal offer of songs like Baahon me chale aao (1973), Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko(1973) and O mere dil ke chain(1972).

For Indians who have a tendency to share haphazard feet movements in festivals after sipping alcohol, the 1970s era provides perfect songs like “Jai Jai Shiva Shankar” (1974) and “Mungda Mungda” (1977)

1970s era is bound to appeal more to any Indian as the movies were mainly inspired by the ongoing Indian wave with very little Western influence on them. The film ‘Kala Pathar’ is one of the rare films produced in India that focuses on the life of coal miners in India, which is still a very big and rampant Indian industry.

Most Indian cine lovers who still drop a jaw at the budget behind Hollywood films, should know that Bollywood is the largest producer of films and by this virtue the largest film industry in the world but when did this exactly happen? The answer is: in 1970s when the name Bollywood was coined, Indian Hindi Cinema industry stepped forward as the biggest movie capital of the world both by number of individual tickets sold and by number of films produced.

Image source:  media magazine

The Film Fare Best film of 50 years was again from the 70s era: Ramesh Sippy’s Shollay(1975) starring Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri.  

If we call the first few days of houseful for Dhoom 3 as ‘craze for movies’, we can say there were movie halls in 1970s outside which people plunged and fought for movie tickets. For college students the class bunking were almost ten times in 1970s than what it is today. The 1970s era of cinema is what we may say as a decade of real movie-madness.

The first sex symbol of India Zeenat Mahal, gained a sizzling entry into the hearts of through Dum Maro Dum in 1971. The song has inspired the sexuality in Deepika Padukone’s 2011 movie Dum Maro Dum. Later in 1978, Zeenat also played an unparallel role in the movie Satyam Shivam Sundaram, which remains one of the strong rooted love stories among Bollywood movies.

Today’s major remakes: Shahrukh Khan’s Don and Ram Gopal Verma’s Aag were drawn down from Don (1978) and Shollay(1975).