The films made during the Golden Era of Indian Cinema are often referred as Hindustani Cinema. It was rather the Hindustani language tat set the tone for Hindi cinema from 1940s to 1960s. This language was a combination of Hindi and Urdu spoken all over the northern and western part of India. the Hindustani cinema included all the popular genres-family oriented dramas, melodramas, thrillers, action films, historical and costume films, musical comedies, pure comedy and farce.
The Hindustani cinema brought with it a cultural symbiosis, which was to stay in Indian cinema, especially, the Hindi film industry, for a long time. Inspite the trauma of the partition both Hindus and Muslims worked harmoniously together in all spheres of cinematic art.
Besides the characteristics of Persian civilization which have been passed on to Indian civilization, mainly music and dance, the Urdu language is one the legacies of Islam in India. Urdu became a literary dialect from the 14th15th century onwards. It was largely used along with Persian in royal courts. The splendor of these courts is evoked with nostalgia is films, such as, Mirza Ghalib, Pakeezah, Umrao Jaan, Shatranj Ke Khiladi and others.
The era of Hindustani cinema also witnessed the contribution of great talents who are members of the Muslim community. Amongst the directors were the likes of Mehboob Khan and Kamal Amrohi. actors and actresses like Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Waheeda Rehman,; and great music directors, such as, Ghulam Haider, Naushad, Ghulam Mohammed and others are a few example of the talent of this community.
The Hindustani cinema also witnessed the rise of neo realists like Guru Dutt who presented realistic films, even to the extent of being autobiographical. The cult films of Guru Dutt have been immortalised in the Indian film history. Another film that too can be treated as a cult film is Mother India by Mehboob Khan. It is one of the earliest woman centric films with superb performances by the entire cast.
Hindustani cinema attained new heights mainly because of 4 great directors-Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor. The last phase of this period is referred to as the Raj Kapoor era. If not politically these directors were socially committed who often dealt with serious social problems that existed in pre-independent India.
Some of the films by these directors are hailed, as masterpieces in Indian cinema as their magic still remain unrivalled.
