India’s Film City Mumbai Now Owns Biggest Indian Film Museum

Presenting Indian cinema fans with a nostalgic journey, the home of Bollywood (Indian film category) Mumbai now houses a 19^th century bungalow-turned-film museum.

India’s first-ever national film museum is a 6,000 sq.ft heritage building with a modern five-storey glass structure.

“It showcases to the world outside what Indian cinema has achieved in its entirety over more than 100 years,” informed Amrit Gangar, a consulting curator who worked on the project.

19th century historic palace Gulshan Mahal

The government-funded National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) is a repository of memorabilia, recordings, film-making tools and interactive touch screens for visitors to watch their favorite movie clips.

What Visitors Can Do At the Museum?

• Visitors can learn about India’s first full-length feature film— 1913 Raja Harishchandra directed by the legendary Dadasaheb Phalke
• Listen to KL Saigal’s recordings, the first superstar of Hindi-language cinema
• View hand-painted movie posters including internationally acclaimed director Satyajit Ray’s 1955 movie poster, Pather Panchali
• Take selfies with a statue of iconic Bollywood actor Raj Kapoor
• View replicas of the Mutoscope, the camera used by the first filmmakers in history and the Praxinoscope, a French invented the device, used for animations

New Museum Building – National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC)

According to Indian Government’s Film Department Director-General Prashant Pathrabe, the museum takes visitors through a memorable journey of Indian cinema from the silent era to talkies to the studio era to the new wave.

The museum does not limit the ‘filmy experience’ to Bollywood but introduces visitors to other Indian regions and languages.

“Films are made in about 25 different regional languages in India and all are included here so that the entire country, irrespective of which part you come from, can enjoy this museum,” Pathrabe adds.

About the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC)

The museum was setup at a cost of INR 1.4 billion and was completed in 2014.

However, the inaugural was delayed after the Indian Government planned to build the new wing, which includes a section depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s impact on world cinema and on Charlie Chaplin.

National Museum of Indian Cinema Inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

A South Indian native Maria Jones says that she’s really delighted with her experience while speaking about her experience at the museum.

“I’m really happy and excited to see the history of Indian cinema until now. The different cameras have been fascinating for me. The first cameras were really huge,” said Jones.