12 Bollywood Films Which Have ‘First’ To Their Credit

Written by KA Abbas and directed by Chetan Anand, the film was set in India’s pre-independence era which dealt with the subject of socialism. The film paved the way for many such 'parallel cinema' films by other directors. The film starred Chetan Anand's wife Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Kamini Kaushal, Rafi Peer and Zohra Sehgal, who choreographed the songs. Neecha Nagar got its due recognition when it became the first Indian film to go to the Cannes Film Festival and win the coveted award in 1946.

This Raj Kapoor classic saw Hindi cinema’s first dream sequence song captured on screen that featured a massive set with Nargis and Raj Kapoor singing the song. The film set the tone for many future films where dream sequences started to become an integral part of film making. The film also saw for the first time when Prithiviraj's father Dewan Bashwanath Kapoor playing a cameo along with his son and grandsons of real-life, Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. The film’s success spread till the Soviet Union, East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Watch the song Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi sung by Lata and Manna Dey which was composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen is considered one of the all-time black & white classics of Indian cinema. Starring Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy and Rattan Kumar in the lead roles, the film told the story of a farmer who faces famine in his village and heads to the city along with his son to repay the zamindar’s loan. The hardships that Indian farmers face is beautifully portrayed by Balraj Sahni. The film became the first to bag the inaugural Filmfare Award trophy for best film in 1954. The film set the tone for director Bimal Roy who won many more trophies in the future.

This Sohrab Modi directorial was India's first technicolour film which was also produced by him under his Minerva Movietone production banner. In the beginning credits of the film it is mentioned as the first Technicolor film made in India which had foreign technicians. The historical drama which was set during India’s mutiny in 1857 starred Modi's wife, Mehtab in the title role, with Modi playing the role of her mentor Rajguru. The remaining cast included Mubarak, Ulhas, Sapru, Ram Singh, Baby Shikha, Marconi and Shakila.

Though there’s always been a debate whether this Guru Dutt classic was the first cinemascope film to release or it was Pyaar Ki Pyaas in the same year. Kaagaz Ke Phool was Guru Dutt’s most ambitious project which was known for its brilliant camera work by VK Murthy who was considered a doyen of cinematography in those days. Ahead of its times, the film starred Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Baby Naaz, Johny Walker, Pratima Devi, Mehmood and had music by S. D. Burman who produced gems. The much talked about affair of Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman was reasoned out for the film’s box-office failure. 

‘The greatest motion picture ever made’ and ‘the greatest story ever told’ were the captions that hogged the posters of Ramesh Sippy’s all time cult classic Sholay. The film is credited as the first film to be shot in 70mm and to have stereophonic sound technology. This film created history and broke all records of Indian cinema. Even after 40 years of its release the film continues to be talked and written about. The star cast included Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Sanjeev Kumar, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942- A Love Story is one of his best works to date which was music maestro R D Burman's swan song. The movie introduced the Dolby sound system in Indian cinema for the first time which is considered a stepping stone to advance sound engineering. The film was a love story which was set during the Quit India movement. It starred Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, Danny and Anupam Kher. 

Subhash Ghai’s Taal was the first film to have been insured before its release by the United India Insurance group in 1998. Though the film was successful it had one of the best scores by AR Rahman who bagged that year’s Filmfare trophy for the best music. The film starred Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Aishwarya Rai. Listen to the songs of Taal:

Directed by AR Murgadoss, Ghajini was the remake of the Tamil hit by the same name. The film revolved around a successful business man who’s beloved is killed by a goon and in the process loses his memory. He recovers but suffers from short term memory loss. How he avenges his beloved’s death forms the crux of the remaining story. The film starred Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat. The film was a huge success and became the first film to collect over a 100 crores at the box-office.

Mehboob Khan’s evergreen classic Mother India was a remake of his 1940 film Aurat. Over the years the film has gained the status of a cult classic and a landmark film of Indian cinema which starred Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar in pivotal roles. The film’s story was about a mother who loses her husband soon after delivering two kids. Unable to repay her husband’s loan she struggles to brings up her children only to sacrifice her younger son in the climax. Watch all the songs of the film which were composed by Naushad.