Alam Ara (Ornament of the World), a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani, was released on this day in 1931 and performed well at the box office. Irani was inspired to make the movie, after watching the 1929 American part-talkie Show Boat. The story, which revolves on a king and his two wives, was adapted from the Bombay-based dramatist Joseph David’s play of the same name. Made on a budget of ₹40,000 (equivalent to ₹10 million or US$ 130,000 in 2020), principal photography was handled by Adi M. Irani within a span of four months in Bombay (present-day Mumbai). Because the studio was located near a railway track, it was filmed mostly during the night-time to avoid noise from the active trains.
The film, well received by critics, was also widely considered a major breakthrough for the Indian film industry and Ardeshir Irani’s career with its status as the country’s first sound film. Although no print or gramophone record of the film is known to survive, thereby making it a lost film, surviving artefacts include its stills and posters. In 2017, the British Film Institute declared it as the most important of any lost films produced in India.
-Wikipedia
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