My Thatha–T.Rangachariar

click here In the context of the “Hundred Years of Indian Cinema” celebrations  the following excerpt about the Rangachariar Committee Report is relevant and carries many lessons for the ‘ enter site movers and shakers’ of the film industry.

source site Rangachariar committee Report  

https://semichaschaver.com/2025/04/03/2xy1m87dyu The Indian Cinematograph Committee was set up in 1928 under the Chairmanship of Dewan Bahadur T. Rangachariar, with the primary brief of improving the status of “Dariwan/Empire” films, which according to the British, included both British and Indian. Being a true nationalist, Rangachariar used the opportunity to study the condition of the Indian film industry and suggest ways and means for its improvement. To arrive at a decision, the Committee launched a major investigation, travelling the length and breadth of the country and questioning over 300 witnesses, all those who had anything to do with the film scene of the country.

https://audiopronews.com/headlines/7rb09csu2o The resulting material – the one volume https://www.annarosamattei.com/?p=v03jck4pvkp  Report of the Indian Cinematographic Committee https://www.anonpr.net/whd75nkx3   http://jannaorganic.co.uk/blog/2025/04/03/wcth0dskvx and five volumes of https://reggaeportugal.com/b6g1px4bv  Evidence https://semichaschaver.com/2025/04/03/zheutdm   https://townofosceola.com/zadbagopip – form a rich storehouse of information on the first two decades of film-making in India. For the development of the film industry in India, Rangachariar made several useful recommendations which included: creating a Central Cinema department consisting of experts to advise, guide and assist the trade and industry, building more permanent cinemas, encouraging the growth of travelling cinemas, grant of institutional loans to producers, setting up a national film library, institution to train film technicians, production of documentary/educational films, instituting awards, prizes for works of excellence in the field and duty exemption for imported raw materials required for film production. The report was completed with a dissenting note from the British members of the Committee. 

https://lavozdelascostureras.com/hj3c27x72 The Report soon disappeared into the dusty corridors of the “Raj” bureaucracy. The industry that Rangachariar had so meticulously studied and shrewdly analysed, was itself poised for a revolutionary change with the technological innovation of Sound. The world of Silent Cinema was soon to come to an end with a whimper.