the silent films were started in India. The first Indian love story, Dhiren
Ganguly’s Bilat Ferat (England Returned) was released in 1921. In the
same year Kohinoor studios of Bombay produced Bhakt Vidur, a chapter
from Mahabharata. The new decade saw the arrival of many new
companies and film-makers. Baburao Painter (Savkari Pash), Suchet
Singh (Sakuntala), Chandulal Shah (Guna Sundari), Ardershir Irani and
V. Shantaram were the prominent film-makers of the twenties.
    Some of the noteworthy silent films of the period were Madan’s Nala
Damayanti (1921), Pati Bhakti (1922) and Noor Jehan (1923); Baburao
Painter’s Maya Bazaar (1923), Kala Naag (1924) and Cinema Queen
(1926); Chandulal Shah’s Bhaneli Bhamini (1927); Ardeshir Irani’s
Anarkali (1928); V. Shantaram’s Gopal Krishna (1929); Jagdish Co’s
Chandramukhi (1929); Seth Manecklal Patel’s Hatim Tai (1929); S.S.
Agarwal’s Diler Jigar (1931) and Gulaminu Patan (1931); Debaki Bose’s
Rajrani Meera (1933); Ranjeet Co’s Gunsundari (1934); Bombay Talkies’
Achhut Kanya (1936) and New Theatre’s Street Singer (1938).
    The film Amar Jyoti (1936) directed by V. Shantaram was the earliest
film to tackle the subject of women’s emancipation. Fatima Begum, who
was perhaps the first Indian woman producer and director, released her
film Bulbul-e-Parastan in 1926. The first international co-production was
with Italy for making the film Nala Damayanti in 1921. The first Indo-
German co-production was Himansu Rai’s Prem Sanyas/Light of Asia
(1929) while his A Throw of Dice (1930) was the second such co-
production. Kohinoor Production’s Bhakta Vidur, which was banned in
Madras in 1921, became Indian cinema’s first censorship controversy.
Entertainment tax on film exhibition first began to be levied in Calcutta in
1922 and then in Bombay in the following year.
    The silent films were of several genres like mythologicals, folklores,
historicals and fantasies. The silent films, however, were never completely
silent. Music and dance were the common accompaniments of the silent
movies. Silent movies were often seen in the theatres with the
accompaniment of harmonium, tabla, sarangi or violin. The silent films in
India had the main titles in English and a regional language. The sub-titles
were generally in four languages – English, Gujarati, Hindi (or Bengali,
Marathi and Tamil) and Urdu.        Although the silent film era of India