A list of films produced by the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

film industry based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

in 1938:

1938

Some of the noteworthy films of 1938: *'' Street Singer'' is considered as an "all time classic" from

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970 And Padma Bhushan in 1972). It was formed on February 10, 1931. The company motto was ...

Calcutta. The film starred

K. L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who worked in Hindi cinema, which was centred in Calcutta (Kolkata) during his time, but is currently based in Bombay (Mumba ...

Kanan Devi Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was ...

, Jagdish Sethi and Bikram Kapoor with music by R. C. Boral. Directed by Prafulla Ghosh, the film established Kanan Devi's popularity and her 'melody queen' status. It is also ranked as one of Saigal's greatest hits, where his rendition of

Wajid Ali Shah Mirza Wajid Ali Shah () (30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856. Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known a ...

bhairavi Bhairavi () is a Hindu goddess, described as one of the Mahāvidyas, the ten avatars of the mother goddess. She is the consort of Bhairava ( a form of Shiva). Etymology The name ''Bhairavi'' means "terrifying" or "awe-inspiring". Iconogra ...

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dram ...

" Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye" is considered a classic. *'' Dharti Mata'' directed by

Nitin Bose Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 40s, he worked with New Theatr ...

for

, was a social film with a romantic component. The film starred K. L. Saigal, Uma Shashi, Kamlesh Kumari and Jagdish Sethi. It was a bilingual made in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

('' Desher Maate'') (1938) and Hindi at the same time. The film had the classic song, "Duniya Rang Rangili Baba". It was made against the backdrop of the rural (agriculture) and urban (technology) debate and highlighted the need of technology and new concepts for effective farming. *'' Gopal Krishna'' was a remake of

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and studio facility founded in 1929 in Kolhapur. It was established by filmmaker V. Shantaram, along with Vishnupant Govind Damle, Keshav Rao Dhaibar, ...

's first silent film Gopal Krishna (1929). The film was made in Hindi and

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

simultaneously. Directed by Sheikh Fattelal and V. G. Damle, it starred

Ram Marathe Ramchandra Purushottam Marathe (23 October 1924 – 4 October 1989), also known as Pandit Ram Marathe, was a Marathi music director, singer, and actor on stage and in films. As a child actor, he performed the title role of Krishna in Prabhat Film ...

Shanta Apte Shanta Apte (1916–1964) was an Indian actress-singer who worked in Marathi language, Marathi and Hindi cinema. Renowned for her roles in films like ''Duniya Na Mane/Kunku'' (1937) and ''Amar Jyoti'' (1936) under the Prabhat Films banner, she w ...

, Ganpatrao, and Parshuram. The music was by Master Krishnarao. Made during the pre-independent India era, the story based on the young

Lord Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is wi ...

is less mythology and more about a social awareness for change against the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

regime. The film was a big success and appreciated for its music and sets.

A-B

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T-Z

References

External links

asc&title_type=feature&year=1938 Bollywood films of 1938
at the

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Indian film list, state=collapsed

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Films, Bollywood