The Bombay Talkies Limited (commonly known as Bombay Talkies), was established in 1934 in Malad, Bombay (now Mumbai) in India by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. It was the first film company of India, which was a public limited company and was recorded as a company under the Indian Companies Act. Franz Osten and Niranjan Pal were the first full-time filmmakers related to this company, which was a highly specialised movie studio (compared to its time), with sound and echo-proof stages, laboratories and editing rooms as well as a preview theatre.

Bombay Talkies gradually surfaced as a well ordered, self-sufficient, and gainful company. It made public issues, affirmed dividends and bonus, and at its halcyon days commanded a good reputation on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Because this company was associated with European technicians, predominantly Germans like Osten, the Bombay Talkies set a towering technological standard for film making in India. The company also passed on a higher level of self-esteem to the medium of movie making and acting.

In this film company some very memorable mega stars were born. Some of them are Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Bombay Talkies also imparted a new facet to themes of films, and produced films on contentious topics such as the story of love (Achhut Kanya) between an Untouchable girl and a high class Hindu Brahmin boy. Other distinguished movies produced by the Bombay Talkies incorporated famed movies of the time like Jawani ki Hawa (1935), starring Devika Rani, and Jeevan Naiya (1936), a romantic film starring Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar.

After World War II broke out in 1939, Bombay Talkies came across a number of problems, and with the subsequent demise of Himanshu Rai, the founder and stalwart of the studio, the company had an abrupt breakdown. His wife Devika Rani, took charge of the company, and was also made the controller of production of the Bombay Studios. Devika Rani sustained the high tradition of the Bombay Talkies.

Some of the well-known movies of the phase included Kangan and Bandhan, and famous artists who in films produced by Bombay Talkies were Madhubala and Dilip Kumar. The 1942 movie Basant saw Madhubala for the first time as a child artist. After Devika Rani left the company, Ashok Kumar with his brother in law Sashadhar purchased and tried to restore it, making the hit film Mahal in 1949, but ultimately the company closed down. Presently, the Bombay Talkies is in a decrepit state, and has lost the unspoiled glory, which it once commanded.