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October 23: J F Madan built India's first cinema hall, Elphinstone Picture Palace in 1907. In it's early years silent films made in foreign...

October 23: J F Madan built India’s first cinema hall, Elphinstone Picture Palace in 1907. In it’s early years silent films made in foreign countries were screened here.

Mauj Maja launched in 1924 was the first Indian film magazine. This Gujarati magazine was edited by J K Dwivedi.

Black marketing of film tickets started right from the time the first Indian talkie, Alam Ara was released on March 4, 1931. Tickets sold for as much as Rs 50 at a time when the salary of an average Indian was just Rs 10.

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Ashok Kumar’s first film was Jeevan Naiya (1936) directed by Franz Osten for Bombay Talkies. His real name was Kumudlal Kunjila Ganguly and he was born on October 13, 1911 in Bhagalpur, Bihar.

Kishore Kumar acted as a child artiste in the 1946 film Shikari directed by Savak Chaha for Filmistan Limited.

Director Kidar Sharma’s Jaldeep (Light House) was the first film produced by Children’s Film Society (now National Centre of Films for Children and Young People) in 1956.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s first film as music director was Parasmani (1963). It was directed by Babubhai Mistry for Movieland.

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Basu Bhattacharya’s Teesri Kasam (1966) was the first film to be telecast on Doordarshan (Television India). The film was adapted from Phanishwar Nath Renu’s novel Mare Gaye Gulfam.

The Hindi version of V Shantaram’s Pinjara was a miserable flop despite the fact that the original Marathi film by the same name was very successful.

The Hindi version was withdrawn from the theatres in 1973 as there was not a single person in the auditorium.

Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to receive an Oscar for her costumes for Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982).