Old and truly gold

Be it the charismatic Dev Anand, who serenaded his heroines with soulful songs or the enchantress Madhubala with the most beautiful smile or the ever romantic Guru Dutt whose cinematography made us watch films with a different lens, the 50s and 60s era of Hindi films holds a special place in our hearts.

There were few important milestones reached in this era. With the upcoming third edition of Timeless Digital Awards that Sony MAX2 is coming up with, here’s a look at some interesting facts of the golden era:

Hanste Aansoo: First to receive an  A-certificate

Hanste Aansoo featuring Madhubala and Motilal became the first film to receive A-Only for Adults certification following the amendment of the original Indian Cinematograph Act (1918) in December 1949.

Sangam: First to be shot abroad

Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala’s love triangle, Sangam had various scenes shot in Europe. The cinema lovers at that time turned up in large numbers to watch the movie just to see the foreign locales in motion picture.

Do Ankhen Barah Haath: First to win a Golden Globe Award

Directed by ace director V Shantaram, Do Ankhen Barah Haath was way ahead of its time. It became the first Hindi feature film to bag the prestigious Golden Globe award under the Samuel Goldwyn category.

Mother India: First Oscar submission

The epic social drama starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar was India’s first submission for the Academy Awards in the foreign film category. The movie was not only nominated, but also was in the final five. The Oscar jury strongly connected with the protagonist of the movie because of the storyline.

Kaagaz Ke Phool: First cinemascope film

India’s first cinemascope movie, Kaagaz Ke Phool is a masterpiece. This movie is considered as Guru Dutt’s finest film.

Mughal-e-Azam: First trilingual movie

This Bollywood epic was literally shot in three languages: English, Tamil and Hindi. However, when the Tamil version failed, the English version was aborted too. Thus, only the Hindi version was released.

Pyaasa: First to make it to Time’s list

Starring Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rahman and Mala Sinha, Pyaasa trails the life of an unsuccessful poet in an unkind, frigid society. It made to the Time’s All-Time 100 Movies list.

Awaara – Awaara Hoon song: First international sensation

The composition of Awaara Hoon by Shankar Jaikishan immediately struck a chord with audiences from various classes and backgrounds from across the globe. In fact in May 2013 BBC poll, the song was rated the second-greatest Bollywood song of all time.