India's First Talkie Film

Alam-Ara

India's first talkie film was Alam Ara (Light of the Universe). The film was released on March 14, 1931 at Majestic Cinema in Bombay. Alam Ara was made under the banner of Imperial Movietone. It was produced and directed by Ardeshir Marwan Irani. The film was based on a successful Parsi play of the same name, written by Joseph David. The star cast of Alam Ara included some of the popular stars of the silent era like Prithviraj Kapoor, L.V. Prasad, W.M. Khan, Master Vithal and Zubeida.

Alam Ara exploited the technological wonder of sound to the full. It had opulent sets and made rich use of music, song, and dance. Alam Ara had seven songs. The film took two months to complete. There were several technical hitches in sound recording. At that time there were no sound proof stages and most of the film was shot indoors and during night. Since the film was shot close to a railway track, the unit had to wait till the trains ceased to operate to begin the shoot.